Graphics

Visually, Warhammer: Mark of Chaos is one of the best looking RTS games we’ve seen in a while, with detailed 3D maps that actually use all three dimensions (something some 3D RTS games still don’t seem to take advantage of) and great looking unit visual and animations. Visual effects such as applying spells or even smoke coming from an empire hangunner weapon are well handled. We did have a few issues with camera control in our preview build but we think there should be no problems fixing them in time for the game’s release. We will say that the opening CGI cinematic for the game is one of the best we have ever seen, up there with Blizzard’s work for their games.

While we didn’t have a chance to play the multiplayer portion of the game yet, Warhammer: Mark of Chaos promises to keep the single player’s emphasis on tactics. You will start out with a certain amount of points to build your army up and you can basically customize what units you can have available before the match begins against your opponents. As one might expect, single units with more abilities and power tend to cost more that a horde of smaller less powerful units. You have four different playable sides to pick from in the game (Empire, Chaos, Skaven and Elves) but the level of complexity for each faction will keep you occupied in the selection of your armies (you do have a time limit in your army customization phase so you can’t spend a lot of time tweaking your forces before the match begins). One of the more interesting aspects of multiplayer will be duels between the powerful hero units that add even more to the standard “tank rush” gameplay of most RTS titles. Publisher Namco plans to support clans in the game along with extensive stats tracking for multiplayer matches which can be one-vs-one all the way to three-vs-three matches.


Based on our brief time with the beta build of the game Warhammer: Mark of Chaos is shaping up to be an entertaining fantasy RTS game that leaves behind base building and resources and concentrates on what every strategy game should do to be successful; battle tactics. You can look for demos of the game to be released soon. Namco plans to release Warhammer: Mark of Chaos to stores in mid-November.