if you just want the short version here it is this game absolutely rocks easily one of the most fun games I've played this year and there's just a a feeling to this game that that it's just pure adrenaline and it just it makes you giddy with how powerful it makes you feel and really the biggest compliment I can give to this game is how well it captured Warhammer 40K in both presentation and gameplay like it knows what it is it's Unapologetic about being Warhammer 40K fully Embraces what this series what this IP is and just runs with it so well and I mean right out of the gate the vistas and the overall aesthetic of the game absolute standout uh with just the hordes that you see both Below on the ground and above in the sky just how War ridden everything is the the battlefield aesthetic is so epic and then there is that unique combination of sci-fi and Gothic Dark Fantasy with like biblical motifs that makes Warhammer 40K what it is uh it's just so sick to look at everything has this incredible sense of scale both indoors and Outdoors and there's just this immense love for the Warhammer 40K Source material that is imbued through the visuals and the attention to detail in every facet and asset this just even looking at it is a Warhammer 40K K fans wet dream while it's not the most high fidelity Graphics I've ever seen there are some like stiff facial animations and I've seen like you know quote unquote better graphics the art Direction just how well the Warhammer 40K Universe was brought to life all that makes you forget about quote unquote Graphics you know what I mean like it just looks good especially the hordes and the Swarms all of that and the way the battlefield is just a constant kind of epic showdown at all times that stuff is just going to stand out and and the visuals of this ultimately are spectacular and it runs really well to boot uh now I do have a a 49d graphics card but with dlss on I was getting 80 to 100 frames per second consistently just great performance overall from start to finish with like one or two moments of stutters and one moment where like the game momentarily froze on me but literally only happened once and never again overall I'd say this game is perform ing pretty well uh from a frame rate standpoint now obviously that will vary from Hardware or Hardware but on my end it it actually ran pretty well then we get to the game play which also just feels so quintessential Warhammer 40K it is violent it is visceral it is merciless and just that sense of an army a swarm that is overwhelming you but you having such prowess in the battle Battlefield as a super soldier as a Space Marine that you're able to overcome what seem like impossible laws like that sense is captured so well and the best way I can describe the feel for those who you know maybe want to describe it in terms of other games it feels like God of War meets Gears of War so there is Gunplay combined with like light and heavy melee attacks there's dodging and pairing and counterattacking there are executions and finishers and you also have an ability that you can trigger and I love that this combat system encourages aggression which is what it should be for a Warhammer 40K game so the thing about this system this combat system is when you lose Health in this game there's a period of time there's a short window where you can regain that Health by being aggressive by attacking enemies by dealing damage and in that sense it's a bit like bloodborne and then there's Shields that protect your HP you can regain Shields by either counterattacking by pairing enemies anytime like a blue circle indicator comes up or by engaging in executions and then alongside that you got this ultimate ability that puts you into like an overdrive mode where you are more powered up and you recover health or you recover even more Health if you're constantly dealing damage while that ultimate state is on you want to be strategic with when you use this and use it at the right time because the cool down for this is pretty long so it's very much like that red emergency button uh during combat scenarios and it's a combat system where melee feels just as important as ranged combat melee is how you kind of do a lot of AOE damage and they deal quite a bit of damage to take down some of the stronger enemies but you still have to be strategic because range combat allows you to take down those enemies who are at a distance kind of grinding down your health with ranged attack so it's about kind of balancing uh the rang enemies with the Swarm enemies that come at you up close and personal and knowing how to kind of manage all of that all at once while managing your health and Shields and being able to regain uh HP and shields through aggressive actions and so once you get into the flow of understanding how all this flows you just feel like such a badass you just get into this Zone and you're just like freaking pulling off really amazing feeling Feats that make you feel like an Unstoppable force of nature all of it aided by just how the feel of Space Marines is so well captured just that sense of weight and impact in everything they do whether you're just kind of moving around or when you're shooting guns or when you're swinging around your uh melee weapons be it combat knives or swords or warhammers it's just got that visceral that you'd expect out of Warhammer 40K and then the freaking jump pack man this is like one of the best things ever put in a video game it feels so freaking good so incredible to you use just Death from Above and just the a sense of Rush that comes from you Landing like a freaking