Warhammer: Mark of Chaos review

We've raved and ranted about this game's graphical beauty andwhite-knuckled gameplay for weeks - and our anticipation was worth it. If you've ever wanted your Warhammer miniatures to come to life, check out Warhammer: Mark of Chaos. This adaptation of Games Workshop's popular fantasy wargame plays likeEmpire knights and Chaos orcs have hopped off their metal bases to rampage on your monitor. Purists will love it for its faithfulness to the original game, while others will groove on great RTS mechanics and castle-smashing battles.

Gameplay is structured like that in the Total War series; all the emphasis on combat. There are no resources to gather and no bases to build, so you can fully concentrate on war between the Empire, with its High Elf allies, and the Hordes of Chaos, bolstered by the rat-like Skaven.

Anyone familiar with tabletop Warhammer will recognize the stats and style of the action. Mark of Chaos is loaded with details taken straight from the Games Workshop rulebooks. Armies mostly consist of grunts like the Empire's swordsmen and handgunners and the Chaos axethrowers and warhounds, along with mercenary reinforcements such as dwarven warriors and night goblins. And the dark look and well-acted, gothic-tinged dialogue perfectly match the grimy baroque art and mood of the tabletop game.