The Adeptus Mechanicus is a faction of cybernetically enhanced warrior priests. They seek divinity through the pursuit of knowledge and consider organic flesh as a form of weakness. Your enjoyment of Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus will hinge on how you engage with a fusion of religious iconography and cyberpunk. The Tech-priests of the Imperium have one of the most unique aesthetics in the Warhammer universe, with grotesque fusions of machine and man adorned with rich finery. The story sees an expedition of Mechanicum awaken the warmongering Necron army.
Bulwark Studios has a perfect grasp on the style this particular faction demands. The priests speak in grandiose soundbites, welcoming damage with utterances like “through pain, I find wisdom”. The electronic pulse of the score piles on the atmosphere. Story decisions ask you to choose between the pursuit of knowledge and complete eradication of a species. Likewise, the interplay aboard the Ark Mechanicus is moody and rich in lore.
Mechanicus’ gameplay offers turn-based tactical combat in the XCOM vein. Action is split between the exploration of overworld nodes and fights that play out in grid-based arenas. A readying phase has you arrange units into tactical positions before a turn. This makes skirmishes close in spirit to the tabletop origins of the licence.
In-keeping with the nature of our man-machine protagonists, there are rich customisation options available. There are some generous difficulty tweaks, alongside Iron Man and perma-death modes. Each hero unit has myriad augment slots, upon which they can attach a plethora of weapons. It pays to be armed to the teeth because arenas are often dangerous close-quarter scraps. Cognition Points are the resource that dictates movement and abilities. Starting CP can be boosted with nodes scattered across the arena, which adds a tactical edge to positioning. Critical hits prevent the Necron from using their regenerative abilities, while certain weapons offer escalating buffs that give extra damage multipliers the more you use them. These elements combine to make fights satisfyingly varied from mission to mission.
Comments 12
For the Emperor! Will probably pick this up cheap down the line, I love the 40k world and some of the last games of this type have been pretty good.
Finally something interesting. ☺️
There are so many 40k games on the store, and I'm always tempted but reviews are pretty lackluster. Are any of them really worth picking up? They keep dangling that complete edition of Inquisitor for like 10 bucks...
@Deadhunter Spacehulk Deathwing is pretty fun if you find it on sale. Imagine Left 4 Dead but you stomp around in a big suit using big weapons through maze-like corridors where swarms are legitimately stressful.
Looks like a more polished version of Blackguards 2, with squares instead of hexagons ^^
Thanks for the article. I've been playing Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus on PC for over a year now, and it's a great title. It's good to see it released on console.
@Deadhunter 'They keep dangling that complete edition of Inquisitor for like 10 bucks...'
Personally, I'd avoid that one (based upon having owned/played it). It's a WH40K version of a Diablo type game. On console it has horrible screen tearing. There's probably a very good reason why you've seen it for a tenner.
@Deadhunter
Highly recommended Vermintide 2
@Deadhunter highly recommended Vermintide 2. Underrated gem! Keep getting update. Past 2 years.. Next big update coming next month with a new class
@Broosh @Hengist @Ridwaano Thanks for the recommendations and warnings. Will check out / avoid.
Next to the Total War games, Vermintide are definitely the pinnacle of 40k titles. V2 is getting a lot of new content soon too!
Although I’ve never played the table top games, I’ve played some of the video games set in the Warhammer 40k universe, like Inquisitor Martyr and Chaosbane - both pretty good. Will definitely give this a go.
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