Customer Reviews

Warhammer 40K: Fire Warrior

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Having witnessed the evolution of first person shooters and the WH40k universe of games first hand, I have trouble believing how unbelievably bad this game is. Apparently, Games Workshop will lend their WH40K license to anyone.

Visual experience: While the graphics engine is up to the task, the textures and level design are completely uninspired, making this game a visually bland experience. Although, I did enjoy the cut scenes which were well done, with the exception of poor voice talent. With this small exception, this game lacks any style whatsoever.

Weapons: Despite the game being set in the 41 Millennium, the weapons are about as deadly as a roman candle. The Pulse Rifle for example is well over a meter long and looks to weigh 100 kilos, yet it takes several shots to take out an unarmored imperial guardsman, even at point blank range.

Level Design: This game reverts to the stone age of the genera. These guys have apparent missed 15+ years of evolution. I had the feeling of being a trail horse, leisurely making my way about the countryside, not being able to choose my path or stray from the path that I was on. I found that you really don't have to pay attention to your mission or any of the plot development. Just continue to move forward, killing bad guys... If you run into a locked door, find a switch.

Gameplay: Take away the fancy graphics, and you're a playing a Doom II clone, without the cool weapons, spooky atmosphere or feeling of eminent danger. Strafe is the name of the game here boys and girls. Constantly run from side to side, back and forth behind cover and unload on your enemies and you'll be fine. Repeat until game complete. I found this game incredibly easy. I never felt I was in any danger of not completing my mission, even though I rarely knew or cared what it was. The whole game felt like a chore. I kept playing to find out if there was something I was missing. This game was clearly designed for the console platforms. The fact that you cannot use the mouse in the main menu was the first clue to the quality of this game. Then I found out that there are NO SAVE GAMES. Your progress is updated every time you reach a checkpoint. I thought this was banished from PC gaming years ago.

Even if you enjoy mindless action, I can think of a dozen titles that do it better than this game. If you only play it because it is WH40K, this is the ONLY WH40K game that I would suggest skipping all together. If you want to play WH40K FPS style, try Space Hulk, you may actually have fun. If you are an adolescent, not concerned with concepts like realism or suspense, missed doom II the first time around, and have nothing else to de except watch paint dry, this is the game for you!

I'm afraid they really missed the mark on this one. First off there is supposed to be a printed manual with the game. Mine didn't have one and from various chat rooms neither did most other folks. The developer has acknowledged a packaging problem and the manual is available as a PDF download on the Firewarrior site.

There are a few good points. First the graphics are pretty good. Not the best you have seen but nice. The video sequences are well done and if you are a WH40K fan they are really cool. In fact they make you wish they would just do an animated movie this way for WH40K. Unfortunately the good points pretty much end there. The sound is not well done at all. Dialog is hard to understand, weapons fire is wimpy and your main weapon has so much low-end bass to it that after awhile the sound really gets on your nerves (if you have a subwoofer anyway). Artillery and other ambient sounds seem to cut in and out randomly. You just get a very sterile feel from the whole thing.

By far the worst part of the game though is the combat! The weapons are RIDICULOUSLY inaccurate. I mean you can be five feet away from an enemy and blast away and you'll be lucky to hit him once. If that wasn't bad enough it seems to take an entire clip of ammo to knock down even an Imperial Guard trooper. Ok, actually four shots will do it but you'll use a full clip trying to hit one that many times. SGTs take ten hits or more to take down as they come at you with their chainswords. One example: I entered a room and stopped to shoot at a stationary trooper across the room (a small room). I placed my cursor carefully dead center on the target (we were both stationary). I went through a clip and a half before he died. When you do manage to finally kill a guy the death throw is something out of a Shakespeare play as the guy takes ten minutes to die and fall over. This makes the game not only horrendously annoying but pretty much causes you to scream in frustration from the start.

The AI is also pretty sad. For the most part enemies will end up charging at you and then stop and blast away at you. Of course their weapons are as inaccurate as yours. SGTs and others with close combat weapons will run up to you then run away. In fact you often get the feeling the AI has some sort of pte-plotted movement pattern that the enemies run no matter what you do or where you are.

Other folks have commented on the lack of interaction, the annoying 'find a door key', as well as the claustrophobic feel to the game but those things would have been ok (well, the key thing is REALLY annoying as you back track through levels to get a stupid key). It's the other stuff that makes this game a real bomb. If you are a GW WH40K fan and can get it in the bargain bin for $10 maybe pick it up, otherwise pass.

I'd never heard anything about the Warhammer 40,000 universe before playing this game. It looks like people who know the universe enjoy it much more. As far as compared to other first-person shooters, this is pretty disappointing. Reading the game features made it sound pretty cool, but the developers just missed opportunites. You can carry one gun in each hand... apparently all the people in the year 40k have two right hands ;) Other than launching rather than tossing gernades and amount of ammo, I couldn't figure out the difference between the two guns you get...other than looks. The shoot exactly the same. You also just run up and fire point-blank range at other players and whoever lands the first 10 or so hits wins. I can't believe that a universe that has been developed as long as WH40K appears to have been could be so lifeless and stale... nothing interesting I haven't seen in other FPSers. Maybe knowing the back-story would make it more interesting. The graphics are pretty nice- so I give it 2 stars for that, but if you are an FPS fan and not a WH40K fan, you might want to skip this one.

