Official Website

Platform: Playstation 2, PC

Genre: Action

Number of Players: 1 - 4 + online

Peripherals: Broadband Adaptor, multi-tap adaptor

I owe quite a bit to the band Bolt Thrower for my introduction into the world of Warhammer. I've played my fair share of pencil and paper RPG's, namely Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, but had it not been for the bands first release, Realms of Chaos which featured a painting that came from the Warhammer role playing game itself, I might not have ever noticed the game sitting on the shelf. The problem was that back then, Warhammer was an incredibly expensive game to purchase, and as most of my money went for other role playing supplements, and the fact that no one really had an interest, my obsession with the game was more or less just a pacing fancy.

It isn't a name though that's easily forgotten, and Warhammer has always been at the back of my mind. You can imagine the surprise I felt when I discovered that THQ was planning on releasing a game based on the UK RPG. In the past, there had been a few attempts, but it never was anything that was really substantial, or even memorable. Perhaps, just maybe, this would finally be the game that would bring Warhammer more into the public mind, at least as far as role players are concerned, and thanks to Peter Jackson and Lord of the Rings, role playing games are making a huge comeback.

Based in the 41st millennium, the universe of Warhammer is one that is plagued with war, and has been for thousands of years. You will take on the role of a young Tau warrior named Kais. The Tau, a young alien race, has established a caste system among their people, and the most important is passing a trail by fire. As Kais, you will be go both alone and with your peers against one of the most fearsome and ruthless enemies that the galaxy has ever seen, none other than the human race, known as the Imperium throughout the galaxy. Recently, a high-ranking member of the Tau clan, the Eternal, has been taken prisoner, and it's going to be up to you to free him. Success will mean promotion, while failure means only death.

My first shock with this game was the genre that it had fallen into. Having it's roots in the role playing genre, my assumption was that Warhammer would be the same, and while there never has been a video game adaptation of any RPG's that have done them justice, I was thinking more along the lines of perhaps Baulder's Gate or maybe even a Final Fantasy knockoff, but that's not what Fire Warrior aims to be. Instead, this incarnation of Warhammer is in fact a first person shooter. I know it seems rather strange, but I suppose given the source material and the overall war aspect of the game, it's fitting.

For the most part, it's set up just like every other FPS that's out on the market today, so most of you won't have any difficulty at all adjusting to the controls in the least since it is the usual setup. There are a few things with this game that make it stand out a bit, and some of them have been lacking from the FPS genre for quite a while. The one that really stood out in my mind comes to the weapons. As Kais, you will be armed with a pulse carbine, a weapon that is specific to your race. Aside from that, you will be able to carry one other weapon, and you will find a great deal of them scattered across the war torn landscape and dropped from fallen enemies. Personally, I can't think of any other FPS that I have played that featured this, and really it is one thing that has always bothered me. Where exactly do you keep all of those weapons in the other games, especially since most of them are enormous? It might keep the variety down, but it's at least more realistic. And yes, you will have the opportunity to use a sniper rifle.

Most science fiction based shooters tend to have character running around with shields attached to their armor, and that's not any different here, but there are some slight changes. Obviously, your shields are in place to protect you, and as you take more damage, they will wear down until enemy fire begins to deplete your health. However, by getting out of the line of fire, that will give your shield the chance to build back up as opposed to trying to find icons to replenish their energy. It's another of those subtle things that can make all the difference in the world, especially if you take into consideration that according to most classic science fiction, shields run on a battery, and getting shot isn't going to take any power from that, unless of course it's destroyed. One last feature that I really liked is that if you're planting an explosive charge, which you will be required to do from time to time, it's not one of those feats where you simply walk up, place it, and walk away. It's going to take a few seconds, leaving you wide open for enemy fire.

Fire Warrior features roughly 21 levels, and although you might be thinking that since this is a FPS, and you've mastered all of them, this is going to be a walk in the park, but that's the farthest thing from the truth. Even on the easy level, Fire Warrior can throw you into levels that not only take quite a bit of time to complete, but also some that are insanely difficult. Early on, you'll have team mates to help out on occasion, and that remains true quite a bit of the time, but when you're on your own, things are much more difficult. That's quite a change from another FPS that I played recently, Medal of Honor, which was over just about as quickly as it began. Warhammer however is going to take a little more time to go through the levels, and often, a little more forethought on how to make it through certain areas, and where you can find the best cover.

There are some things I don't care for with the game though, and the first is the graphics and some of the game mechanics. THQ impressed me a while back with another FPS title they released, that being Red Faction II. Part of the big draw was the fact that just about everything could be destroyed, but that's not so with this game. Things that I think that I can destroy simply remain unscathed as I pump round after round of ammo into them. There may be a little gore while I mow down the heartless soldiers of the Imperium, but that's not nearly enough. The graphics are rather lackluster for the most part, and lack any real memorable qualities. The levels might be well thought out in their design, but as far as the overall look, they tend to be a bit too generic, and often times, far too dark, and using your infrared doesn't do too much more than throw up a green screen with black figures dashing back and forth. However, as a graphic point in the games favor, the cut scenes are very well done, although they don't seem to occur too often.

Online play of course is becoming more and more a part of almost every game that is released. Sports titles are a given, but for the home console market, first person shooters are getting the same treatment as well. While some of us have been faced with disappointment in the past, and TimeSplitters 2 comes to mind, Fire Warrior does in fact feature an online mode, something that does add a good deal of replay value into the game, and even better is the fact that unlike some games where coming in as a newbie may have disadvantages, such as the case has been with SOCOM, FPS games generally aren't that way at all. That's all well and good, but Warhammer doesn't actually features in online mode that set it apart from other titles. You'll have the option to play a deathmatch, capture the flag, or in team mode, and that's really it. You can have up to eight players online or, if that's not your bag, hook up your multi-tap and have a multi-player match in the comfort of your own living room.

Although the game is a little better than a few other games in the same genre that are out on the market, I'm still sticking to my claim that it still doesn't beat out Red Faction II, a game that, in my opinion, my very well be one of the best shooters that is out on the PS2 so far. It may have been virtually impossible to take the Warhammer concept and turn it into a true console RPG, and while this isn't a bad use of the license, I still would have liked to have seen a few more of the finer details implemented. This will at least be a game that's going to keep you busy for a while, that's for sure, but I found that the game grew a little tired and stale after a few levels, prompting me to seek out other means of gaming entertainment. If nothing else, I would at least recommend checking the title out in the rental market before shelling out the money on it, but I know for a fact that anyone that enjoys the first person shooter genre to an extreme degree is probably going to get hours of thrills from this title, and that's the most important selling point of all. And remember, it's all, "For the greater good."

-mike-