Warhammer: Mark of Chaos – Battle March – PC – Review

While not the first Warhammer RTS to
hit the market, NAMCO BANDAI’s Warhammer: Mark of Chaos did a pretty good job of
emulating the feel and style of the popular tabletop strategy title. While the
game was not without its flaws, it was still a fun title for Warhammer
enthusiasts looking for a solid, non-40K Warhammer RTS. Now, NAMCO BANDAI is
launching the first retail expansion pack for March of Chaos, titled Battle
March.

Warhammer: Mark of Chaos – Battle
March adds mostly requisite features to the original title, like a new campaign,
new classes, and a new multiplayer mode. Battle March’s new campaign has you
playing from the evil point of view, in the shoes of the orcs and the dark elves
as they vie to destroy humanity. While the new elements are intriguing, the
expansion still falls prey to the main issues that plagued the original, namely
linear gameplay and a dearth of gameplay options. Plus, the expansion oftentimes
feels like it treads the same ground as the original game, which will lead many
players to find that the game doesn’t add much to the formula, even with the
added features.


Battle March’s new campaign puts you
in control of Gorbash, an orc who is freed from slavery by a dark elf to become
a Warboss and defeat the forces of the Empire. The game does a great job of
presenting the Warhammer universe in a faithful way, including the colorful orc
units complete with cockney drawls and poor grammar. Fans of Warhammer will
definitely be pleased with the way the game handles the dark humor and subject
matter.

For those who skipped out on the
original Mark of Chaos, the game presents a different approach to the real-time
strategy genre. Whereas resource gathering and building factors in quite heavily
with other titles in the genre, that doesn’t play a part in Mark of Chaos. You
deal mostly with managing your predetermined units on the field, using their
specific strengths in order to properly dispose of your enemies without getting
destroyed first.


The focus shift from resources to
action is a welcome change for the RTS genre, and worked fairly well in the
original Mark of Chaos. Unfortunately, in the new orc campaign in Battle March,
the formula’s problems are more apparent, like the linearity of the missions.
There’s not a lot of room to play differently in Battle March, as most of the
stages will simply walk you from point A to point B without much exploring in
between.

Additionally, the campaign missions
feel far too similar to what players of the original game have already done. The
game essentially retreads the same areas and situations as the original game,
albeit with the added orcish twist. While the orc units do have a funny charm
when compared to the Empire characters, it’s still annoying to play through the
same dull missions.

Graphically, the game hasn’t been
changed in the one and a half years since the original launched, which is not a
good thing as far as PC titles go. The character models are very simplistic, and
the environments have lost their luster.


The sound effects are also not far
removed from the original game, although the music is pretty good and the voice
work isn’t bad. The orc voice acting can get a bit grating, unfortunately, as
they’ll often repeat themselves.

Warhammer: Mark of Chaos – Battle
March offers the additions that you’d expect from an RTS expansion, like new
races, modes, and so on. However, the new features don’t really feel like they
add much to the formula, making the expansion feel quite stagnant, even if
you’re a fan of the Warhammer universe.

Battle March comes bundled with the
original Mark of Chaos game.



Review Scoring Details for Warhammer: Mark of Chaos – Battle March

Gameplay: 6.5
While the game does present a different take on the RTS genre, the whole
experience is very linear and the new campaign elements are pretty dull.

Graphics: 5.0
Battle March’s graphics haven’t been improved from the original
one-and-a-half year old game.

Sound: 7.0
The music works well for the game, and the voice acting is mostly well done,
albeit repetitious.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 5.0
Battle March doesn’t bring a lot to the table, feeling mostly like a rehash
of the original game.

Multiplayer: 7.0
The new World Domination mode is a nice touch, offering a bit of a
“Battlefield” vibe to the game, but there are some issues with lag and
connection problems.

Overall: 6.5
Battle March adds some new features here and there, but doesn’t really add
much incentive for players to jump back in, and the dated feel will probably
prevent newcomers from taking the plunge.