Warhammer Quest Review (PC)

Warhammer Quest is a port of an iOS turn-based strategy game that's been launched on App Store back in 2013. As the name suggests, it's an adaptation of an adventure board game released by Games Workshop in the mid 90s and set in the Warhammer universe.

I have always loved the Warhammer universe, just like Dungeons & Dragons and Shadowrun, but sadly, their adaptation to PC or other gaming platforms has not always worked.

While I've already covered Warhammer Quest for iOS and rated it pretty high, I was very disappointed that the PC port does not come with anything new in terms of visual or gameplay elements.

Story

Warhammer Quest is a very funny and addictive board game and since its launch back in 1995 it has managed to gather quite a lot of fans.

There isn't any major plot behind the game's story. In fact, the only objective in the game is to crawl through dozens of dungeons and acquire as much treasure as possible, while leveling up your heroes and upgrading their gear and abilities.

In order to do that you will visit so-called Settlements where various NPCs will offer you missions rewarded with coins or items. These cities are the only place where you can train your heroes, as well as sell the loot your don't need or buy new weapons and armors.

While there are some “main story” quests they are included more to guide players through the end rather than to unveil a magnificent story. The “side missions” are the bulk of the game and the main reason you will be able to level up your heroes and take on the “main quests,” which would be otherwise too hard or even impossible to complete.

Gameplay

Warhammer Quest the board game is very complex, but Warhammer Quest the PC game is extremely straightforward. The same thing I had to complain about when playing the iOS version, the lack of any rulebook or comprehensive tutorial, seems to plague Warhammer Quest for PC as well.

The gameplay mechanics that new players get to see while adventuring in the world of Warhammer Quest does not make justice to the board game at all. Every mechanic that implies rolling a die in Warhammer Quest is hidden underneath.

I'm going to explain something funny that most Warhammer Quest players won't know unless they have played the board game or they have read its rulebook.

Last room of a dungeon is also the most crowded

Every time in a while, you will be attacked by a group of monster when you're in a dungeon and you will probably figure that this is something developers have implemented into the game.

Well, that couldn't be more wrong. Warhammer Quest the board game has some unforgiven rules and one of them says that each turn a 1d6 die is rolled and if it rolls 1, then you will be attacked by a group of monsters.

This can happen while you're already engaged in a fight with another group of monsters and it can also happen while traveling between Settlements.

And this isn't the only thing that's been shoved under the rags by developers of Warhammer Quest. Each action that you take in Warhammer Quest is based on a 1d6 roll die and there are a bunch more hidden underneath that you won't know about it unless you previously played the board game.

I imagined that if Rodeo Games, developers of Warhammer Quest, decided to bring the iOS game to PC they would make some changes, at least to the control system.

“Alas, Warhammer Quest does not allow you to use the keyboard to scroll, which points even more to an 'untouched' iOS port.”

While this shouldn't be an issue at first, as you continue to play it becomes annoying. I'm not sure how hard it would have been to add keyboard support, but without it, it's bad.

What you need to understand before purchasing Warhammer Quest is that everything in the game is governed by the random factor. This means that everything that happens in Warhammer Quest is determined by a 1d6 roll and some rules that are explained to you whatsoever.

I agree that the iOS game surely did not need too many explanations, but PC players want a bit more from a game than what a mobile has to offer.

Hidden everything underneath and not letting players know what is really happening and why they are fighting against a group of Orcs instead of goblins, or why they have been attacked in a corridor that was empty a turn before, doesn't seem like a good idea at all.

So, for the uninitiated, Warhammer Quest is a turn-based dungeon-crawler where you will create your party of four heroes from a number of 4 that come with the standard version of the game.

However, you can purchase an additional 7 heroes if those 4 seem dull to you. Unfortunately, the most boring heroes have been made available for free, while the really interesting ones have been put under a pay wall.

Anyway, each attack you make against a monster is determined by a 1d6 roll. Your party will be overwhelmed in most fights, but luckily you will be able to take advantage of an ability called Death Blow.

The Death Blow allows a warrior who killed a monster to attack the next monster near him for free. Your heroes will gain additional attacks when they level up, but the Death Blow is very useful when you have just started a new game and your party is very squishy.

I definitely don't like the fact that Warhammer Quest for PC has been so much simplified that it's very hard to like it. Even die hard fans will find it a poor adaptation to the board game.

Graphics and audio

An adaptation to a board game such a Warhammer Quest doesn't really need a fancy graphics, but I feel like the top-down style doesn't really fir the PC. It was alright for mobile platforms, but I believe it would have felt much better if additional options have been made available for PC players.

The artwork is pretty decent, but there aren't any improvements over the iOS version of the game. You can guess that it's a port from a mobile game even if you haven't played Warhammer Quest for iOS and that doesn't bode well for developers I believe.

The soundtrack on the other hand is charming though I would have wanted to contain slightly more tracks. One thing that I found irritating is that whenever you enter a Settlement the game runs the same animation. Thankfully, you can skip it after it runs first time but only using the mouse.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion

Since I have the experience of playing Warhammer Quest for iOS, I would have expected developers to make some changes that would make it different from the mobile game.

Even if I still see the iOS version a good game, Warhammer Quest on PC should had offered a lot more complexity instead of the simple point & click decisions that doesn't allow you to really immerse into the game.

Warhammer Quest offers an experience that's too bare bone in comparison with the board game, something that Games Workshop shouldn't have allowed in the first place.

Another negative aspect is the fact that developers have put lots of interesting heroes under pay wall and anyone wanting to try out the more funny characters would have to pay a lot to get access to them. The prices are simply outrageous for a PC game.

Lots of expensive in-game purchases