Warhammer: Chaosbane – Preview

When I heard that there was an RPG being created in the Warhammer world, my heart literally jumped off of a cliff. I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into it! Fast-forward a couple of months later, and the Beta landed. I couldn’t wait and jump at the first occasion that was presented to me and immediately installed the game. Well, if you couldn’t guess? I am a huge Warhammer nerd. I got a bookcase filled with Warhammer books, Fantasy and 40K, got nearly every game that has the Warhammer branding on it, even tried to dabble in the tabletop, but canned that when I realized that my painting skills weren’t up to par (one day… one day). So guys, want to know if the game’s got potential? Let’s preview the beta and see where they stand, shall we?

The Beta Package.

Oh sweet baby jezus, my little ticky tickeur (if you haven’t seen allo‘ allo‘, you should!). This might be my little biased soul speaking but I absolutely loved this preview! First, let us talk about Graphics. For what is presented, the beta looks clean. Like really clean! Your surroundings look just like you would expect in the Old World. From the grand grandeur that can be seen in the top screenshot, all the way to the corruption filled sewers. You’ll surely be getting a treat when it comes down to how your surroundings look. Your abilities look powerful as well. You’ll experience the oomph every time that you’ll rush forward to plant your flag down to kill the plague-filled demons. A nice little touch is that each kind of equipment that you wear is physically represented. If the item looks blue, or there are 2 feathers instead of 1 on your helmet or anything else, you’ll see that being translated into your character as well! I like that they thought of these cute little touches. Now let’s talk about the Voices, they suit most of the characters. I liked most of ‘m but I did have to say that I couldn’t really come to enjoy the voice of Teclis (he’s the one that will be giving your quests here). He just sounded uninterested. But that’s just one voice. The rest felt like they suited the in-game characters and brought them to life. And speaking of characters, let’s talk about the Models. It feels like they still needed polishing, so don’t stare yourself blind at how they look. Pretty sure that in the final product they’ll look fleshed out! When it came down to the enemy models though, they looked a lot like a final product and I have to say, the little ones look menacing and dirty, just like you would expect from the worshippers of Nurgle. You’ll also come across some Ungor scum, but those aren’t important. The Story looks promising and seems to have some deep going roots. Where you just start into cleaning out some cultists in the underground catacombs, you’ll quickly find out that there’s more to these cultists and discover that a huge group has been planning this all along. I can honestly say that I am really interested in which places the story will bring us.

What I hope to see.

Know that this is still a somewhat work in progress build, there are still a few things I hope to see, like for instance that they shy away a bit more from the Diablo style. At the moment the game looks and feels like Diablo, but in the Warhammer universe. I didn’t mind it one bit because I played a crap-ton of it back in the day. But I really hope they distance themselves a bit more and make it a bit more unique. I truly hope to see a form of Free Roaming as well, so that you could immerse yourself deeper and truly experience the might and splendor for what it really is. In regards of the Enemies? I really can only pray that they break the mold and dive deeper then most other games in the franchise. When you see these, you’ll mostly find 2 Chaos gods represented. These being Khorne and Nurgle. Rarely you’ll see a champion of Tzeentch or Slaanesh. Beastmen you’ll come across from time to time. But there are still so many more out there! Skaven, Lizardmen, Orcs, … I truly hope that during our travels across the Old World, that we’ll see some ratfolk or anything other then Ungor and Nurgle champions! In regards of the Font? My god I hope they enlarge it! I’m playing this on 55 inch 4K tv, but Sigmar be damned I couldn’t read a damn when it came to the stats on my weapons and other equipment! I want to enjoy the game, without binoculars if possible?

Wrapping it up!

For what I got to see in this beta, I am truly amazed. And I really cannot wait to see what the full and final release will bring us! Sure it still had some minor glitches and bugs, but that’s what the beta is for. To weed out some more stuff, while bringing us a more detailed look into how the game operates and how the mechanics will be. I can say that I am a fan already, but I really hope they delve deep into the Warhammer Lore because this Fantasy world is truly huge! It deserves attention and I really hope they give it the respect it deserves! So people? Enjoy the Beta, give your feedback to the devs and let’s get ready for the 4th of June when the full release will drop! This is me signing out now, I got to smash me some heretic skulls in! FOR THE EMPIRE!!