Warhammer 40,000 Fire Warrior is the best translation of the Warhammer Universe to reach the PC and Console. All previous games on PC and Console have literally bombed due to lack of knowledge on behalf of developers who created the games. Chaos Gate was fun while it lasted if you were able to even get the frickin' Land Speeder to even move one square! Chaos Gate became outdated too because it used 2nd Edition rules and restricted you to the Ultramarines Chapter of Space Marines. Rites of War was what I call a crummy disaster since it turned out to be like a disaster of WarCraft/StarCraft that would only satisfy for 5 minutes until you decide you shouldn't have bought the game. Fire Warrior defies the tradition of Games Workshop's style, dubbed Tabletop Hobby Games a.k.a. Wargames, where you command mini's on a tabletop like some general charging into the fray but as the player you are playing the scene out like some omnipotent being overseeing an endless war, Fire Warrior launches you into a First Person Shooter, in the "shoes" of Kais, a Tau Fire Warrior who's leader (known as an Ethereal) was abducted by an Imperial Guard strike force, so you and your squad lock and load, head out to the sight the Imps landed at, and find yourself dropped into a battle rivaling the Normandy Invasion level in Medal of Honor: Frontline! This all takes place over a course of 24 hours as you encounter a range of opponents ranging from the "we're only human"-Imperial Guard to the superhuman Space Marines, and even worse, their counterparts, the Chaos Space Marines, superhumans gifted by Gods of Magic, War, Pestilence, and Excess, you will even encounter Traitor Guardsmen, Imperial Guard who follow the path of Chaos. THIS GAME ROCKS! For those who are Halo fans: The creators of Halo [TOOK] alot from the Warhammer universe, Space Marines in Power Armor was patented by Games Workshop in the 1980's, so go for the original Space Marines. Warhammer 40,000 is embellished in the Gothic style inside and out, and creates a storyline that will keep you coming back into that universe to fight off that endless war. If you aren't a WH40K fan, you still should get into it, its one ride you'll never forget! This game rocks!

Although it's cool to see the various foes of Warhammer 40k up close, this game is dated, with crude graphics and sloppy mechanics. The UI in particular is very poorly designed - with large, maze-like areas and no objective markers or reminders, getting lost is nearly inevitable. On top of that, the weapons work unpredictably and poorly - even rifles have extreme inaccuracy and do miniscule damage, requiring almost a clip of ammunition to kill a single opponent.
If you're looking for a fun first-person shooter, this game is not for you. If you just want to run around in the Warhammer 40k universe....well, there might be better ways to do it, but this game will do it. Don't expect good graphics, though.

I just finished playing the first few levels and had a blast!I just dont understand how anyone cannot like this game.I have played many first person shooters{and I mean many},and can tell you honestly,that Fire Warrior is one of the most enjoyable games I have played.It may not be as great as Halo,or several other games,but it is a very fine one and well worthy of the $29.00 price tag.Iv'e only played the first few levels and yet feel like I got my money's worth.The graphics may not be as good or crisp as some games but are still very good.Some have complained that they look dreary or drab but they dont understand that the warhammer world is portrayed in a dark and grim manner.It captures the mood and feel of the warhammer universe and the tie-in book Firewarrior,perfectly.It's so cool to do things in the game,that I read in the book.It was so cool to be running along a trench,and then see a Lemann Russ battle tank rumbling across the trench above my head.The whole game is just so cool!

The PC port of this game I foolishly didn't investigate is made by a company that apparently makes slap dash ports of console games. It had been so long since this came out I thought this was direct from publisher pc version. Suffice to say, unless you still have a dinasaur computer running xp still, this game will not run on Windows 7. (Game itself is pretty much crap, but does do a good job in a few places of just giving a feel for warhammer 40k artistically. Mainly the levels on assorted space craft, seeing the Marine gothic chapel shaped ships etc.) I knew that the game itself wasn't great going in, but was purchasing again as I'd played through on PS2 ages ago and wanted to replay some of the few scenic levels as well as introduce it to someone as an example of 40k aesthetics.

This is a decent FPS, though some times your left clueless ass to where to go next. It's definitely for the die hard 40k gamers.

Whether or not you enjoy Fire Warrior depend on two factors: (1) How much you were rocked by the first 20 minutes of Halo, and (2) How little you value clever AI.

For the price (please do not pay more than $10 or you will fell ripped off), it is surprisingly fun. From the first mission onward, you're in a constant firefight, alone or alongside AI-controlled squadmates. Over the course of the 21 levels, you are sent on increasingly dangerous sabotage and recovery missions set inside Imperium strongholds.

In addition to grenades and a sword for melee attacks, you can carry two firearms. However, the primary weapon must be Tau-made. About the AI enemies, their strategies in the early missions are limite to "kneel and shoot" and "charge and shoot" but they fo get mildly better as more advanced Space Marines add strage and run away to the repertoire.

The game's biggest downside is its wonky targeting system. There were times when I was positive my gun's reticle was aimed smack-dab at the center of a soldier's body, and yet my round went around his torso. I would have liked also a "save anywhere" feature but it is absent. Maybe it went on a walk with the enemy AI.

While this game is visually dated everything else about it is not because it is designed for the fans of Warhammer 40k.

Sound quality only adds to the gothic atmosphere feeling of the game and yes Tau voices are clean & more simplistic compared to the other races because the Tau also are more spartan in appearance.

The levels are your standard linear variety however scripted events and combination of enemies screaming their warchants constantly gives it a feeling your in an actual dark distant futuristic battle.

Cutscenes are also top notch that leave many games to shame in fact its almost like watching a science fiction movie at times, the two intros to this game and the ending a real treats to Warhammer 40k fans.

One feature that has made its way from the PS2 version is the bonus content a player can unlock if certain requirements are filled which should add many extra hours of enjoyment even after finishing the game.

The only problem with this game is the fact that multiplayer is missing which could have been a real winner for this game since we could have then added all the other major powers in the Warhammer 40k universe that we dont see in game.

Having said all that getting this game to work on some modern operating systems can be tricky however besides that this game is a real goodie to any Warhammer and/or FPS fan!