Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War Review

Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War is not the 4X game you think you’ve been waiting for. It’s actually better, and it will surprise players with its aggressive approach and over-the-top warlike gameplay.

The number of Warhammer games is too damn high, a famous meme would say, and that’s true for the most part. The gatekeeper for the Warhammer franchise is Games Workshop, and the company tends to give pretty much everyone the rights to their property. We’ve seen some weird titles built both in the fantasy and the 40,000 universes, but that’s expected when you’re giving everyone the right to makes games with your property.

It’s unclear what’s the policy behind the decisions made by the Games Workshop, but the sheer number of Warhammer titles out there ensures that at least some of them are going to be bad. And, to be fair, given the high number of games currently available right now, there aren't too many flops within that bunch.

A 4X title in the Warhammer universe doesn’t really make send if you think about the definition of the genre. We’ve been playing this sort of games for a long time, and the genre taught us to expect certain things, like diplomacy, building cities, and cultural victories.

On the other hand, everything related to Warhammer is usually drenched in blood and on the verge of annihilation. Somewhere in the middle, we have to fit Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War and make it work. And it really does work.

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We have to remember what the 4X stands for and that’s explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate. There is no mention of building cities or maintaining diplomatic relationships with your neighbors. It’s somewhat understood that you’ll need to do that in order to succeed, but in Warhammer, all factions are militaristic and are never considering peace, only war.

Story and gameplay

Even among the Warhammer enthusiasts, the story behind Gladius is not a famous one. There is a board game as well, I believe, and that usually helps. In any case, a lot of people might want to play a 4X game but they don’t know the backstory.

Fortunately, it’s not a complex storyline, and in this case, it’s only used as a backbone for the gameplay and to offer an excuse to kill everyone on the map. The game takes place on Gladius Prime, an old planet in the Imperium that’s known to house a number of important relics.

Recently, some of these relics were uncovered, and along with them some of the buried past and and ancient threats were brought to the surface as well. The four major factions in the Warhammer universe, the Astra Militarum, Space Marines, Orks and Necrons, are now fighting for the possession of the relics, and of the secrets buried on Gladius Prime.

The story itself soon becomes irrelevant as you’re soon embroiled in a war that doesn’t have to have an end or to have a clear winner. Of course, you can follow the storyline across the entire world, and you will end up fighting everyone. There is no safe course of action, and you’re not going to convince anyone that your culture is the way to go. The only progress is through death.

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As for the gameplay, the most interesting aspect is the removal of diplomacy. This in itself forces players to adopt a much more aggressive stance, but the same applies to all of the factions. It also means that that constant war and the total annihilation of the enemy is pretty much the only recourse.

Furthermore, the economic aspect of the game has been simplified to a large degree, and the trading part has been dropped as well. You can still buy some stuff, but for the most part, you only need to focus on building an army and crushing everyone in your path.

The fact that there are only two possible endgames, finishing the quest line or conquering everything, should give you a pretty good idea of what Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War is really about.

It’s also worth noting that the game feels quite difficult, even on regular settings. Since the AI is not interested in building stuff or reaching trade agreements with you, it’s a lot more focused on attacking, with little interest in anything else.

The good news comes when you’re playing with multiple factions because it usually means that they could be fighting among them, giving you some breathing space. But the planet is also populated by a large number of creatures, not to mention the other alien threats that are related to the story itself. What’s a little more annoying is that those creatures are really powerful and extremely aggressive.

It happened more than once to be attacked right at the outset of the game, within the first few turns. Keeping the troops alive is extremely difficult, but since the economic aspect is not all that relevant, churning out new units is not as complicated.

Basically, players have to endure the initial attacks until more powerful units can be obtained, and that applies to all factions. The annoying aspect is not that the game feels really difficult from the outset, but that it has a steep learning curve.

Even with the few text tutorials available, it’s still unclear just what can you do. For example, you’ll be able to build forts in some places automatically, but it’s not apparent if they present some tactical advantage. Also, some tiles are toxic and will kill off your units pretty quick. It’s a do-and-learn experience, most of the time. It’s an excellent way to learn, but it takes time and patience.

In any case, Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War is a challenging game, if you insist on playing like Civilization or something along those lines. To win you need to think differently, and that usually means a lot less expansion and more consolidations. It takes time to build up forces, much more than you would typically expect.

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Let’s not forget that Relics of War also comes with a multiplayer, and it’s pretty much an extension of the single player, but with people. It’s not something that I’m terribly excited about because 4X games are usually single-player adventures as they tend to take a lot of time. In any case, if you do find the time, you can try and play Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War with your friends, in multiplayer.

Graphics and sound

Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War is not an expensive game and was not put together by people with a huge budget. It’s clear that it’s a game made with passion, and that usually translates into terrible graphics and a great idea.

On the other hand, the graphics in Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War is much better than you would expect, but it’s a turn-based title, so the expectations are not all that high. Sure, the animations are a little bit wonky, and things could be better, but an hour into the game and you won’t care.

As for sounds and music, it’s not an issue because they don’t distinguish themselves. They neither bad or good, they are just there, fulfilling their role.

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion