Game Reviews

Warhammer Quest

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iOS
| Warhammer Quest
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Warhammer Quest
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iOS
| Warhammer Quest

Warhammer Quest isn't as deep as some RPG experiences, nor is it as tactical as some strategy games. It doesn't have a whole lot of action, and its story isn't the most enthralling you'll have ever heard.

What Warhammer Quest is, though, is almost endless fun. This is a love letter to a bygone age, from a developer that's obviously passionate about the subject matter. Every hack and slash, every surprise attack, and every piece of loot feels just like it should.

From the dank corridors you'll skulk along to the hideous beasts you'll bury your ever improving weaponry into, Warhammer Quest feels worthy of its name. It's not perfect, but its flaws are few and far between.

Waraxes, warswords, warbows

The game is all about leading a party of adventurers through a series of dungeons. There are usually reasons for tramping through the damp and unpleasant rooms, from lost Halflings to menacing giant spiders, but the end result is always violence and gold.

You control each member of your four-strong party separately, with movement, attacking, spell-casting, and healing all controlled with a series of simple taps. It's important early on to really get to grips with what the different members of your party actually do.

The four standard classes that come with the game are pretty self-explanatory. The Grey Wizard dishes out magical damage and can heal and buff as well, and the spindly Elf fires arrows and stabs things but can't take that much punishment.

Then there's the hulking Marauder, who stomps around soaking up damage and hitting things until they're dead; and the Dwarf Ironbreaker, who can take and give out poundings too.

It's obvious you don't want your Elf or your Wizard at the front of the party, but position them too far back and they won't gain as much XP, leaving you with a weak character that needs protecting all the time.

They have a cave troll

Dungeons are usually randomly generated, and stepping out into a blind intersection will add extra tiles for you to explore. There are no chests, and no looting, but gold gets deposited into your account for every bad guy you kill and quest you complete.

As well as buying rations and new equipment, this cash is used for levelling-up at towns and villages. You need to balance your budget, making sure you've got the best gear and that your heroes are gaining the new skills they need to fight on.

There are three difficulty levels, with the hardest dishing out permadeath if one of your characters takes too much of a beating. It's here that the tactical element of the game really shines through. One mistake can lead to the sudden demise of your entire group.

The other settings offer a decent challenge, but it's nice to see more seasoned adventurers being catered for as well.

Skaven off

Sometimes things can feel a little grindy, but the battles are well-paced enough that it's a rare occurrence. And if you don't like your fantasy cut from the standard cloth then you'll likely find the characters a little dull.

And it's a shame there's no multiplayer. Setting out with a group of friends would have been a great experience. It's technically possible to crowd around the same device and take it in turns, but it wouldn't be the most fluid of experiences.

Still, these are minor niggles in a game that's rich with content and possibilities. It's tough, it's gorgeous, and it wears its Games Workshop heart firmly on its chain-mail clad sleeve.

If you're a fan of the original boardgame, Warhammer Quest is a must-buy. And if you're curious about what happens when a stout dwarf, a shadowy elf, a brutish man, and a cunning wizard walk into a dungeon, you're going to find an awful lot to love here too.

Warhammer Quest

A fun, fast-paced dungeon-crawler that does its inspiration justice, Warhammer Quest isn't perfect, but it's a damn good start
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.