meteor upon your enemies and delivering Swift Justice especially when you land right at the center of like this big swarm now I will say that while the number of onscreen enemies is always impressive in this game some of the hord stuff that happens is kind of an illusion which took me out a bit like you'll see for example horse trying to climb up and get to you but only a couple of those enemies will actually like get on the platform that you're on and engage you in combat the rest it's all just kind of visual elements of swarms seemingly trying to climb up but it's in this like idle Loop where not all of them actually make it to the platform and engage you in combat so once you like notice that it takes you out a little bit but generally it doesn't detract from just how fun it is and I think there are still just enough enemies like on screen engaging you where uh it'll pose a challenge and you can pick between various difficulties I picked the second hardest difficulty which is veteran which is how this game was meant to be played and actually did die a couple times there are some combat situations where yeah you kind of have to be smart about how you approach things and how to kind of be intelligently aggressive if you will to ensure that you're constantly regaining health and Shields and positioning yourself well engaging enemies in the right order and all these things now this is a linear game you go from mission to Mission and each Mission essentially feels like a really well conceived raid you complete one of those you go back to the battle barge which is your HQ your base of operations there are some story beats there but also you can choose your load out and you can uh look at this terminal that allows you to choose whether you want to engage with a campaign or the PVE and PVP multiplayer modes that this game comes with but generally yeah it is a mission to Mission structure it's a fairly linear game there's a bit of exploration where you can kind of look for Amo stashes and consumable heals and revives so it does reward a little bit of exploration in that way but this is not like an open World sandbox or anything like that and I don't minded I think for this type of experience linearity serves this well they can really handcraft every aspect of The Campaign which gives it that sense of epicness and really makes every set piece feel really hand crafted there's just a whole lot of care put in sort of every corner of this game is what it feels like and so with each Mission you go from point A to point B and it's always going to be some format of like fending off hordes or defending a point against hordes and eventually that takes you to some really cool boss battles and along the way the game will have some fun cutcenes in between to move them narrative forward it's a very kind of old school campaign format and honestly I kind of miss this type of experience I feel like more AAA games should aim for this it's okay to have a game like this every once in a while you're not going around doing menial tasks you're just like constantly engaged in this epic adventure that the developers have presented for you and it's just sick just a lot of great scenarios and set pieces that are both really fun to play but also look incredible uh it again this is just kind of everything you could ask for from a Warhammer 40K uh video game experience now my one complaint is that it does feel like there's a lack of enemy variety I would have liked just a little more enemy variety throughout the course of this campaign while you do get introduced to new enemy types here and there generally it feels like you're fighting a lot of the same ads over and over again it takes a long time for new enemy types to be introduced and even then those are few and far between and then some might complain about the fact that there is no sort of progression system for this campaign you do unlock new weapons and tools over the course of the campaign and there is a decent selection with different purposes you can equip a primary secondary and melee weapon and there are a variety of those but that's kind of the main form of progression you don't unlock new skills and abilities you don't engage in some kind of skill tree uh this is just kind of like you you've got everything you need pretty much from the outset and it's about the new weapons and tools that become available over time but I think there also going to be a lot of people who will just appreciate the simple visceral fun that this game is you don't really have to think too much about it except kill a lot of things with uh really awesome weapons and tools that become available to you and it helps that the combat system just really never feels like it gets old it's just so visceral and fun to look at and it's so constantly engaging to play that I feel like that alone can carry what is a 10 to 12 hours long campaign the length is something that some people might have umbrage with but I will say that this is one of those those campaigns that not only does each hour feel substantial but it's also a campaign that feels very replayable especially because the campaign can be tackled with two other players so from beginning to end you can do three player co-op with friends probably the preferable way to play the AI for your two other Squad members it's mostly adequate but there are definitely times where it doesn't feel like they prioritize the right enemies enemies you'd want them to focus fire on so that can be frustrating at times and there was one time where one of the squad members momentarily just kind of froze and did nothing