Games Workshop Interactive A look at Games Workshop related video Games through the ages Space Crusade Release: 1992 Format: Amiga Developer: Gremlin This is the first GW related game that I’ve managed to find, I have never managed to play it though but you can probably download somewhere on the Internet. As you can guess it was based on one of the first 40k games, the Space Crusade board game, which even contained some Necron-like androids. Space Hulk Release: 1995 Format: Playstation / Saturn Developer: Electronic Arts Space Hulk obviously based on the game of the same name first began putting Games Workshop on the map video game wise. IT was by no means a big seller, but its mix of suspense and tactical play was at least interesting and different at the time. However the controls were fairly crap, and you often had little control over what was happening, for example the close combat seemed to be played out just like in the board game, not quite what is necessary for a video game….. Plot  4/5      Did manage to bring out the 40k universe quite well, accurate and interesting Game 2/5 It was different for a while but it soon became a horribly frustrating Impact 1/5 Didn’t sell much, got GW in the magazines though Shadow of the Horned Rat Release: 1996 Format: Playstation Developer: SSI This marked the beginning of SSI’s period of making GW games and began by following Commander Bernhardt across the Warhammer world. It integrated the Warhammer rules into a real time system and played in a similar vein to the battles of the Total War or Kessen series. Personally the Playstation version (much improved from the PC one) is my favourite GW related game to date. Although it didn’t make much of impact it marked a turning point in GW game making. Plot  5/5      Excellent representation of the Warhammer world, everything was recreated perfectly Game 4/5 If you like the form of none building RTS’ this is a fine example, hard to get used to though Impact 2/5 Again didn’t sell well but was top of its field at the time, gaining it some recognition                       Final Liberation Release: 1997 Format: PC Developer: SSI Based on Epic, Final Liberation used videos containing real actors dressed up as Space Marines and Guardsmen, something that’s perhaps worth seeing for its comedy value. The game played like Panzer general, and although you got to use hordes of different Imperial and Ork units it was fairly slow and tedious.  Plot  3/5      The multitude of units was fairly impressive, and the epic feel was captured to a degree Game 2/5 On the small scale it was sometimes good, but unless you had hours of time to waste, the true epic games were just too boring Impact 1/5 Faired poorly in reviews and made only a short stop in the shelves Dark Omen Release: 1998 Format: Playstation Developer: SSI The follow up to Dark Omen was very similar to its processor only looking a lot nicer, dealing with the flyers glitch (by simply not including any!) and being much more forgiving to the player. It was essentially more of a world tour with you utilising units from may races, essentially however they were all comebacks from Shadow of the Horned Rat. The overall effect was a nicer but less hardcore game. Plot  4/5      While representing most of the races wells, some of the cameos were cheesy, in the extreme Game 3/5 The game generally didn’t play as well, the battles were more annoying and a lot easier Impact 2/5 Not a big seller, as ever in these days for GW games but it received a good reception from the magazines   Chaos Gate Release: 1998 Format: PC Developer: SSI Based on the 2nd edition 40k system, this was a unique squad based strategy game played using a turn-based system. In places it was sluggish and slow but ion others it was really well thought about and tactical, certainly the best representation of the 40k universe in a game. Plot  4/5      The Ultramarines and Chaos forces are fairly well represented, the Chaos Marines for example are anti-Imperium not anti-Christian Game 4/5 In places it took ages, but you genuinely had to use squad tactics to assault and defeat the enemy, very well done and fairly unique Impact 2/5 Got a bit of notice on the advertising level, but missed out on big magazine reviews Rites of War Release: 1999 Format: PC Developer: SSI Based on the Panzer General ‘hex’ system this pitted the Eldar against the Tyranids, with the Imperial Guard thrown in for good measure. It was slow, difficult to enjoy and didn’t really represent anything from the 40k system, and it was ultimately to be SSI’s departure from the GW gaming scene. Plot  3/5      In terms of background it was good, but in the game you never got a feel for 40k (Genestealers were bigger than Leman Russ tanks!) Game 1/5 Slow, difficult to appreciate and ultimately a waste of time Impact 2/5 Got good media awareness; it’s just a shame that it was so poor, especially as SSI had produced such good titles in the past Fire Warrior Release: 2003 Format: PS2 Developer: THQ Mini-review: http://groups.msn.com/OGC/firewarrior.msnw For the first time big money entered the GW video game scene and THQ published this game by Kuju based on the Tau. It was an FPS and played very much like Halo, and as a result it was fairly slow and shallow, it was interesting in places but Chaos were represented as idiots and Space Marines as being weak. There was also very little interaction with anything. That said it good a warm response from reviewers and put GW firmly on the video game map. Plot  1/5     For 40k fans this was shocking, the plot was simply awful and the weapons were fairly silly as well Game 2/5     It basically used the Halo engine, so while fun occasionally it is exceptionally slow. Had some good set pieces though Impact 4/5      This was the game that put GW on the mind of the average gamer, heavily advertised and received some very high review scores Dawn of War Release: 2004 Format: PC Developer: THQ Mini-review: http://groups.msn.com/OGC/dawnofwar.msnw Following on from the success of Fire Warrior THQ aim for an original slant on the RTS genre. Combining incredible graphics with new aspects of strategic points and squads instead of units, this game built of much hype and ensured that the world of 40k was being recognised everywhere. There was one key issue though, and that as the plot was being left behind in terms of crafting it into the standard gaming format. Plot  2/5     The Space Marines were pretty much spot on, then came the Frank Butcher Orks and the plain stupid Chaos Game 4/5     A fresh and appealing approach that managed to capture the essence of 40k really well Impact 4/5    If only for its aesthetic quality, this game received loads of attention, and meant few gamers hadn’t heard of GW