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Warhammer
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Pre-GC 2007: Warhammer: Battle March Hands-on
Orcs and Elves march from the PC onto the 360.
by David Craddock
August 16, 2007 - I've done it all at least, what, a million times now? Two million? I've spent time and money building up my core base, scouted for expansion areas, carefully researched technology upgrades, gathered swarms of units for an invasion, used defensive structures and units to turn back waves of enemies.... I've played RTS games for about a decade and a half, but never before have I played one on a console.
Yes, I'm one of those keyboard-and-mouse elitist jerks who, before this past week, had never even thought of attempting any strategy game on a console. Sure, Command & Conquer 3 was supposed to have implemented a decent control scheme, and allegedly so did The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth II, but no way. I couldn't bring myself to play them with a controller. It'd be sacrilege--right?
Not in the least.
Black Hole Games and Namco Bandai Games plan to continue the popular trend of bringing a full PC game, Warhammer: Mark of Chaos, and its forthcoming expansion, Battle March, to a console in one, shrink-wrapped box titled Warhammer: Battle March. Featuring Mark of Chaos' Empire, Chaos, Skaven, and High Elves armies, the Battle March expansion adds two new forces: the Dark Elves, and the combined Orcs & Goblins.
Dark forces on the move.
Contrary to simply porting the PC version of the game, Black Hole and Namco Bandai aim to make the game a unique experience on the Xbox 360. As the playing field materialized, the first obvious difference became apparent. Elements such as character portraits and skills have been nicely packed together as a dial located in the upper-right corner of the screen. A great effort has been made to clear away as many of the HUDs found in almost any PC strategy game in order to free up as much screen real estate as possible.
In addition to overhauling the user interface, the team at Black Hole has worked tirelessly on ensuring that Battle March controls well using a controller. As mentioned, this is the element of the game that most concerned me, but my fears were assuaged as I got accustomed to the game. Moving the cursor and scrolling the screen is accomplished using the left analog stick. Should players want control over just the cursor, a quick Unlock option located in the main menu will still the camera, allowing for more precise control. Pressing A after moving the cursor over a group of similar units selects them, while pressing B deselects all units. Every unit available onscreen can be gathered by double-clicking the left analog stick.
Oh yes, there will be blood.
Upon referencing my minimap, I eyed a group of hostile units--denoted by the usual RTS color of red--to the north. I gathered all of my troops, including a couple of special Heroes, and began a hasty march across windswept, cracked rock. Thick crags bordering my legions on either side served to impede our view of an enemy force hiding behind a cliff base. The ambush would have worked, but my numbers were far, far greater. Positioning my cursor over the small mass of dwarves that had begun to pour from their hiding place, I pressed A, then sat back and watched as my forces ripped the sturdy dwarves into chunks of beard, armor, and flesh.
Learning my lesson, I decided to "attack-move," a handy technique familiar to most RTS gamers. Moving my cursor ahead to an as-of-yet unexplored region of the map, I again pressed A, this time while holding the Left Trigger. So doing caused the cursor to glow red, indicating that my troops would engage any unfortunate stragglers as they moved toward their objective.
As I came within range of my prey, I had my units stop slightly short, not wanting to alert the enemy entourage too early. I had a little something special in store for this bunch. Unfortunately for them, they, as did the now-dead party of dwarves, were greatly outnumbered compared to my army. Yes, I could have grinded them into the dry mountain floor in less than three seconds, but I wanted to do a bit of experimenting with the control scheme first.
Moving the cursor slightly ahead of my current position, yet still rather far from the enemy's position, I pressed and held A, allowing a grid depicting a formation to appear on screen. Tiny green circles glowed on the ground, signaling where my individual groups would be placed; in their center was a broad arrow, facing forward. Still holding A, I slowly rotated the analog stick, twisting the arrow to point in different directions. I released the A button, thereby ordering my troops to march northwest. As they came to a halt, my archers, being within an appropriate range, sent piercing shafts whistling through the air, climbing, climbing, until they began to fall with a sigh, which was cut off abruptly as they sank into the chests and throats of my adversaries. This, of course, sent them running forward, right into my next trap.
Command your dark legions to do your bidding.
Holding the Right Trigger brings up depictions of all available hero units in a dial, the perimeter of which is covered by a glowing blue strip, which signifies their magic meter. Stilling holding the Right Trigger, I flicked the left analog stick to the right, which selected an assassin character. I released the trigger and selected a poison skill, which spreads a toxic green cloud in an area designated by the player after selecting the skill. Sure enough, the foolish warriors took the bait and ran directly into the fog of death.
The enemy's Hero was able to survive my vicious onslaught, as were a number of his followers. They weren't to last long, as my melee units had entered the fray amid the steady pelting of arrows from my archers still obediently positioned a safe distance away. It was at this point that the demonstration crew told me about Hero Duels, which, once initiated, see two Heroes battle to the death while encased in a ring of fire. Afraid of killing the enemy Hero before getting a chance to see a duel in action, I handed over the controller, sat back, and watched.
Within a handful of moments, flames sprouted from the ground to wrap around the two combatants. Every unit in proximity, regardless of allegiance, stopped to watch the coming battle. Spell effects filled the battle sphere as the Heroes clashed, their respective armies watching in awe, each waiting to pounce on the victor should their champion lose. In fact, losing is far better than running, since fleeing a duel deals a significant morale loss to the cowardly Hero's troops. Better to be a man and fight to the bitter end.
Of course, I only say this because my Hero won.
"Which way to Mt. Doom?"
This ended my demonstration of Warhammer: Battle March, but the team wasn't content to leave without casually mentioning that a multiplayer mode currently in development featured an arena built for Hero Duels. After one is defeated, another will emerge to challenge the victor. "Think of it like Blood Sport," one said with a smile.
I'm happy to admit that my first time playing a console RTS was enjoyable. The control scheme was easy to learn, though a few interfaces required quite a few controller button presses and analog stick movements to access. Of course, Battle March isn't due until some time next year, so the team has time to iron out these and other issues that are sure to appear. Console RTS fans should keep an eye on this one.
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I had a really cool Warhammer squad based FPS on my computer years and years and years ago. I'll probably Gamefly this. We have any Warhammer fanatics here?
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