Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus

The Warhammer 40,000 property has had a rocky history with both incredible and terrible video game releases. While Dawn of War remains a beloved strategy classic, titles like Warhammer 40,000: Gladius show not every studio can successfully carry Warhammer’s legacy.

Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus redeems a long line of mediocre 40k games. As a turn-based combat RPG, it works on every level. The effect is only enhanced by excellent writing and incredible attention to detail.

Warhammer 40,000 fans rejoice: there has been another port to consoles with Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus. As with many turn-based strategy games, it took a little while for this one to be ported, but 2018’s release has reached the PlayStation 4. Has the almost two-year wait been worth it? Find out in our Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus review.

He cited that the game's intuitive controls, its "great" 40K theme, dark and intriguing story, fun role-playing elements, progression system, and customization options were indeed part of the reason he arrived at that score. In terms of cons, he noted that the line of sight can occasionally be wonky, and there needs to be a better way of conveying status effects.

You’d be forgiven for seeing yet another Warhammer 40,000 strategy game and writing it off as another example why handing your IP out to anyone with the most basic coding ability is a bad idea.

Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus has an unmistakable tabletop feel to it and its levels ooze a strange alien atmosphere befitting of Necron tombs. With a surprising amount of writing that fleshes out locations and choices inside missions, engaging tactical battles and a whole suite of equipment to purge xenos with, Mechanicus gives plenty of reasons to stick around for the 20-30 hours it lasts. Its pacing and balancing do begin to falter further in, as gaining Cognition Points becomes a tad too easy after a while, giving the player a little too much leeway in terms of the actions they can take wit...

Warhammer 40k Mechanicus contains a bevy of interesting narrative and mechanical decisions, but this tactics game is also marred by questionable implementations of those decisions. This Switch port often feels poorly thought out, but if you can make your way past its annoyances, you will find an engaging experience, filled with love for 40k lore. I hope to see more from this team, as their creativity and skill shows through with charm, even if this entry was not ultimately without flaws.

Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus is a fun title but the main issues from the PC version are still very much present on the console version and it seriously hindered my enjoyment of the game. n.