Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus

From the moment I understood the weakness of my skill, it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of Pros I aspired to the purity of tactical prowess. Your kind cling to your skill as if I will learn and still fail you. But I already failed, for my skill issue is eternal. Even in death, I still catch L's.

Of all the Warhammer games I've tried this year this was the one I was most apprehensive about. Given that it's the only game where the Machine Cult have fully fleshed-out characters and get top billing...what if it was a bit rubbish? In the long term I needn't have worried...but in the short term I was a bit alarmed. I suppose the obvious place to start is what it is. Primarily a squad-based shooter in the vain of Xcom and the like, Mechanicus has some interesting quirks that help it stand out from the crowd. Chiefly, your forces are divided into two groups: your tech priests are your versatile, upgradable elite, whose tide-turning skills are largely fueled from a shared bank of 'cognition points.' Your servitors are your rank-and-file, equipped with one or two basic weapons/abilities they can reliably use in each and every turn. A big part of Mechanicus is making optimum use of these two groups, managing your Tech Priests abilities to get the most out your troops while conserving cognition. Early on, this balance is hard to reach. After an incredibly brief tutorial, the player is more or less dropped in to work things out for themselves. Given that you start off with only the most basic weapons and servitors and the fewest cognition points you'll ever have, it's easy to get yourself into unwinnable situations. This is especially true because each mission begins with a choose-your-own-adventure which sees your cohort move from chamber to chamber within the Necron tombs and be occasionally faced with multiple choice dilemmas of how best to proceed. The problem is that it's not really very clear what the game wants you to do in a lot of theese situations. Though some of the consequences are obvious (blasting prayers through the tomb generally lets the Necrons know the cohort is there), there are plenty of others where a stealthy, cautious approach will result in a reward of precious blackstone in one mission but either in the loss of precious cognition points or damage to your units in the next. This damage can be as much as third of a unit's health in the early game, which can really make things difficult. At the same time, mind you, after around the mid-point the punishing difficulty see-saws. With your cohort containing a mix of troops with more powerful long and short range weapons and your techpriests having both weapons with huge amounts of splash damage and the ability to instantly recharge their cognition points, the game doesn't really have anything additional difficulty to throw at you which is a pity - as fun as it is to completely steamroller the Necrons after the difficulties they pose for you initially. In terms of story, this is 'does what it says on the tin' stuff. Written by an established Warhammer Black Library author, the plot sees the player's battle congregation tasked with following up a doomed mission to recover ancient artefacts from a long-lost human colony on the planet Silva Tenebris. It quickly becomes apparent that the Mechanicus force must find and kill the alien skellington's dominant intelligence - the Necron Lord Szaregon - before the entire planet's worth of robots have woken up and eaten their cocopops. Though the story is simple, the dialogue between the main characters is well written - especially the sniping between Tech Aquisitor Scaevola and Lector Dogmatis Videx. In fact, You've probably heared the narration from the opening cutscene used in a youtube video already ("From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh...") - there's lots more of that sort of thing in the game. Overall I'd come away saying I was happy with Mechanicus. Though the difficulty wildly see-saws, the relatively bite-size missions are backed up with solid customisation and enjoyable writing. It is immensely satisfying when you stumble upon a cohort combination that synergises for the first time, and begins to really take the fight to the Necrons. The presentation is solid, and the soundtrack is nigh on perfect. With multiple endings to find, a hidden boss and an iron man mode for those who like pain, there's a lot to come back to. I'm now really looking forward to the sequel.