Customer Reviews

Warhammer: Battle March

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

 

 

I love this game for the PC. Great graphics, engaging and evolving story, and a good old crash your armies togehther RTS. This game makes for a very difficult transition to the XBox 360 the controls are very complex and without any real quick keys makes for an insanly difficult learning curve espically in the heat of battle trying to remember what controls do what. My advice if you want this game: get it for the PC.

You have been warned. Those people claiming this game is fun or the best warhammer game are lacking some chromosomes and/or have never played a good strategy game. First off, the controls are hideous... NOT just a 'bit awkward'. Second of all, in order to see what is going on you have to be zoomed out so far that the game has no detail (not that zooming in helps much there either). I have played the same board like 15 times because even when you beat a board it doesn't save unless you complete a series of boards which the game claims as a level (I am assuming, as I have played the same 3 boards over and over and finally threw the game into the corner as it seriously isn't worth the time or effort). The game is incredibly repetitive. The overly repeated vocal tracks alone can drive you nuts. All in all... this game will be $9 in under 6 months.

If you're a fan of the Total War series then you'll enjoy this game. My only complaint is that the controls took a little bit of getting used to, but they'll feel natural before you know it.

I bought this game for my nephew (who is 14) and he played it over at my house. First off...the graphics in the first scene to start the game were great. They were like the pictures that Amazon has shown. But then the game started and the graphics changed. On my parents standard tube tv they were horrible. On my plasma, they were better, but still not very good at all. And then the cutscenes during the games were hideous!...even on my plasma. I have no idea why they wouldn't use the same type of graphics for all the cutscenes. Now he hasn't played a whole lot of it, b/c he doesn't even like the game play...but maybe it includes some more good graphics later.

The game play...so lousy. It was boring, and so repetitive. It is a war/battle sim...and not a good one. Granted, like I said before, he hasn't played very far into the game. But that was because he got so bored, and disliked the graphics (especially the HORRIBLE cutscenes) that he had no desire to play it any further. I've played battle sims before, and I couldn't even watch this one for very long.

The voices...INCREDIBLY annoying. They repeat the same thing 5 times in a row...and the same voice cuts itself off. I had to turn the sound down while it was being played. And sometimes when they talk...it looks like the old Japanese voice overs where their mouths are moving and it doesn't go with the voices at all. It reminded me of old school video games..and not good ones.

I would definitely recommend renting this game BEFORE you buy it. It may just save you $50-$60. Or if you really want to buy it to try it, definitely get it used. Its not worth the full price at all. You can get it used for around $20 on ebay if nothing else (I checked b/c he disliked it so much he doesn't want to keep it).

I read alot of reviews for this game and heard it had over complicated controls which made the game unplayable, I enjoy the warhammer universe though I am new to it, so I bought the game to see for myself. The first thing I did was play through the tutorial which goes over the controls very well and though I was a bit confused at first, it didnt take away from the game and I was slaughtering armies easily using the controls within an hour. This game is very fun, some parts may be harder the others but through a little bit of strategy you can easily overcome even the hardest task. One very glaring problem with the game is the graphics, I wasnt bothered during most parts but playing the Empire campaign made it very clear where this game is lacking, the cutscenes are terrible for that campaign and I felt like skipping everytime one would start, Though I didnt notice it as much in the chaos or orc storylines. I havent played online skirmish, but the skirmish vs the computer is pretty good, you can customize your army, and play as a bunch of different armies. Overall I enjoyed this game very much.

TL;DR
Good: Gameplay is fun, Characters are good, Customizable Armies.
Bad: Controls take a little while to get used to, Graphics.

I thought this game had too much. it was not fun you had to learn 50 commands just to move your guys forward

I was looking for a walkthrough for this game online. There aren't any. After playing it, I know why.

I thought the Human Campaign was sort of fun and kind of easy once you learn that you can blow up all of your enemies with cannons. But after playing 4 missions into the Orc Campaign, I couldn't take it anymore.

Concept: 9/10
Make a Real Time Strategy War Game with heavy RPG elements so you can upgrade your armies and heroes. Include 3 fully developed campaigns with approximately 24 missions each. Include an online battle mode where you can create armies of Humans, Dark Elves, High Elves, Orcs, Chaos, and Skaven. This is a GREAT IDEA on paper! What went wrong!?

Story: 8/10
The story for the Human Campaign and the beginning of the Orc Campaign are pretty good. They involve battle campaigns across a fantasy world. There are interesting characters and twists in the plot. If you enjoy fantasy, you will like the story.

Graphics: 3/10
Aside from the beautifully rendered opening movies from each campaign, the graphics are horrendous. I know this is a PC port and that we're not talking Assassin's Creed Brotherhood or Call of Duty here, but the graphics are PS2 quality.

Gameplay: 3/10
There is a world map and you can choose to stop and equip your soldiers, or continue on to a battle.

There are two basic types of units.
Hero Characters and Soldiers

Heroes are a single unit with about 20 Hit Points.
The Soldiers are about 20 units arranged in a formation with 1 Hit Point Each.

