Warhammer: Mark of Chaos created by Bandai Namco Games out in stores NOW!
Mark of Chaos brings the tabletop fantasy game Warhammer and RTS similar to that of Rome Total War mixed with Warcraft 3 together.
[Intro FMV]http://youtube.com/watch?v=teckUbABD_A&mode=related&search=[Gameplay]
Unlike other RTS games, Mark of Chaos has a few unique features such as;
- No construction of faction buildings to produce troops.
- Units can capture buildings and be garrisoned inside them.
- Units flee when their morale is broken.
- Fortress mode. Lay seige to an enemy fortress.
- All units can gain levels (Heros up to level 40 - Regiments up to level 3) which can increase the unit count for a particular regiment or improve a Hero's abilities.
- Duel system. When to opposing Hero Units meet each other in combat a fiery circle surrounds them (Making them invincible to outside interference), during the duel the Heros can use their dueling abilities (Which they gain from leveling up) or flee from battle.
- No dice or pointy red sticks.
[Storyline]
Mark of Chaos has a single player campaign divided into two chapters; The Empire Chapter and The Chaos Chapter.
In the Empire Chapter you play the role of Captin Stefan Von Kessel whose grandfather was a worshipper of Chaos, consequently his family was stripped of all of their titles and wealth and he bears the scars of suspicion. As Von Kessel you must try to remove the reminants of the Chaos threat in the Empire.
In the Chaos Chapter you play the role of Thorgar the Blooded One, a barbarian champion who has received a vision from the Chaos Gods. Now Thorgar must assemble a horde of Chaos warriors and re-lay seige to the city of Kislev where a previous champion of Chaos was slain.
[Races]
In Mark of Chaos you get to play with four Warhammer races; The Empire, Chaos, The High Elves, and The Skaven.
Empire
The Empire is the greatest bastion of Human civilisation, they worship the God of Sigmar and are sworn enemies of the Chaos Hordes.
Units Available;
Swordsmen, Halberdiers, Handgunners, Flagellants, Huntsmen, Greatswords, Pistoliers, The Reiksguard (Knightly order), The Knights Panther (Knightly order), Knights of the Blazing Sun (Knightly order), Greatcannon, Helblaster Volley Gun, Captain (Hero), Warrior preist of Sigmar (Hero), Jade Wizard (Hero), Bright Wizard (hero), Elector Count (Hero - can mount a Griffon).
Chaos
Barbarians of the Northlands, they worship the Chaos Gods and seek to destroy the Empire.
Units Available;
Warhounds of Chaos, Marauders, Marauder Axe Throwers, Warriors of Chaos, Knights of Chaos, Chaos Furies, Plaguebearers, Bloodletters, Spawn of Chaos, Wyrdspawn, Aspiring Champion (Hero - Choose either Undivided, Nurgle or Khorne Gods), Undivided Sorcerer (Hero), Deamon Prince (Hero), Hellcannon.
High Elves
Legolas clones.
Units Available;
Spearman, Archers, Silver Helms, Shadow Warriors, Ellyrian Reavers, Swordmasters of Hoeth, Repeater Bolt Thrower, Commander\Prince (Hero), Light Mage (Hero), Light Archmage (Hero), Dragon Prince (Hero).
Skaven
Mutated rat creatures that seek to conquer the surface world.
Units Available;
Clanrats, Giant Rats, Stormvermin, Gutter Runners, Plague Censer Bearers, Poisoned Wind Globadiers, Rat Ogres, Warplock Jezzails, Warpfire Throwers, Warp Lightning Cannon, Screaming Bell, Warlock Engineer, Assassin (Hero), Warlord (Hero), Grey Seer (Hero).
Mercenaries
You can also recruit mercenaries including Dwarven Rangers to Night Goblins and Giants.
You can also Customise your own Warhammer army (Paintscheme) and play with them online with other people via a device called the internet.
[Screenshots]http://www.markofchaos.com/screen_large.php?gr=3&img=2http://www.markofchaos.com/screen_large.php?gr=3&img=1http://www.markofchaos.com/screen_large.php?gr=2&img=70http://www.markofchaos.com/screen_large.php?gr=2&img=69http://www.markofchaos.com/screen_large.php?gr=2&img=65http://www.markofchaos.com/screen_large.php?gr=2&img=62http://www.markofchaos.com/screen_large.php?gr=2&img=57[Related Links]http://www.markofchaos.com/warhammer.php - Offical website.
Posts
What I could play was fun though.
Yeah, same here...
It would have been the best game ever...
It's not that the game is really horrible, it's just that it was a good foundation with a lot of promises that just didn't live up to its own potential. It could have been like Dawn of War: a titanically great game and solid evolution for the genre (in this case, non-buildy RTSes) but just didn't finish anything it started.
Overall, I think the game still has potential through patches and an expansion; I'm hesitant to touch multiplayer until rulesets are released that restrict what players can take (Warhammer-style Core or Rare choices). It's also optimized quite poorly, though much, much better than beta and release.
Though most of the bugs are gone and the game is playable, it still suffers from the occasional hang or driver issue. Between that and the old-school linear campaign it feels like an incomplete game, but one that had (and still has) a fair amount of potential to improve.
In some ways it's a bit closer, but unlike Dawn of War it doesn't really add anything. Whether or not you appreciated DoW's "RTSing" of the Warhammer 40k game, it did add elements that some players like in a video game. Mark of Chaos didn't do this in the least, and the core tabletop mechanics don't provide much to do while playing the game.
Also, a lot of key TT components; flanking, unit formations, and all that are really watered down or not there. Units can walk right through each other, shoot into combat freely, and flanking is of dubious value. The sum effect is a game where you just don't do much. Though maneuvers and flanking help a bit, they're trumped by massing up the best troops you have with some uber-characters and blindly throwing them at the enemy.
Dark Omen was underrated. I went into this hoping it'd recapture a little of that flavour, but it didn't. At all.
I miss watching cannonballs plough through zombies.