Now Playing: Warhammer 2

Warhammer 2 is exactly what it needed to be. It’s more Total War: Warhammer – but even better. It likely won’t win over any new fans because at heart it’s just more of the same. But as I said in my First Impressions post – it’s a very polished, refined and upgraded version of the original. If you liked Warhammer 1, you’ll like Warhammer 2. It really is that simple.

My only concern prior to release was the price. Is there enough new content and mechanics within Warhammer 2 to justify its status as a fully priced ‘sequel’? After more than 80 hours of play, I’d say the answer is yes.

There are four new races – High Elves, Dark Elves, Lizardmen and Skaven – fighting on a large, entirely new campaign map which covers the ‘New World’ of the Warhammer universe. The map is split into four quite distinct continents – the jungles of Lustria, the deserts of the Southlands, the bleak wastelands of Naggaroth and the beautiful island of Ulthuan.

Each race has distinct, varied and extensive unit rosters and unique campaign mechanics. They each have two Lords to choose from and, aside from the Dark Elves, these Lords are split between different areas of the map, ensuring very different campaigns even when playing as the same race.

The campaign of Warhammer 2 is exactly the improvement I was hoping for. It’s the most narrative heavy Total War campaign released, based around a magical Vortex that has the power to contain or unleash the forces of Chaos upon the world.

Although you can ignore the Vortex ‘story’ and simply focus on a domination victory, I don’t think it’s worth playing the Vortex campaign if you do – you’d be better off sticking to the Mortal Empires campaign (more on that later) if all you want to do is expand and conquer.

I said in my Impressions post that I can see some fans really hating the Vortex mechanics because it does somewhat remove the ‘sandbox’ element from the campaign. As you progress you’ll unlock five rituals, each of which must be performed to unlock the ‘final battle’. Rituals take time to complete and spawn random Chaos armies which will rampage through your territory in an attempt to halt your progress.

The other races can also spawn ‘intervention’ armies to send against your ritual sites – and you can do the same to them. The Vortex campaign is a race and there can only be one winner. It’s not only a more narrative heavy campaign (with the welcome addition of animated cut-scenes advancing the story for your chosen race) but also a far more objective focused campaign.

Controlling ritual resource sites becomes key if you want to stay a step ahead of the pack, and completing missions is a great way to boost your ritual ‘currency’. It’s a great way of keeping you engaged through the entire length of your campaign – always an issue in previous Total War games – but that’s not to say it doesn’t raise new problems of its own.

The first is campaign replay value. Once you’ve beaten the ‘story’ as a race, there’s not much excitement for playing through it again, even with the different start locations for each of the Lords. I suppose that’s where Mortal Empires steps in – a sandbox ‘mega map’ which combines the content of Warhammer 1 & 2. But Mortal Empires isn’t strictly Warhammer 2 content as it requires ownership of Warhammer 1 – so I won’t be factoring it into my review of the ‘base’ Warhammer 2 experience.

The Vortex campaign also has a problem with repetition. Despite the unique races, units and mechanics, beating the campaign is achieved by each race in exactly the same way. Once you’ve taken at least three of the ‘resource’ sites, you should be able to pull ahead in the race quite easily – but once you do, there’s very little reason to continue to expand.

The Chaos and Intervention armies that spawn mean you’re better off playing turtle within your own territory once your borders are secure. If you’re ahead in the race, it’s far easier to sit tight and simply defend what you have.

This can be fun, in the sense that unlike Warhammer 1, you’ll actually get to fight some large, enjoyable siege battles against varied armies not only of Chaos but the other major races, but it also means that you’ll likely approach every campaign, regardless of race, in a similar manner. As I said, the Vortex campaign is more of a story and objective focused campaign than a sandbox – which won’t be to everyone’s taste.

That’s not to say you won’t get good value from the title. Because if, like me, you enjoy this style of campaign, you’ll want to complete it with all four races to see how their story plays out. At the time of writing, I’m coming to the end of my second campaign with over 80 hours played, and I intend to play at least two more campaigns.

Warhammer 2 features a lot of quality of life improvements over Warhammer 1. Things like the new end turn customisation options, or the end turn notifications custom options – there’s a lot more ways to customise your UI and how much or little information you need.

