Warhammer Xcom is hell of the pitch. It’s a very good pitch and it’s already been done many times. Chaos Gate: Demon Hunter. Mechanicus. Even the future threats are essentially none of them. Warhammer 40k Mechanicus 2 There is a difficult job of improving what has come before. It is necessarily compared first and foremost with its predecessor, but sometimes the Pantheon of the turn-based Warhammer game can rise.
At the basic level, the Warhammer 40K Mechanicus 2 improves the basis of its progenitor cells in almost every way. The first thing you notice when loading a new Steam demo is music. I stayed on the title screen for over 5 minutes to listen. The demo itself looks good, with a character model updated with both cutscene and turn-based action sequences.
The UI has also been significantly improved. Turn orders are displayed on the right side of the screen, not on the top. As someone who places the Windows taskbar on the right side of the monitor, this makes me very happy. It makes more sense. The unit’s weapons and abilities UI is simplified, taking a blueprint-style approach rather than an image from the previous game. I like this too. The analysis is clearer and easier.
But the most important aspect is gameplay. This is the most difficult aspect to judge from this tutorial demo. The presentation is refined, but the simple early game slices never offer a big challenge. That’s the point of the tutorial, and it’s good to get the feeling that the mechanics have a pass to withstand, and the Mechanicus cognitive points system has been reworked. There are more routes to the points and more opportunities to use them.
The biggest topic is Necron, which is the first time in the series. They feel fundamentally different from Mechanicus, but that’s a must. This is supported by slow, enormous movements and animations that show the weight of thousands of years (and their metal bodies).
But they are also happy to report that they feel different from the mechanical sensation. The two factions are perfect foils for each other – from the first game, my small part is worried that they will play each other too similar. But from the units you can choose to Dominion Points, Necron has a whole new outlook.
You can earn and spend cognitive points, but Dominion points act as snowmen, and the Necrons become more and more powerful as the battle progresses. The more damage they deal, the more points they earn, and the more powerful their next attack or ability. This didn’t really affect these tutorial cushions, but we see signs that this will be important later in the game. I hope that as the battle becomes more tricky, you need to balance your slow, sleepy start by dealing enough damage to bring the more powerful systems online.
It’s too early to say whether Mechanicus 2 is a major iteration of the Warhammer XCOM formula, but the early signs are positive. There is a compelling story, and the ability to play both sides (so it always appears above) adds a whole new dimension to the procedure.
The biggest compliment I can pay for this game is that this demo has me. It was only after we had codex that we considered playing as a Necron. There is no more praise.
The Warhammer 40K Mechanicus 2 demo is available on Steam. You can download it here.
If you can’t wait for the full game to be released, why not check out the best Warhammer 40K games instead? The list of the best turn-based strategy games should also work.
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