Warhammer: Chaosbane

Before attending my first E3 I had virtually no knowledge of the Warhammer universe. Back in college, I was walking around a city in France with a friend and we passed by a comic book store next to a cathedral–you know, as one does. We looked inside and he was surprised at the amount of Warhammer merchandise inside, commenting that it must be a pretty big deal there.

Over the years I’ve seen games pop up with the Warhammer name emblazoned on them and confused about the mix of fantasy and science fiction. The only constant seemed to be a dedication to grit and violence. Apparently it was a universe rich with history that I just did not have the time to invest in. Going in to Warhammer: Chaosbane, I had no expectations outside of the fact that it was set in the same period as the Vermintide games (which have piqued my interest but not graced my hands) and was an action-RPG (which I’m quite familiar with). For fans of this universe, Chaosbane is an easy sell. Spilling the blood of various demons and cultists in your favorite settings will never not be a tantalizing morsel. For those who seek the brisk pace of gorging trash mobs for better loot, Chaosbane will scratch that constantly nagging itch.

Players choose one of four characters: Bragi the Dwarf, wood-elf Elessa, high-elf Elontir, or the human Vollen. After an introductory cutscene plays providing backstory for your chosen hero, we find that Magnus, who led the Empire of men against total destruction from the forces of Chaos, has been cursed by a mysterious figure. The game follows the quest of your hero to stop the forces behind the attack while trying to save the world.

It’s a standard “chosen one” dynamic as your character’s quest starts as one thing but soon spirals into an escalating drama with the forces of evil. Again, I have no established knowledge of Warhammer lore so it did affect my attachment to the game’s world. The story is told in a matter-of-fact way as if understanding players either have knowledge of these worlds and characters or not. Sufficient time is given to justify or fill in the roles of larger figures in the narrative but players will bounce from point A to point B quite frequently.

Personally, I find ARPG narratives easier to follow the second time over, once a resolution has been arrived at. It is also not advisable to get a grip on dialog when playing online with strangers, as many players usually blitz through levels and conversations with little regard for those who may be patiently hanging on every word.

Despite a higher bar for entry, Chaosbane‘s tone is ripe with gritty context. The Gothic medieval fantasy setting is shoved right in players’ face at the opening safe haven. Elaborate stained glass windows decorate the walls of the massive castle, detailing events that fans of the franchise will likely recognize. The action then moves to a putrid sewer infested with poisonous enemies that squelch green gas upon death.

The four acts of Chaosbane each take place in a unique location. Though the playable maps are strung together with familiar avenues and paths, the art and sound direction prevent them from feeling too repetitive. At a couple points early on, I had to adjust the game’s volume because the sound was so overwhelmingly full. From the bombastic orchestral tracks to layered environmental noise, I was impressed with how well the audio tied the setting together.

However, voice acting in Chaosbane runs the spectrum of “great” to “hmm.” I loved Elontir’s snoot and snobbery but rolled my eyes at Elessa’s elderly drawl. But there are plenty of moments where the actors dance right on the edge of camp which, for this genre and setting, work quite well.

What shouldn’t be of concern is Chaosbane‘s ability to deliver fluid hack and slash combat through a series of constantly changing loot and diverse skills. The foundation is not a departure from familiar titles like Diablo or Path of Exile. Characters have two pools to be concerned with: health and energy. A handful of “basic” attacks and skills are used to hurt enemies and generate energy that is used to execute stronger and more elaborate attacks and skills.

At level one, players will have a basic attack that shaves health off enemies and upon leveling up are rewarded with a new skill meant to drain energy but even the playing field more. Chaosbane‘s approach is to give each skill a point value and three tiers of power. For example, Elontir has a spell called Breath on Fire where he spits out fire that burns enemies; at its second tier, Breath on Fire’s damaged is increased the longer the spell is cast; at its third tier, the higher damage over time is replaced by a longer range and more base damage.

Players start out with a small pool of skill points and are free to assign any unique skills they wish as long as it meets the skill point threshold. Though this may seem like an effort to prevent players from using all tier three skills at once, there’s more to it than that. Over the course of the game, I found that experimentation paid off when mixing different tiered skills together. Based on the situation, there is ample opportunity to focus on crowd control and self-preservation or sheer damage.

This also comes into play when in a group of four. As the typical close-range class, Bragi always wants to be in the thick of it. With support from Vollen and Elontir, players who like putting out raw damage will stay alive longer. However, I enjoyed playing as Elontir and Elessa the most. Elessa’s ability to summon minions and attack with speed and distance made her deadly. Elontir may be one of the best magic wielding classes in this genre as many of his spells allows players to control its path with the right stick. There’s a very specific thrill about running around as a wizard casting fireballs while shooting out and controlling a tornado that burns enemies in its path.

Playing with others is one of the biggest selling points of an ARPG and Chaosbane does not disappoint. To get my main gripe out of the way, there were times where I would zone in to another player’s game or someone would come into mine and they could talk to a character to forward my story. At times, dialog would play over itself if one party member spoke to a different character while I was doing the same. There was also an instance where I died at a boss and my party killed the boss while I was trying to revive. Instead of being ported back to town, I was stuck in the boss room and left alone to fight an extremely difficult boss. I eventually gave up and got the feeling everyone was stuck waiting until I came back to town. When I got back to my game by myself, all my progress from the previous quest was lost.

While it doesn’t make for the best experience, these instances can be avoided when playing with online friends or in couch co-op. Chaosbane already has a simple, manageable UI and menu and that doesn’t change when another player is occupying the same screen. From there, you can share loot with others online or even join a harder difficulty and watch other people clear rooms while you soak up experience and power-level.

Some cracks do begin to show when Chaosbane pushes towards an endgame grind. Loot is frequent and through most of the game I was constantly switching out anything new that dropped. The amount of stats in early gear is manageable and introduces players to gear set bonuses at the start. Players are also granted access to a “God Skill” tree which requires coin and colored relic to upgrade. This tree unlocks new skills to use and passive benefits that may also require players to sacrifice a few stats.

These various systems open the path for the multiple difficulty levels and endgame content. Unless you are a player that wants a game to kick your teeth in at the onset, I would suggest playing through normal difficulty to get used to skills. After making it to level 50, working through the ranks of Chaos difficulty becomes more feasible. However, there is a great deal of grind required to stand toe-to-toe with Chaosbane‘s hardest enemies. Though loot isn’t as greedy as the earliest days of Diablo 3, players may be starved for a drop that increases their survivability. Enemies on Chaos difficulty will hit hard.

I enjoy the game’s boss rush mode because the boss fights themselves were fun spectacles. Expeditions put players into randomly generated levels but with only four different maps, they do become quite familiar. Relic Hunts are the true endgame enjoyment by introducing more difficult content with modifiers. Players can find heroic sets with special skills easier through Relic Hunts.

Warhammer: Chaosbane is an incredibly entertaining game but at this point in time, that fun lasts as long as players continue to be invested in the repetitive nature of an ARPG. Right now, the pool of enemies, while aesthetically cool, begin to feel tired after awhile. It takes a considerable amount of time before modified enemies show up and the variety of equipment might not be enough for some players to invest the time it will take to soar to the highest echelons of skill.

Of course, many devour ARPGs and voraciously speed through content for the sheer enjoyment of doing so. Eko Software has laid out some of their plans for content in the months to come but it needs to be substantial enough that players always feel like they are tackling something new. There is plenty of life in Warhammer: Chaosbane, hopefully it will not be wasted.