Other new additions to the campaign (which will also roll into the Mortal Empires campaign) include treasure hunting within ruined settlements – although I never found this particularly worth the time – and sea based discoveries – which are very much worth your time, especially in the early game for the financial boosts they can provide.

Campaign and Battle AI seems fairly on par with Warhammer 1. There’s no noticeable steps forward, but none back either. It’s a competent AI which does a decent enough job to provide an enjoyable experience.

Magic seems to have been seriously boosted in Warhammer 2, which is a very welcome change. Magic in battles, though fun to use in Warhammer 1, never felt very effective beyond the unit augments or hexes. But now, the visually spectacular spells such as vortex attacks, finally do the kind of damage their cost deserves.

A ‘climate’ system has replaced the occupation restrictions of Warhammer 1, and seems like a decent compromise, although I’m sure some players still won’t be happy. It seems like some just hate the notion of any penalties at all, or being forced into making tactical decisions regarding their expansion.

All of these improvements and alterations will feed directly into Mortal Empires which for many will become the primary way to play Total War: Warhammer. It certainly seems like it will render the Warhammer 1 campaign redundant, which is why I appreciate that the Warhammer 2 Vortex campaign will still offer a different experience for those looking for a smaller, more focused campaign.

Siege battles are still mostly the same, despite more variety to settlement design, and this remains an area that could use further improvement. The lack of naval battles or even dedicated naval units (outside of the Dark Elf Black Ark) is also disappointing considering the extensive sea regions between continents. But I’ve heard there may be licensing issues regarding the naval component of Warhammer Fantasy, so this may not be within their control – but it’s something I’d still like to see in the future.

Overall, Warhammer 2 is another fantastic entry into the Total War series, and an excellent sequel to an excellent game that unfortunately also renders that game somewhat redundant. Between the new Vortex and Mortal Empires campaign, there’s really no reason to return to Warhammer 1 at all. I’m actually quite surprised by just how much new stuff is packed into Warhammer 2 in addition to all of the small improvements.

Warhammer 1 felt like the shake up Total War needed. It breathed fresh life into the series. It was a ‘revolution’ title, just like the original Rome, Empire or Shogun 2, because it set a new course for the series to follow. That’s why, despite thinking that the release build of Warhammer 2 is better than that of Warhammer 1, I’m giving it a slightly lower score.

Because it’s an evolution, rather than a revolution. But it’s exactly the kind of evolution I wanted to see. Highly recommended.

8/10

E-Book Release: Wait For The Dawn

A year has passed since the outbreak and Olivia is on the run. Only she and the blind girl were able to escape the slaughter at the farm. They flee to the City seeking shelter, pursued relentlessly by the virus-mutated hounds. Rescued by a small band of hunters, Olivia and Lily are escorted to a refuge deep within the City.

But as they soon discover, the bloodthirsty hounds are not the only threat they must contend with. Ghosts stalk the deserted streets, seeking unsuspecting prey. And one dangerous survivor is gathering an army against the infected. He intends to eradicate all traces of the virus and those transformed by it, and will wipe out anyone – human or not – who stands in his way.

Wait For The Dawn is a four part, young-adult novella series of post-apocalyptic horror, survival and friendship.

Now Playing: Prey

I want to like Prey more than I do. It’s a good game, but also a frustrating one. It just couldn’t quite take that final step from good to great in the way that I wanted it to. It’s a game that’s clearly taken inspiration from the ‘Shock’ series of games – most notably, System Shock 2. And SS2 is one of, if not my favourite game ever.

Prey is set upon Talos 1, a space station not so dissimilar to Citadel Station in the original System Shock. But though the setting may be more SS1, the gameplay is entirely based upon SS2. You begin, as in SS2, with a simple wrench, but your inventory soon expands to include a range of conventional ‘security’ weapons (pistol & shotgun) to more advanced, laser based weaponry.

Your character can also install cyber-modules – sorry, neuromods – which grant a range of ‘human’ upgrade options based around hacking, repair, health and weapon proficiency. But as you progress, you’ll also gain access to more exotic abilities including telekinetic attacks – just like the psi powers of SS2.