but they're adequate enough to get you through the game solo but playing with other players I think is the ideal experience for this title it's just a blast with other players but yeah the fact that you can play this with friends I think just makes this very replayable on top of the fact that the game doesn't end after you finished the campaign there's the operations Co-op missions this is essentially a PVE multiplayer mode with with matchmaking it's kind of essentially more missions it shows you what the other squads during specific missions in the campaign did and it's just you know it's more of Warhammer 40K except you can play with strangers through matchmaking not just you know people on your friends list and it's got you know like a scoring system there are classes that you can level up and unlock weapons for there's like a simple progression system here that hearkens back to simpler time before everything became you know a live service and whatnot but yeah you got these additional missions that also feel very replayable especially because you've got different classes to try these missions out with all of them with unique loadouts that give them specific roles alongside unique abilities like the Vanguard for example is one of my favorite abilities is this grapple that lets you pull yourself towards enemies and engage and up close and personal combat which is what this class was designed for uh so just the fact that each class feels substantially different uh does further enhance the replayability of this and then there's the in-depth cosmetic customization in the campaign you've got like skins that you can unlock but in PvP and PVE you can literally customize every facet of your armor literally every component individually can be customized with different colors and patterns and you name it this is like stuff other games would charge ridiculous amounts of money for that is just readily available to you and it's it's kind of sad that we have to celebrate these kinds of cosmetic customization systems that you know should be free uh but the fact that this game has that and just gives that to you is a huge plus and it almost has that feeling of like painting minis for Warhammer which is kind of such a a pivotal aspect of the Warhammer experience so it's cool that they just kind of gave this to people without trying to charge for it or without trying to monetize it in some scummy way now one thing that I couldn't try is the Eternal War PVP P mode there were just not enough players to matchmake with during the review period so I'll have to check this out after the game launches when uh players on mass are engaging with the game but that feels like just another cherry on top just a campaign and operations modes alone justify this game for me so the fact that there's this other PVP mode that I still haven't been able to play but can look forward to is just fantastic and you know it'll only serve to enhance the replayability of this game so yes it's a 10 to 12 hours long campaign but there's more to do after so I feel like players are going to be sticking with this game for dozens of hours after the credits have rolled as for what I think of the story of the campaign I think it's fun and serviceable it's a Warhammer ass Warhammer story and it's exactly what this game needs for that forward momentum that justifies the Epic gameplay and the set pieces it's got some fun moments some plot twists here and there ultimately it's about trying to stop a plot that could spell doom and cataclysm you also get to see the main three Squad members start off as strangers and even kind of grow a little suspicious towards each other but that Bond sort of deepens throughout the course of the campaign you see a bit of that I wish I could have explored that a little more even but generally the plot serves its purpose and I think Warhammer fans in particular will pick up on a lot of things that uh will inform the lore and the World building so with all that said I mean what else is there to say I think this game is just really really sick overall a really polished experience the essence of Warhammer 40K is there in every aspect this is just exactly what a Warhammer 40K game should look sound and feel like the labor of love can be felt and I really hope that this catches fire and Garners all the success in the world so that AAA Publishers can look at a game like this and realize how viable these kinds of games are you can just have these like really linear streamlined experiences shorter games that offer a little more later on on the side you know through these like multiplayer modes and these other modes that add more replayability to the game you can make a game like this and still just give people an amazing experience I think this game's just going to sell really well I have a good feeling about the the buzz surrounding this game and I hope uh we start to see more stuff like this uh from AAA Publishers fans especially they going to really appreciate this game and I also think that this game is going to introduce a lot of folks to the Warhammer 40K universe and get them into it I certainly feel more enticed to delve into this universe after playing this game so just across the board just just kudos to the deps they made an awesome video game here and that folks is all I have to say this is a hard recommend for me after you play the game I'd love to hear what your thoughts and opinions are on it in the comments section below and to be further up ated on all things gaming news reviews and discussions stay tuned right here on Yong yeah I'll see you guys next time y out