There can be worse things than a curse of abundance, right?. The Curse of Abundance – is the Warhammer Franchise in Trouble?
Table of Contents
Battlefleet Gothic: Armada
It seems that the highlights of this "second wave" are the games representing more niche genres. Such is, for example, Battlefleet Gothic: Armada – another adaptation of a classic Games Workshop tabletop game that will represent the real-time space strategy genre. As it was done in Eternal Crusade, the forces of the Empire, Chaos, Orcs and Eldar will all be pitted against each other, but this time we won't command these fractions directly, but rather their fleets – ranging from relatively small frigates to large ships. Our units will gain experience that will translate to better equipment or special abilities of the crew. The game is developed by a studio specializing in science-fiction strategies, namely Tindalos Interactive, utilizing Unreal Engine 4 technology. One has to admit that the first screenshots look amazing, so you might want to keep an eye on this title. Battlefleet Gothic: Armada will be available for PC. We don't know yet when to expect the launch of this game.
Warhammer: The End Times – Vermintide
Another original idea among the discussed games is presented in Warhammer: The End Times – Vermintide. The easiest way to describe this title is to say that it's Left 4 Dead meeting the Old World. We join a team composed of four adventurers, fighting against Skaven for the city of Ubersreik. We have to work closely together to achieve our goals and prevent the ratmen from killing us. We will find representatives of several different character classes (e.g. a hunter using a firearm) at our disposal, who have their own motivations and historical traits, revealed gradually in the course of our adventures. Although the authors of the discussed game – Fatshark studio – haven’t made a great impression lately by releasing a not too good Escape Dead Island, they also have successful online action titles in their portfolio, such as War of the Roses and War of the Vikings. Therefore, the quality of Warhammer: The End Times – Vermintide is not something we should worry about. This game will be available for PC and eighth-generation consoles (XONE, PS4). We should expect its launch later this year.
Space Hulk: Deathwing
We are also going to get a first-person action game in the Warhammer 40K setting – Space Hulk: Deathwing, developed for PC, XONE and PS4 by Streum Studio. This is yet another adaptation of the Space Hulk board game, but this time the developers have only borrowed its plot. As a true FPS set in a science-fiction world, it will offer dynamic action and many nasty alien to dispose of. We are going to use all the iconic tools of destruction available in the world of Warhammer 40K, such as bolters and chainswords. Since we are going to assume the role of a member of an elite unit known as Librarians, we will also make use of psionic powers, among others, developed with points earned in the course of the campaign. The use of Unreal Engine 4 lets us hope for a really juicy shooter. Unfortunately, this promising teaser is shadowed by the fact that the game was announced one and a half year ago, indicating the original release date for the previous year, but the developer seems to take its time creating this project. We are hoping that the title is at least in beta phase...
Warhammer 40,000: Dark Nexus Arena
We haven’t forgotten to include something more cliché in our overview – in late February a debuting studio Whitebox Interactive announced Warhammer 40,000: Dark Nexus Arena. As the title suggests, it will be a MOBA set in a science-fiction world. The feature that is supposed to distinguish it from the competition is the control and fighting system, reminiscent of old arcade and console shooters... And that's basically all there is to say about it – the remaining details should be roughly the same as in other games of said genre, that is to say that we will get to choose different characters from the Warhammer 40K universe and the gameplay will boil down to clashes of teams composed of several players. Since, however, the production will launch no earlier than in 2016, perhaps the work of Whitebox Interactive will surprise us with something more original... For the time being, it's hard to consider it one of the contenders for the MOBA throne.
Total War: Warhammer
We’ve saved a true gem for last – Total War: Warhammer. Although Creative Assembly has not yet officially announced this production, the reports so far indicate that its development is almost certain. Even if the developer once again commits a sin or repetitiveness and technical imperfection – as it happened in the case of Total War: Attilla – fans of Warhammer (or at least its battle version) will surely be able to talk about one of the best computer adaptations of their favorite universe. Creative Assembly are experts on strategy, so there's no need to worry that they'll mess something up this time – even if this is their first encounter with a fantasy setting in the discussed cycle.
Although it is difficult to be surprised that anyone would be angry with Games Workshop for the current offer of Warhammer-related games, I think we should just get over the dubious little productions such as Storm of Vengeance and wait to see what the future holds. And the prognosis, as shown above, looks rather optimistic. Of course, virtually any of the listed projects may eventually turn out to be a disaster of smaller or bigger proportions – with the exception of such sure hits as the works of Creative Assembly – but it's hard to believe that this curse of abundance won’t result in at least one or two titles worth the attention of hardcore players. On the other hand, it is also possible that after a series of interesting announcements, the licensors and/or developers will once again turn towards simple games bringing disgrace to the Warhammer franchise; this is, however, beyond our power. All we can do is keep our fingers crossed for the developers and wait for further news... especially an answer to a rather burning question: where the hell is Dawn of War III?