Hell, you even have psi-hypos to restore your psi points in addition to health packs and food. Like SS2, you’ll find written and audio logs as you explore Talos 1. You’ll also be able to ‘research’ your opponents – although the research system is more similar to that in Bioshock than SS2.

That’s not to say Prey doesn’t have any new ideas of its own – most notably the mimic ability and the ‘gloo’ gun – but it’s very clearly structured both in terms of story, environment and gameplay upon System Shock 2. And I f**king love System Shock 2. So why don’t I love Prey?

In Prey you play as Morgan Yu who awakes upon Talos 1 to find everything has gone to shit. Guided by other characters you’ll explore the station section by section, upgrading your abilities, securing new weapons and hacking doors and safes. There’s a fairly substantial core quest chain in addition to a large number of side quests.

Which brings me to my first major issue with Prey – there’s too much content. It seems like an odd complaint to make, but Prey is overloaded with what I’d describe as ‘low quality filler’. The majority of the side quests really aren’t worth your time, at least not from a narrative perspective. The problem is, you never know which quest will lead to something interesting.

And this creates pacing issues with the main quest. If, like me, you’re someone who likes to explore everything you can and complete as much as you can, you’ll find yourself bouncing from one end of the station to the next, backtracking through sections multiple times. Which wouldn’t be such an issue if the side quests led to something interesting – but only a handful do.

These side quests only detract from the focus on your core mission. Yes, they’re optional, but some of them are so short and uninteresting that you wonder why they were even included. System Shock 2 didn’t have or need dozens of busy work side quests. It kept a laser focus on your core objectives and anything else you discovered emerged naturally through your own exploration.

Prey didn’t need all these busy work mini-quests, either. It bombards the player with needless distractions that only lead to disappointment and irritation, as you realise you wasted 10-15 minutes of your time on an entirely pointless errand.

And this leads into my second issue – environment design. Whilst the individual sections of Talos 1 are great, the overall structure of the station and the way you traverse it is just . . . not very fun. Some sections can only be accessed by traversing other sections and you’ll find yourself passing through some areas so many times you may get sick of them. Unlike System Shock 1 or 2, there’s no central lift to connect every deck.

As much as I like the design and individual sections of Talos 1, navigating the station can be irritating and repetitive. That said, I did really like being able to access the station exterior and fly between different airlocks – it’s a neat and welcome addition, even if I frequently crashed into things because of the fiddly flight controls.

My third major issue with Prey is enemy design. The early mimic creatures are great, but the ‘phantom’ creatures you later encounter are rather dull and generic and not particularly interesting to fight. There’s a ‘fire’ enemy. An ‘electric’ enemy. It’s all a little by the numbers. There’s a couple more interesting critters that I won’t spoil, but it’s not a great selection.

And finally, my fourth major issue is story. Prey, I’m sad to say, just isn’t terribly interesting from a story or character perspective. It’s not bad. It just lacks the edge it needs to really draw you in. There’s no real ‘antagonist’ as such, which I actually kind of liked – although the game unfortunately makes a poor and misguided late attempt at one – but the plot lacks drive. It never quite gets you invested in its story. At least, it didn’t for me.

Getting bogged down by low quality side quests certainly didn’t help, but the main plot, whilst not bad at all – it’s actually pretty decent with some interesting ideas – never really engaged me. And whilst I appreciated that the game didn’t try to put together a lame final ‘boss’ to fight, the ending does feel incredibly rushed to the point where I sat back and said ‘is that it?’ I even checked the ending online in case my game had bugged out and I’d missed something.

To say that Prey has a disappointing and flat ending would be an understatement. It’s also an ending with a couple of twists, at least one of which you’ll see coming fairly easily if you pay any attention to the various logs and audio files. It’s still an interesting ending and an interesting plot in general. I just wish it was better executed.

Aside from those main issues, Prey has several other small annoyances that hold it back. The hacking mini-game is irritating and not fun. The UI is clearly designed for a control pad, which can make it awkward to use. The game makes a thing of using automated turrets and sealing doors to ‘secure’ areas, but enemies respawn regularly and half the time you’ll return to a section only to find your turrets destroyed making you wonder why you bothered.