The Heroes can be equipped with magic items that improve their stats and potions that replenish their health. On the battlefield they have lots of hit points and have three types of special abilities. Combat abilities enable your hero to fight on the battle map. There are spells that improve your defense, allow you to hit multiple enemies at a time... Dueling abilities enable your hero to fight against an enemy hero 1 on 1. These are spells that only appear in Hero vs Hero duels. Your Hero can also be attached to a unit of troops (An elf can join 25 archers). Leadership abilities give the hero and everyone in that unit bonuses to hit, move faster, attack faster, resist damage... As your heroes perform in battle, they earn XP, which is used to buy abilities on a skill tree. It's best to figure out if your Hero is going to be a Warrior, a Duelist, or a Leader and equip them for that purpose.

The Soldiers can be equipped with 3 types of improved armor, 3 types of improved weapons, and morale boosting banners that keep them from fleeing the battlefield. There are melee units like spearmen who are good against cavalry, swordsmen who are good against spearmen, and cavalry who are good against swordsmen. There are also troops that attack with ranged weapons like archers, gunners (muskets), or cannons.

Once you equip your army, you can advance to the next mission.

Missions: 5/10
There are Assault Missions, Defend Missions, Siege Missions, Duels, and Escort Missions. All of the Missions have a Primary Objective and some Secondary Objectives. To win, complete the Primary Objective, to gain more gold, complete the Secondary Objectives. The missions also have conditions for Failure. If your army dies, you lose. If a hero dies, you lose... even though there is resurrection in the game fiction, if your hero dies in battle, you fail. This makes no sense to me... Why can't the hero be resurrected just like everybody else on the battlefield?

What you need to do is very clear most of the time.
But sometimes, you fail a mission because a Hero character gets stuck somewhere and killed.
Or, your heroes are far apart on the map and you can't micromanage both of them at the same time and one dies.
Or, you aren't exactly sure how to trigger an event in the mission and you fail...
Or, you can't click on one of your units because it is surrounded by 100 other units who are all moving and fighting.
There is no saving your game during or right before a battle, so one of these little mistakes means that you have to play a 20-40 minute battle over again.

Controls: FAIL
It is obvious that this game would be more fun with a mouse and keyboard. The control scheme often relies on moving around the map with one analog, then pushing up, down, left, or right, with the other analog, then pressing the right button A, B, X, Y to issue commands. So, to select a hero, hold down RT, then push the Left Analog Stick Up, then press Y to cast a spell with that hero. To change a formation of units, Hold down RT, push the D-Pad Right, then press B... It takes a long time to get used to, but once you get used to it, it isn't that bad. But, when you combine the convoluted controls with trying to select a unit in the middle of a battle with a super sensitive mouse pointer controlled by an analog stick, it becomes incredibly frustrating.

Interface: FAIL
These are the most convoluted interface screens that I have seen. The game hates to give you the information that you need. If a new hero joins your party, you must Hold RT, Press the Left Stick Down, then Press the Back Button to pause the game, select Skill Tree from a menu, highlight the skill icon, then Hold RT to see what it does. The game also assumes that you know about Warhammer because it never teaches you anything.

Maturity: Teen
There is no sex or swearing. It's basically like watching Lord of the Rings with really bad graphics.

Overall: FAIL
Avoid this game like herpes. Play the PC version Warhammer Mark of Chaos instead. I did finish the Human Campaign, and it was kind of fun because the maps are fairly linear. The enemies only come at you from the front, and you can weaken them with cannons. But in the Orc Campaign, you are being attacked from everywhere and the controls aren't responsive enough for you to save yourself from failing.

If you like games like this, check out the Total War Series or other Warhammer games on the PC. But there is no reason to play this game at all.

Battle March makes sense on paper. Apply the rules and aethetics of the Warhammer universe to a strategy game ala Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War. The result is a poorly executed and muddled product. The game play is slow, the graphics aren't just unappealing but hard to decipher, which is fairly important in a game of this sort. Really it's just bad, simply as that. Save your money and your time.

Price: There are several games that are almost exactly like Battle March. Halo Wars, Command & Conquer, Ninety-Nine Nights, and the list continues. This game is okay, but not worth paying more than 20.00 USD.

Graphics: Leaves something to be desired. The characters look like little underdrawn beings without true detail. Not much attention was given to the graphics or design of this game. A basic program obviously.

Gameplay: Nothing special or bad, standard military strategy game. If you beat Command & Conquer or Halo Wars...this ones in the bag.

Controls: Were easily understood. No issues here. Really simple to use.

Scenery: 2D at its best, you will find the game designers did not put much effort into the games scenery.

Overall: I bought it and regret buying it. A waste of my hard earned cash. I will no longer be buying any game that has Warhammer labeled on its cover. Some people may like these filler games, not me. They are filler games, because they take up space.

First off the controls are a little bit awkward but after a couple hours or so you really get the hang of it, being a fan of both warhammer sothr and warhammer dark omen i really enjoyed this game.

Controls - Great for a console game, but not nearly as good as a mouse and keyboard.
Single Player Campaigns - 3 Great Stories and perfect difficulty imo.
Skirmish Mode - Adds Alot of replay value, Haven't tried mp online yet.
Create Army - Alot of features but i much rather enjoyed the dawn of war color editor.
Siege Mode - Pretty fun mode but more map types would have been better and positioning troops along walls can be a little painful especially when in the heat of battle.

Overall it's a great warhammer game and an alright rts game, it's nothing like the dawn of war games but it's a great addition for any warhammer fan. If your a fan i'd say get it if not a weekend rental would probly be enough.