THQ is taking a serious of stab at bringing Games Workshop’s long running tabletop gaming franchise Warhammer to the world of console gaming. Although the attention has been on the upcoming third person shooter Space Marine, set to release in September, THQ has seen fit to release a dual-stick XBLA title to wet the appetites of gamers and fans everywhere. Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team hit the Xbox LIVE Marketplace last week, and we were lucky to get a chance to play it. And after sitting down with my review code I have to say that I never thought a tabletop based game could be melded into an enjoyable XBLA shooter title.
Aside from fans of the franchise, there is no doubt that many who want to consider this game will not have a clue what the world of Warhammer is about. I could spend a big chunk of this review trying to educate you, but that would take away from my objective of trying to assess this game for you. In a nutshell, the world of Warhammer takes place far in the future with humanity continually at war with other races. Humanity is protected by the Space Marines. This is as much as I will give you here, as the backdrop of the Warhammer universe is a deep and rich fantasy/sci-fi world with a lot of detail.
In terms of Kill Team’s story, it is a simple one. Your Space Marines are battling a race of Orks an effort to destroy an Ork “Kroozer” before it can endanger an imperial forge world. This forge world is basically a large planet that is part of the Imperium’s military industrial complex. For those lost at this description, trust me, you’ll understand it as you play the game.
At its heart, Kill Team is a dual-stick shooter that has you killing wave after wave of enemy as you make your way through the game completing specific objectives. That being said, it does offer up a fresh look and new feature or two to the traditional genre of the dual-stick shooter. Where this game really amps up the experience is that you just don’t take control of one player and go crazy. There are four different classes of Space Marines to choose from. There is a Sternguard Veteran (Ranged Combat specialist), a Vanguard Veteran (Melee Combat specialist), the Librarian (psychic warrior that is more balanced but leans toward melee), and finally there is the Techmarine (like the Librarian, balanced, but ranged combat is more their specialty). What is great about these classes is that along with their focus on specific types of combat each class has a specific special power that will enable you to open up a can of whoop-ass when needed. Bottomline, you will find a class that really suits you and it makes the game that much more enjoyable.
Kill Team also offers up some customizability, and the best way to describe it would be that it is akin to any recent COD game as you can create custom loadouts. You will be able to carry special weapons and use a ‘perk’ system that allows you to attach special abilities. What is neat about this fact is that as you are playing in-game, and you reach an upgrade station mid-level, you can change to newly unlocked weapons or perks (e.g. boost health or extend use of power-ups) and then get back at it. I like the fact that you can tailor your character somewhat for how you play, and even do it in game in the level you are playing. It gives Kill Team a bit more zest so to speak.
Control of the game is quite instinctual and any gamer will find themselves settling in quite quickly. The analog sticks control your movement and shooting while you have a button for using your special ability, one for throwing grenades, a button for melee attacks, and finally a trigger used for sprinting. These controls help you kill many Orks and you will feel quite comfortable doing so.
Kill Team is broken into five levels, and this is one area that I was disappointed. It is not that the levels are bad or poorly designed; it is just that five levels are not a lot and you’ll get through the game in a very short time. I estimate that most gamers will complete Kill Team in 4-5 hours, which is not a lot of time per se. Many may be disappointed, and in some ways I was, but that being said, the game is only 800 MS Points, which is about $10.00, so that is not that bad of a dollar value at all, but in the end more is always better.
For those looking for some replayability, as you make your way through the game you open up survival missions which take place in areas that you experience in game. These are a basic “Stand Your Ground and Kill” Mode separate of the regular game where your goal is to survive the onslaught of enemies. It starts off pretty easy but it ramps up as you play each wave, eventually overwhelming you. You can also search for and collect 10 special emblems hidden throughout the five levels in destructible and/or explosive items. Once you find these 10 emblems you open up some concept art, which for the die-hard Warhammer fan is somewhat rewarding. There is also an online leaderboard for you to compete against. I should also note that those who play this game can unlock a “Power Sword” for the upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine game.
On a more downside, Kill Team’s two-player cooperative is local only. I don’t know who authorized this decision, but to make the cooperative mode local only takes away from the game. Not everyone has a friend or two who can come on over and play through the game’s five levels. Being able to hook up with a friend online to take on the deadly Ork’s would have been much more beneficial for this game, and it would also offer up more replayability given that you could hook up with different friends at different times.
Visually I was quite impressed with Kill Team. The game has a great sense of atmosphere and brings to life the fictional world of Warhammer 40,000. There are not that many levels, but each one looks great. I was quite surprised with the animation of my own Space Marine as well as the waves of enemies that I had to fight. There is ample use of special effects, from particle lighting and shadowing to lots of special effects and explosions. The game runs at a pretty steady framerate which I have to say that given the amount of enemies on screen at once while explosions around you rocked the levels, definitely impressed me. Overall I think that most should be happy with the visuals, and diehard Warhammer fans will love the visual representation of their tabletop game in this arcade title.
As with the visuals, the sound really does bring this game to life. You’ll find that the sound effects as a whole really immerse you into the game, from your bolter firing, objectives exploding, to the various enemies converging on your position, it is pretty solid. Something that you will also notice is that you have an in-game announcer/narrator that consistently tells you what is next or who are coming to try to lay a beat down on you. This addition was surprising for me given that his tone and timing was perfect and he melded into the gameplay seamlessly. If only more games of this nature would use an announcer/narrator just as well the genre would benefit as a whole.
Warhammer 40,000 is a game that really did catch me off guard given that I enjoyed it much more than I expected. Although I have very limited experience with the tabletop game, I would say that what I know is pretty well represented in the visual, audio, and gameplay department, especially given this game is a twin-stick shooter. If I have any complaints, it is that the game is a bit short on gameplay (4 hours or so) and the lack of online cooperative in favour of local cooperative is not acceptable in this day and age of gaming. Regardless, fans of Warhammer will have lots to enjoy here, and gamers in general should take a close look at this XBLA title for sure.