Seriously, I tested this shit. One time I left four fortified turrets guarding the main section entrance. I departed the section and then immediately returned to find all four turrets wrecked and no enemies in sight. It makes using spare parts repairing them entirely worthless.

The game gives you a ton of cool abilities, but you rarely need to use any of them. The mimic ability is great at first, but only actually useful in a handful of situations – it’s more of a novelty than anything. The same applies to the extensive range of ‘exotic’ powers, only one of which saw frequent use – there’s really little reason to bother with the others.

Visually, Prey looks oddly dated. Audio is fine. Performance isn’t great though. Considering how dated it looks, it’s a surprisingly taxing title. I had to drop most settings to a ‘medium’ configuration to keep a solid 60.

Overall, despite my complaints and what may seem like an overly negative impression based on this review, Prey is a good game. It just has too many issues dragging it down, pulling it back from being great. It’s frustrating because the potential is there – but it never manages to take that final step. As a fan of the ‘Shock’ series, it was good to play a title that, in many ways, feels like a new ‘Shock’ game in all but name. I don’t know if we’ll see more of Prey, but there’s certainly scope to expand and continue this story – and it’s something I’d like to see.

7/10

Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (BETA)

Let’s start with the good. The visuals and audio are excellent – although this was to be expected. Once again, Battlefront delivers an engaging and authentic Star Wars experience. And I’m pleased to say that many of my criticisms of the original appear to have been addressed.

There’s a new class system for infantry and vehicles and each class feels distinct to play. Every class has access to unique weapons and abilities, each of which can be further customised via attachments or Star Card boosts.

There’s far more release day content, not only as far as multiplayer content goes, but a full single player campaign. There’s also no Season Pass for DLC – all post release maps and modes will be free. And what I’ve played of this beta, I have to say, I’ve quite enjoyed, despite the criticisms I’m about to raise.

Okay, time for the bad. The beta offered 3 multiplayer modes – Galactic Assault, Starfighter Assault and Strike. Galactic Assault, as you might expect, is the centrepiece of Battlefront 2, just as Walker Assault was to Battlefront 1. It’s the largest mode in terms of players and maps, with multi-stage objectives and access to a wide variety of vehicles and heroes.

I don’t have an issue with the mode as such, but rather the beta map – Naboo. This beta is being used as much to sell the game as to test it, so I would assume that, like with Battlefront 1, they’d lead with what they considered to be one of, if not the best of the release maps. And that worries me, because the Naboo map isn’t very good.

It’s essentially just a very long, very straight corridor split into two sections – palace exterior and palace interior. The exterior feels too large for the player count – still 20v20 – and the interior too small. You can spend the first half of the map running around barely seeing the enemy, and the second engaged in a total clusterf**k of grenade spam and laser fire. I can only hope that not all of the Battlefront 2 maps are quite so linear and uninspired.

My other concern is the viability of the smaller modes. Even in this beta, Starfighter Assault and Strike seemed oddly underpopulated – which was a real shame as far as Starfighter is concerned, because that was by far my favourite part of this beta. But just how many maps will there be for the smaller modes? And if they’re not very popular at release, will they get any post-release support?

My main worry though is multiplayer progression. You level up, but I don’t really know why, as you don’t unlock anything when you do. No new weapons. No attachments. Not even an emote. Individual classes don’t even level up as you play them. All you can ‘earn’ whilst playing is credits, and credits can only be used to purchase Loot Boxes.

These boxes form the micro-transaction model of Battlefront 2 – not unexpected, considering the lack of a Season Pass or DLC. Each box contains three random items that might be weapons, emotes, another form of virtual currency, or a Star Card.

And this wouldn’t bother me too much, if the entire progression system wasn’t reliant upon it. Levelling up should give me something new, and a new goal to attain. The more I play a class, the more I should unlock for it. But in Battlefront 2, you’re just grinding credits so you can buy random Loot Boxes, hoping you’ll get something useful for a class you actually want to play.

