Reviewed: December 12, 2006
Reviewed by: John DeWeese

Publisher
Namco Bandai Group

Developer
Black Hole Entertainment

Released: November 14, 2006
Genre: RTS
Players: 1
ESRB: Mature

7
9
8
6
7.9

System Requirements

I’ll start off by saying the developers at Black Hole Entertainment have nailed the gritty atmosphere perfectly with Warhammer: Mark of Chaos. Several games have tried to bring to life universe first imagined by Games Workshop to life over the past 10 years, but Mark of Chaos is the only game to even come close to the mark. This is why it pains me to say this game falls just short of being the next big strategy title.

I would describe Mark of Chaos as a cross between Warcraft 3 and Medieval 2 with more blood and mayhem, but I make that statement with a big caveat. Mark of Chaos is a jack-of-all-trades title that doesn't shine in any one category. The battles just can't compare with the sheer epic fights of Medieval 2, nor does the hero system really measure up to Warcraft 3. The single player campaign is decent, if not terribly original. Furthermore, performance issues and a clunky UI get in the way of what should be a killer strategy experience.

Players can choose to lead the good factions of the Empire (humans with gunpowder technology) and the High Elves, or go over to the dark side with the demonic Chaos warriors or the mutant rat Skaven. Other races, such as Orcs and Dwarves, make appearances as mercenaries but lack the troop variety of the Big Four. On the plus side, each main faction has themed army lists that offer subtle differences in what kind of units can be recruited.

For example, a Chaos army that serves the Lord of Decay Nurgle will have access to plaguebearers, demonic units that can survive massive damage and spread disease. By contrast, the bloodletter demons found in the Blood God Khorne’s army list can mow down enemy troops with their two-handed swords, but lack the staying power of Nurgle’s minions.

Before a battle, players use gold points to purchase regiments and troop upgrades, including better armor, weapons, and regimental banners. You can opt to just go with basic troops, make your foot soldiers hardened veterans with the best equipment, or buy expensive cavalry and monsters. Unit size is tied to experience level, so it’s hard to build massive regiments without paying for veteran status. While I hated the fact I couldn't buy hordes of cannon fodder on the cheap, I was thoroughly impressed with the level of customization in building an army.

The biggest step in army building is selecting which heroes will lead your motley band. Each hero has skill points that can be invested in the command, combat, or dueling skill trees. Command skills help heroes rally fleeing units, combat skills allow you to make special attacks against enemy regiments, and dueling skills help you take out enemy heroes in single combat. Obviously, a hero's class also has a big bearing on how they perform in certain scenarios. Empire fire mages are very good at blasting apart enemy regiments with devastating spells, but will quickly die in a duel with a Skaven assassin or Chaos warrior champion.

Just like in the tabletop game, heroes are meant to be the lynchpin of your army. Most commanders will spend massive gold to arm heroes from head to foot with magic items, or give them access to such magnificent mounts as dragons and griffins. A lone hero can easily be picked off if surrounded, so battle planning becomes a fine balancing act of giving heroes the right troops to get the job done.

Battles tend to be extremely fast-paced and bloody. Regiments maneuver across the field, trying to grab key terrain such as hills or towers while outflanking the foe. Every unit has its place – cavalry may have the mobility but ranged units and artillery can tear apart charging units before they have a chance to close. Many units have special abilities that can be activated during battle – from Empire knights being able to form a devastating wedge charge to Skaven gutter runners being able to tunnel beneath foes.

Despite the fun mayhem that often ensues during battles, there are two major problems with the combat system. The first is the dueling feature, where two heroes square off and do battle mano y mano. Despite the initial cool factor of watching an Empire knight take on vile Chaos lord, micromanaging duels is quite a headache while you're still desperately sending commands to other units. It doesn’t help that duels are usually decided by spamming the same attack or defense skill buttons over and over until one hero flees or dies.

The other big flaw is the morale system – something that should have been integral to gameplay. On the plus side, each unit has a morale bar you can monitor to see if your soldiers are close to losing their nerve. Heroes can boost morale, as well as banners and certain magic items. Yet it can be tough to force enemy units to flee, even when you’ve delivered the perfect charge to their rear flank. In the tabletop game it’s very easy for pursuing regiments to wipe out broken units, but that’s not always the case in Mark of Chaos. Fleeing units often rally just in time to deliver a counterattack, turning battles into tit-for-tat attrition fests.

Other features that mar an otherwise good strategy title are the clunky UI and ho-hum single player campaign. During my first battle, I realized my computer was acting a bit sluggish at the highest video settings. I clicked on options to turn down the graphic level a notch but realized I couldn’t make any video or audio adjustments in the middle of a battle. Nor could I save the battle before exiting out to make changes. I also found no way to slow down battles while I give orders or speed things up when I’m waiting for enemy units to close. If I wanted to play a single player skirmish against the computer, I had to create a “LAN” multiplayer game first. Finally, I became fed up with hotkeys that never seemed to work for my units and long load times between maps.

The single-player campaign was too limited for my tastes. The forces of light and chaos have separate campaigns, which chronicle the rise to power of Empire Captain Stefan Von Kessel or Chaos Champion Throgar The Blooded respectively. Don’t be fooled when you first see the campaign map – it’s only for looks since the campaign is pre-scripted. You can reinforce your army or buy new items while occupying a town, but otherwise settlements give you no inherent bonus like the Total War strategy map. In fact, the only way to afford new troops or heroes is to capture gold after winning battles. Except for a few optional missions, most battles are mandatory. There is no way to rush reinforcements to an area or ambush attackers like in the Total War campaign.

I’m not saying pre-scripted campaigns can’t be done well; just look at Company of Heroes. But for every cool mission in Mark of Chaos there is another that is just plain frustrating. I loved raiding a caravan carrying sacred relics while playing Chaos or infiltrating a Skaven warren while playing the Elves. But those sweet moments don’t outweigh the sieges that seemed to drag on forever or boring assaults across yet another bridge.

The worst missions force your hero to fight alone against mobs of enemies, such as the crypt mission where Captain Steffan must wade through hordes of undead. Solo hero missions wouldn’t be so bad except your hero has only a few attacks to spam over and over. Nothing is more frustrating than hitting a group of skellies with a power attack, riding away while the attack cools down, then charging back to do it again for the 22nd time. I play games like Mark of Chaos to control hundreds of troops – if I want to grind monsters for loot I’ll go log onto a MMOG.

The special effects really add a level of excitement, with cannon balls mowing down dozens of soldiers, Skaven warpfire throwers covering regiments in sickly green fire, and cavalry charges throwing infantry high into the air. I give extra kudos for such graphical aids as radius markers so you can gauge if a target is within the range.

What makes Mark of Chaos truly stand out in the graphics department is the army design tool. A powerful color editing palette allows you to easily change the colors of your troops or make unique-looking banners that your troops will carry into battle. Furthermore, you can swap out helmets, shields and even torsos of your troops. Mark of Chaos is one of the few strategy games on the market that allow average players to create a truly unique army without having to learn advanced modding.

The voice acting ranges from terrific to passable. I loved hearing Chaos troops scream such gems as "seed the bellies of your foes with your blades!", but listening to Elven mages prattle on about "there's hope yet for this world" got on my nerves.

Where Mark of Chaos may eventually prove its greatest value is in multiplayer. Being able to take a fully customized army online and duke it out with multiple opponents ought to be a dream come true for strategy fans. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a big population playing this game currently, even when recent patches have greatly improved multiplayer performance.

I first thought Mark of Chaos would easily make my top 10 list of favorite strategy games, but several weeks later it's become just another guilty pleasure.