Video Game Vintage Title: Warhammer: Mark Of Chaos

Warhammer: Mark Of Chaos

Warhammer: Mark of Chaos is a real-time tactics game set in the Warhammer universe. It was developed by Black Hole Entertainment and co-published by Namco Bandai Games in the US and Deep Silver in PAL territories. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in the US on November 14, 2006, with subsequent release in PAL territories on November 23, 2006.

An expansion, Battle March, was released on September 2, 2008. It contains one new campaign and the addition of Dark Elves and Orcs & Goblins as playable races. An Xbox 360 version was released and titled as Warhammer: Battle March, dropping the Mark of Chaos moniker.

Warhammer: Mark Of Chaos Gameplay

The game, according to the developers, is a game "focusing on the armies and battles while de-emphasizing the tedious aspects of base and resource management". Set in the Warhammer Old World, the player can command one of 4 armies from the tabletop game.

The gameplay is primarily focused on battlefield tactics, thus not featuring RTS gameplay aspects like base-building, resource harvesting or in-battle unit production. Instead, the gameplay is intended to be focused on high fantasy/late medieval battles. Its gameplay is superficially similar to its predecessors and the Total War games; however, the basic game play model is significantly more simplified, and battles are more similar to real-time strategy games like Warcraft III than other real-time tactics titles.

The objective for each battle is defeat of the enemy army by either completely destroying it or causing the remaining units to flee off the battlefield. Battles are fought on a variety of landscapes and settings, with specific terrain types granting bonuses or penalties to units. Units also have morale, and will break and flee if they suffer enough damage or get hit by specific types of weaponry, and stamina, which will cause them to lose defense and speed when sufficiently drained.

The basic troop type present in the game is a "unit" which is anything from 1 to 96 "models" depending on the type of unit. The control system is similar to the Total War and Dawn of War in that each unit is given orders as a single entity. As well as standard orders you are also able to arrange your units into a number of formations, with each formation conferring advantages against specific kinds of attacks. Units will also gain experience over the course of a battle or campaign and will gain improved statistics and more models.

In addition to standard units there are special "Hero" units; unique individuals considerably more powerful than the average man or creature. In addition to being able to use and learn new abilities, they can also be equipped with additional weapons, armour or potions that grant the hero with both offensive and defensive skills and bonuses. Heroes also gain experience from fighting, and by gaining levels the player is able to unlock various skills that supplement its combat abilities. They can be attached to standard units, giving the unit a morale boost and increasing its fighting capability through the use of skills. Hero units can also initiate or be challenged to duels, where they fight the opposing army's hero uninterrupted until one slays the other, resulting in a morale penalty for the losing side. This is for the most part fully automated, however the player is also free to activate any duel specific skills the hero has during the course of the duel.

Reception
The game was received with mixed and extremely varying reviews. Reviewers generally praised its distinctive and varied visuals, with the character models and the special effects earning high praise from the majority of reviews, but also criticised the rather basic combat animations and a shallowness of tactical depth for a game focusing purely on battlefield operations.

The single player campaigns received criticism for its linearity, and the storytelling especially when compared to the game's opening cinematic. The multiplayer support was also disparaged for its temperamental and glitch-prone account system and connection issues, although this was addressed and partly fixed in subsequent patches.

Despite the criticisms received however, the game was received positively overall, obtaining an average score of 73 at Metacritic, and similarly an average score of 74% at GameRankings with over 80% of reviews scoring 70% or better.