A review of Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team. By a Games Workshop enthusiast.
As a fan of Warhamemr 40,000 I couldn't resist the urge to download this Xbox Live Arcade title literally to moment it went live, and then I felt a similar compunction to review it – so here we go.
Me and my brother sat eagerly thinking of the carnage we were about to unleash on a ship full of Orks as the opening cinematic explained that we were destroy the ship we are currently hurtling towards in an attempt to save an Imperial forgeworld in the sector. It's not much to go on, but is reason enough to send in a pair of Space Marines to deploy and mess things up. The game is a classic top-down arcade shooter, the control layouts are simple, a button to use stuff and melee, one trigger button for grenades and the other for special abilities. Nicely though to complement the left sticks job of moving your marine the right stick is a kind of 'shoot that way' job, you simply just tilt the stick in a direction to fill it with hot lead, or plasma, or whatever else you have at hand. The game looks good, the graphics enginge, character models and other recognisable elements taken directly from THQ's Dawn of War series on PC and so felt immediately familiar. This all comes together to create a believable Ork vessel and the Space Marines move in a way in which we are used to seeing them stomp around delivering death. The game sounds good too, with Ork war cries again taken from the Dawn of War games, a Space Marine commander in your ear gives information on enemies and mission objectives accompanied by Space Marine litanies which help the game feel authentic instead of a rushed arcade cash in. The weaponry also sounds awesomely menacing, Bolters chew through round with a satisfying crunch, Plasma Cannons rock the screen and all of the Chainswords and Power Weapons have a brutal edge to them, no pun intended.
The game plays well, it's not too easy and it's not too hard either which means there's a sense of achievement in having survived some crazy odds, but at the same time I felt suitably challenged by it. The game allows you to choose your chapter and class from a selection. The chapters are really just what colour you like, personally I chose the Blood Angels, but others on hand are the White Scars, Imperial Fists, Salamanders, the famous Ultramarines and, of course, THQ's own Blood Ravens. The classes have a distinct effect on game play, with different special abilities, ranged and close quarters efficiency. For most of the campaign I used the Librarian, with his powerful Psyker gifts and fearsome Force Sword in close quarters, or the Sternguard, a Heavy Bolter totting veteran with a handy suppression ability. Other choices include a Vanguard veteran, who is a close quarters beast and a Techmarine who gets access to regular Bolters or a Meltagun, but also deploys defensive turrets as his special ability.
The campaign played well and my appetite for the upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine was suitably wetted by the time I have finished, but in certain situations the game can be a little sneaky. What I mean by that is the camera can be as much an enemy as the Orks. It plays tricks such as rotating to another position while you are on the move firing at a group of attackers, causing you to have to quickly re-aim and most likely prepare for an assault. However, what annoyed me most was after one particularly intense set piece fire fight I was ushered on by the commander so off I went, but only so that once the camera had panned down the screen with me I fell of the walkway I was on and died as the camera then turned to the right to reveal by path. A little sneaky. The campaign offers co-operative play but disappointingly only supports two players and is only available locally, so no Xbox Live co-op play. The campaign is quite short too, but there is also a survival mode which is a wave assault set in key set piece fire fights from the campaign. The survival maps are pretty challenging and it's a cool feeling to finish one and find out your above all your friends in the ranking.
Overall, Kill Team is a good arcade shooter, with good fan service and solidly ground in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It sets up the beginnings of the upcoming Space Marine nicely and the action genuinely makes you feel like a total badass. The campaign could be longer, but maybe I expect more purely because what I had already played was so cool and I was hungry for more. It would have been cool to have online co-op available and even four players but ah well, can't win em' all. A little more content would have been nice, but otherwise a solid shooter.
I give Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team 8/10