Because unless you do, you can’t level up the various classes. In the beta, I primarily played with the Fighter class in Starfighter Assault, but could only reach level 4 because none of the Loot Boxes I opened contained any Fighter Star Cards. Instead, I received a load of Interceptor Class Cards which boosted my Interceptor level to 14 – despite barely playing it.

It sucks and it’s stupid. There’s no other way to say it. Progression shouldn’t be randomised via a damn Loot Box. And what makes it worse, is that the Star Cards these boxes contain now come at different upgrade levels – and some of these upgrades provide an objective advantage in battle. Whilst you can ‘craft’ these upgrades, you need the other form of virtual currency to do so – which is also limited by the randomised Loot Boxes.

It makes Battlefront 2 feel dangerously close to a pay-to-win system, as someone could buy a bunch of these boxes on Day 1, get access to some top-tier Star Card boosts, and have an instant advantage over those who are trying to grind out their credits the old fashioned way. Progression is all about providing an incentive to hit the next level. Battlefront 2 has zero progression beyond randomised loot that may or may not be useful.

I did say in my Battlefront review that whilst the signs for the sequel looked good, I was sure EA would find a way to f**k it up – and this Loot Box system may be it. It hasn’t put me off the game entirely, but I can’t see the ‘progression’ system, as it currently exists within the beta, being very well received.

I’ll be keeping a close eye on Battlefront 2 as it builds to release. I know I’m not the only one with these concerns, so it will be interesting to see how or if they’re addressed.

Total War: Warhammer 2: First Impressions

Is it a sequel? Is it an expansion? Is it a little bit of both? The real question is – is there enough new content in Total War: Warhammer 2 to justify the price? Based on what I’ve currently played, and as a fan of the original Warhammer, I’d say the answer is yes.

If you liked Warhammer 1, you’ll like Warhammer 2, it really is that simple. Warhammer 2 builds upon the solid foundation of Warhammer 1 and adds an additional layer of new content and mechanics. It’s a very polished, refined and upgraded version of the original – so much in fact, that it almost makes Warhammer 1 feel redundant in comparison.

And that feeling will likely only grow with the release of the combined campaign that will incorporate all of the Warhammer 1 content, with the addition of the Warhammer 2 improvements. Does that mean we’ll have no reason to return to the Warhammer 1 campaign? It’s hard to say, but it’s important to remember that without Warhammer 1, we wouldn’t have Warhammer 2.

It’s clear that a lot of the feedback and criticism of Warhammer 1 has fed directly into the development of Warhammer 2. Most notably when it comes to the campaign side of the game. And if there was one key area that I wanted to see Warhammer 2 expand and improve, it was the campaign.

The Vortex Campaign is the most narrative heavy Total War campaign we’ve ever had. Although it is possible to ignore the Vortex mechanics, I don’t see much point playing the campaign if you do – you’d be better off waiting for the combined map if all you want to do is expand and conquer.

The Vortex Campaign is a race from beginning to end and I can see some traditional Total War fans who prefer more slow, leisurely campaigns, being frustrated by the ritual mechanics. Because the AI isn’t a passive player in the Vortex Campaign. It’s actively working towards its campaign goals, whether you choose to participate or not.

Warhammer 1, in many ways, felt restrained. It’s almost like Creative Assembly weren’t quite willing to embrace the Warhammer licence – not entirely – because it was such a radical departure from their previous work.

But as they released more content for Warhammer 1, it was clear they were becoming more bold, more willing to take risks and experiment with the formula. And in Warhammer 2, it feels like those self-imposed shackles have finally been cast off – even at the cost of alienating some of their older fans.

Because I can see some people really hating the Vortex Campaign. As someone who has played the Total War games since Shogun 1 and been a part of the Total War community throughout that time, there is a small, but vocal subset of fans who, as much as they might say they want to be ‘tested’ by the AI, only really want to approach their campaigns at their own pace, fighting and expanding entirely on their own terms. The Vortex Campaign, by design, makes that very difficult. As I said – it’s a race, and if you want to win, you need to keep up or you’ll be left behind.

You have to be active, aggressive and take risks. There’s far more emphasis on taking key territories and completing missions in order to boost your ritual currency. The Vortex Campaign is a very different type of Total War campaign and it’s not going to be to everyone’s liking. But as I’ve said before, doing things differently doesn’t mean doing things wrong. The Total War series has always, with every major release, looked to do something new.

