MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus owns – with a few exceptions – all games from Warhammer on Steam (and some other platforms). One of them has particularly captivated him lately: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters. Anyone looking for a power fantasy in the style of XCOM is well served here.
In a few free days, I set out to finally organize my Pile of Shame. And what could be better to start with than tackling the list of games from my favorite universe?
For a long time, Warhammer was known for squandering its license and delivering terrible video games. At the latest since the huge and phenomenal Total War: Warhammer 3, the curse has finally been broken.
If I search for Warhammer on Steam, I only miss Bolt Gun, but old school shooters just aren’t my thing. What has hooked me now is Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters.
The game is from 2022 and has been waiting in my library to be played since the Humble Bundle from May 2023. Now I regret not having done this earlier.
Tactical turn-based strategy that should feel familiar to many
Chaos Gate: Daemonhunters is a turn-based, tactical strategy game. If you’re not familiar with the genre: the most famous representative is the renowned XCOM, and the game mechanics have inspired many games since.
Unlike the turn-based strategy game Gladius, which recently captivated me, you don’t build bases and pump out troops here; instead, you play a squad of 4 or 5 characters and undertake individual missions.
You don’t just play any people, but some of the toughest Space Marines in the Warhammer 40,000 universe: the untainted Grey Knights, whose existence hardly anyone knows about.
The goal of the game is to complete (often recurring) missions, enhance your ship and your troops with the rewards, and ultimately stop a plague – a new super disease of the twisted Chaos God Nurgle.
From rage quitting to “cheating”
Daemonhunters is really freakishly hard. I admit I have little experience with XCOM, but I do have some background in turn-based strategy and tactics. So I wouldn’t consider myself a bad player.
Nevertheless, I regularly get my ass handed to me even on normal difficulty, and I mean it. Every great plan that seems to be working just fine fails two rounds later as new enemies appear out of nowhere.
This has driven me to rage quit several times or to “save scum” – that is, to reload when something goes wrong. To do this, I use some DLCs, at least one of which introduces a pretty unfair unit that starts at maximum level.
But sometimes there’s just no other way. Even on Reddit, many players admit to achieving certain missions only this way. But honestly: It’s a lot of fun. In the first 5 days, I’ve logged 35 hours, and it would be more if I had more time.
Feeling like a superhuman, just like in Space Marine 2
What makes Daemonhunters so good is the feeling it conveys. I don’t just have a few expendable soldiers that I throw at the demons en masse. No, there are bred and pumped-up superhumans whose weapons no ordinary person could even lift.
This is evident in every mission. With a powerful kick, meters-thick steel doors are kicked down, my psychic incinerates a demon in an execution animation back into the warp. I last felt as much like a Space Marine as I did in Space Marine 2.
If a Marine goes down, he gets back up 3 rounds later – albeit weakened, but ready to fight. That’s combat spirit!
By the way: The Astartes share equipment, although some weapons can only be equipped by certain classes, and others are learnable through talents. This results in various combinations of classes that you can or want to take, depending on your playstyle.
That I can also upgrade my ship on the side and have a cool Purificator, a fully augmented Tech Priestess, and an almost emotionless Inquisitor as advisors adds to the overall feeling of the game. This is truly Warhammer par excellence.
Admittedly, the game mechanics are a bit special, probably won’t appeal to everyone, and it really takes a while until you’re not constantly getting hit hard anymore. But even the learning process is fun and has fascinated me for hours and certainly longer. If you want to look elsewhere, you can find the 7 best games to get into the world of Warhammer here.
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