On the past Gamere Creative Assembly I was not pleased with visitors to the exhibition with fresh content, but among demoists everyone could participate in the already familiar battle of gnomes and green -skinned. For us, this was the first chance to personally test the compatibility of mechanics Total War and fantasy-setting. In addition, we managed to personally talk with the public relations manager Creative Assembly Al -Bikham (Al Bickham) and make a rather integral picture of what awaits us.
Nowadays there were only samurai, Karl!
Total War: Warhammer – This is one of the two large -scale projects that is currently working on Creative Assembly. If with Freedeine Arena more or less understandable, then the announcement Warhammer became a kind of small sensation. According to the developers, Warhammer perfectly corresponds to games mechanics Total War, And the dimensions of the company itself became large enough to work at once on a few creations.
The authors do not tie up with their past – in the future we are waiting for new historical strategies. It’s just that the developers decided to conduct a small experiment, and it is unlikely that anyone will deny that it looks really interesting. After all, the history of the Warhammer universe is spelled out almost more detailed than the history of real, and a huge number of types of fantasy creatures that live in it gives developers wide opportunities for creating a strategy with unique factions.
The period to which I paid attention Creative Assembly, – The time when Emperor Carl Franz comes to power. The action of the game unfolds in the old world, torn by the confrontation of four races: people, orcs, gnomes and vampires. For the first time in the history of the series, game fractions will be completely unlike a friend for a friend. The differences will affect not only the visual aspect, but will also affect both the battlefield and on the global map.
Stone, scissors, paper, axes, dragons, magicians
In the episode offered to us, we witnessed the clash of gnomes and orcs. The Army of the shorties, which was under our control, looked very diverse: there are detachments with heavy multi -barrel guns, and close combat fighters with axes, and flamethrower. Each of the combat units has its own sets of attributes, such as the speed of movement and armor, and their own specialization-someone is strong against large enemies, someone against long-distance warriors. In general, if we distract from the fantasy shell of the project, we were in front of us Total War, built on familiar strategic principles.
The departure from historical setting allowed the authors to create amazing battle scenes in the spirit of the third “Hobbit”. What is happening on the battlefield looks much more vividly and epic than before: flamethrowers are rows of green -skinns with jets, enemy spiders are trying to hit from the rear in the role of cavalry, trolls are literally blowing off the ground by half of the walking unit.
Somewhere in the middle of the battle, reinforcements arrived at our army. These were helicopters – air units, attacking the enemy with powerful bombs. In addition to them, the game will have many other “flyers” like dragons and wyvern. The principle of operation of each of them is original – so if the helicopters during attack remain at a safe height at which they cannot be reached by the ground forces, then other types of air “units” will dive into the stray of events. According to developers, the new type of troops will not violate the balance, but will have a significant impact on tactics.
The impressions of the battle were exceptionally bright. However, in this festival of epicity there are several alarming moments. Firstly, the battlefield was more like the arena and had almost no landscape differences. Secondly, the entire course of the fight controlled scripts. And in the appearance of the enemy detachments, and in the logic of their actions, and in the arrival of our help, the author was read. From the battle, it blew artificiality and production.
The developers reassure that in the game there is a place for both key battles passing through the script and a traditional Sandbox mechanic. Combine the “plot” and “random” battles will be legendary heroes, with whom special attention is paid to. Each of them has its own development branch, and when studying certain “skills” they will receive unique missions. These tasks will become key points through which the script is laid. Thus, the player’s free actions on the global map will lead to the development of heroes, which will gradually open new plot tasks. For their implementation, the characters will receive artifacts known to the experts of the Warhammer universe.
In battles, the role of heroes differs from the role of the role of military leaders known to us in other games of the series. The latter performed primarily a motivating function – their presence on the battlefield inspired the soldiers and forced them to fight until the last breath. The military leaders had to be guarded in every possible way, for their loss was struck by a strong blow to the moral spirit. Heroes are very powerful “units”, which are profitable to send to fight for the front line. The vindictive tradel participating in the battle of Tormit had a huge number of health points and felt confident even under the onslaught of several enemy detachments.
As for actions on a global map, not everything is known here. The developers have never demonstrated the “peaceful” gameplay, but they willingly share with the press information about all kinds of innovations. According to their assurances, the main elements of the global card will be preserved, but they will be adapted to the conditions of the Warhammer universe. For example, underground tunnels that penetrate the entire map will appear: it will be possible to move along them, bypassing obstacles.
Races will have their unique mentality, which will determine the style and strategy of the game for each of them. The empire will have to pay a lot of attention to diplomacy, while other factions have other advantages, military or economic. For example, green -skinned ones must collect WaAag glasses, due to which at one point you can put together a huge https://frontiveholding.com/contact/ army.
However, you should not think that Creative Assembly makes a completely unique mechanics for each of the races. After all, we have already seen something similar in Attila – There it was also possible to distinguish settled peoples and ethnic groups, counting exclusively on military power and constant expansion. As we have already said, nothing revolutionary is also felt in the combat gameplay – this is the same game in “Stone, Scissors, Paper” with the participation of cavalry, artillery and near -combat squads. The “well” in the form of flying “units” and magicians will expand tactical possibilities, but he will not radically change anything.
Total War: Warhammer It looks very interesting, but the reaction of the game community to it is even more interesting. The project is highlighted in the lineup Total War, After all, orcs are much more fun and massive than some vandals and Scythians there. Whether the fans of historical battles will accept the fantasy experiment of the developers – a big question.