It’s what’s kept the series fresh and popular after so many years. It’s why there’s currently seven Total War games in the Top 100 most played games on Steam and why you’ll receive so many different answers to the question of ‘what’s the best Total War game?’ That said, I’m impressed by how much has changed between Warhammer 1 & 2 because I wasn’t expecting so many new mechanics or features.

I expected Warhammer 2 to just be more of the same but with a new map and races. But Warhammer 2 really does feel like a significant overhaul that improves upon and expands nearly every aspect of the original. I’m genuinely surprised by how much of an upgrade it feels over Warhammer 1 because I really wasn’t expecting it to.

I don’t know how the Warhammer 1 & 2 maps compare in terms of regions, but the map in Warhammer 2 does feel larger, probably because it’s split across four very different continents. I obviously haven’t had a chance to get stuck into every race yet, but from what I’ve seen, the campaign mechanics for each will offer a unique experience and challenge.

The AI seems on par with Warhammer 1 but I’ll need more time to properly assess if there’s any additional improvements. Graphically, it looks amazing, and the lighting on some maps, which could be rather flat and dull on some Warhammer 1 maps, seems to have been improved. The background scenery is great, and the variety of terrains and battle maps (including the return of ‘bridge’ battles) is excellent.

Some people really hated the sieges in Warhammer 1 but I actually quite liked them – or at least, I liked the intent behind them. That doesn’t mean I think they were perfect, and if there’s one aspect to Warhammer 2 that is a little disappointing, it’s that sieges haven’t really changed much at all. There are minor improvements to settlement design and the addition of unique abilities tied to certain settlements, but it’s not the extensive overhaul many might have been hoping for.

Overall, if it wasn’t already clear, I’m very impressed by what I’ve played of Warhammer 2. I’m not quite ready to do a review, because I want to complete at least one campaign to see how things progress during the late game. But so far, so good. Oh, and the music is bloody fantastic.

Call of Duty: WWII (BETA)

I’m not sure what I was expecting. Something new? Something different? I thought that by taking Call of Duty ‘back to its roots’ – so to speak – we might see a change. But no. Call of Duty: WWII is just . . . more of the same. It’s the same tired formula with a new skin.

It’s the same chaotic clusterf**k of an experience. Maps are small, the action is fast, and the TTK (time to kill) is extremely low. If you thought a WWII CoD would feel at least somewhat different to play than those of the more recent modern and ‘future’ warfare trend, think again! This is a game where even WWII shotguns can be equipped with ‘reflex’ sights. No, I’m not joking. I don’t want to call it a lazy re-skin, but based on this beta, that’s exactly what it feels like.

Visually, it looks muddy and dated, yet would frequently gobble up all 8GB of VRAM on my new 1080. Why it’s such a resource hog, I just don’t know, because the visuals certainly don’t justify the high demand – so I can only assume it’s due to extremely poor optimisation.

The beta had a couple of maps available and a fairly by the numbers selection of modes – TDM, Domination and Hardpoint. The only interesting addition is War – an objective focused mode with ‘attack’ and ‘defence’ phases for each team. But if you’re expecting this mode to shift away from the chaos that is the typical CoD MP experience, you’ll be disappointed.

I went into this beta hoping for more. I played the original CoD titles upon release and enjoyed them a lot but the series feels like it’s been stuck in a rut ever since the release of Modern Warfare 2 – which is the last CoD title I purchased.

I guess the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach to design applies. CoD has an established audience that knows what it likes – more of the same. Nothing too radical. Nothing too new. Same shit, different skin.

But I thought this title would be an opportunity to break free of that formula. That’s what I wanted to see. I wanted a new CoD that would bring me back to the series. But instead, CoD WWII just plays it predictably safe. Can we blame them? I mean, why take the risk?

If it sells, why change it? If people want it, why not just give it to them? If you like the established CoD experience then you’ll probably like this too. If, like me, you were hoping for something new, then I wouldn’t bother. Oh well, I suppose there’s always next year.