Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters Review
Proudly continuing the tradition of every Warhammer game needing to have at least three titles, Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate: Daemonhunters is more than just XCOM with space marines. It's an often unforgiving and deceptively deep crusade against the disgusting minions of Nurgle with an ever-evolving strategic map and intense turn-based tactical battles. There are certainly times when it crosses the line from satisfying challenge into pure frustration, with excessive use of reinforcement swarms and some pretty wicked built-in failure spirals. But you know what they say about the grim darkness of the 41st Millennium.
We've seen so many 40K games in the last decade that the announcement of a new one can make me roll my eyes, even as a long-time fan of the setting. But I was pleased to discover that Daemonhunters is probably one of the best since 2009's Dawn of War II. This expansive action-horror epic is centered on the Grey Knights, a uniquely deadly chapter of Space Marines who are recruited exclusively from those with psychic abilities. And I can tell the devs did their homework, because even the basics of the combat system are built around what makes these dudes special.
Every Knight has a willpower pool that can be spent on useful psychic abilities like improved weapon damage or healing their comrades. But using them comes with an extra cost because it also builds up a Warp meter, since psychics in 40K tend to attract the attention of daemons from the Immaterium. This creates weighty turn-to-turn decisions that go beyond simply rationing out your ammo and magic points, since filling the meter could spawn in additional enemy reinforcements or result in your whole team contracting a hellish plague. Sometimes it's better to
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