E3 '07: Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command Impressions
By
Kevin VanOrd, Senior Editor
The famed franchise hammers its way onto handhelds in THQ's turn-based strategy title. We take a closer look.
It was only a matter of time before a Warhammer strategy game found its way onto handheld systems. Sure enough, THQ is bringing one to the Sony PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS, with Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command. We sat down with THQ and took a look at a recent build of their upcoming turn-based strategy game.
According to THQ, the game is a story-driven experience that will be virtually identical on both platforms. However, DS owners will get the added experience of controlling units with the touch screen, though the visuals will be somewhat pared down compared to the PSP release. Either way, in the campaign, you will command a team of up to six space marines in a series of 15 missions. In a few missions, you will get a chance to control imperial guards and grey knights, as well as a few vehicles. Most of your enemies will come from the Chaos faction, such as daemons and cultists.
The gameplay itself seems to be a pretty typical turn-based affair. You are assigned a set number of action points, which you then spend on unit movements and other actions. Commanding units looked pretty smooth in the PSP demo we saw, where a line indicated the path of the unit, and a red mark identified the victim of your attack. There don't seem to be a lot of different ways to attack your enemy, though you will gain weapons as you progress through the campaign. THQ promises that all of the weapons are found in Warhammer 40,000 lore, and that you should be able to switch between weapons during your missions.
Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command will also feature a substantial online component. On the PSP, up to eight players can skirmish, while on the DS, up to six can participate. In both versions, you can join others locally or online via Wi-Fi or infrastructure play. In online sessions, you may choose units for your army from either faction, so you aren't stuck with a simple good vs. bad battle. Online play will also include stat tracking and voice communication, though we don't yet have details on how exactly voice chat will function. Fortunately, the game will include text chat on both platforms.
While Squad Command should include all of the details that thrill Warhammer fans, THQ feels confident that any strategy enthusiast should be able to pick up and enjoy the game without any knowledge of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. We'll bring you more details on this promising turn-based title as they emerge.
By
Kevin VanOrd, Senior Editor
Kevin VanOrd is a lifelong RPG lover and violin player. When he isn't busy building PCs and composing symphonies, he watches American Dad reruns with his fat cat, Ollie.
I really want them to make a 3rd person or FPS for this series so they can add some new enemies. I'm so sick of Marine VS Chaos, I hope someday they'll expand the games to let you play as and against all the different races.
Prior to this PSP demo I had never played a Warhammer game and I have to say it was pretty fun. :) Looking forward to seeing what the reviews say.
I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it. :)
Trying the demo makes me go crazy, but one question is it going to be just killing? could it have something just a tad different, just like a different objective here or there?
Sony just released a demo of this game on the PSP website for download. its pretty awesome
love their Warhammer 40,000 games on pc , hope they live up to that name on handhelds
looks AWESOME!
for a turn based this seems interestting, very tactical, looks like some sweet online action :D
Man, I want this game Haven't there been any other more specific release dates than just Q4 2007?
[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]
[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]
looks good going to try this game when it is released
Im fairly impressed. I loved Dawn Of War,which satisfied my need for a new RTS to replace starcraft for a little while(Although even seeing Company of Heroes,StarCraft is still one of THE best RTS ever made,quite the success story too). I like it because it offered many types of stratagies and a diverse set of races(Although the Imperial Guard was a little too much like a weaker,cheaper,space marines). Never the less,this looks interesting from the videos. I'm not sure that people that never heard of Warhammer or played dawn of war will enjoy this as much. From what I seen though,it seems like it has the potential to be a pretty good game.
With high-quality PSP turn-based strategy games such as FF Tactics: War of the Lions and Disagaea: Afternoon of Darkness coming down the pipeline, why bother with what is essentially a diluted handheld port of the Warhammer 40K RTS with turn-based gameplay tacked on? Pass.
Unfortunate that they picked the most obvious races for it... I would have loved to see Imperial Guard vs. Orks, or Tau vs Tyrranids... Anything but these two. They're too similar too eachother as well; I felt the same with Dawn of War, but luckily that featured two additional, completely different races (Orks and Eldar). Besides that, I'm definitely buying this when it comes out.
when is there gunna be a non- turn based strategy game for the ds
it looks like it will only be imperial versus chaos.... but thats to be expected on a handheld i think.
The tabletop game got me hooked to 40k back when it started. I'm just really glad that the computer/video games that have come out over the years (with a few exceptions) have always been top notch. I'm definitely looking forward to this one. It sounds/looks allot like chaos gate which was really fun but horribly glitchy. Not as glitchy as Final Liberation. I couldn't get through a skirmish in that game without it crashing to the desktop. Is this going to be just Imperial vs Chaos?
Dark Crusade hooked me on Warhammer 40K series.
Well I can Already Say I had hoped for more and it's not out yet. Love the Idea And turn based is true to form for Warhammer. However Seeing only a handfull of Missions and only the Space Marines vs Chaos . How hard would it of been to put Orks, Bugs, Necron, Elder! Even some other Chapters such as the space wolves, Inquisitors or Sisters of Battles. Also I hope we can get closer in to the graphics because Warhammer has a ton of Potential for pushing the PSP's graphics to the max.
I've been a 40k fan for at least 17 years of my life, It's good to see it go portable, I really hope they go overboard with the weapons, the tabletop version had a crap load of weapons. The online play should be pretty cool as well. Trying hard not to get my hopes up, but I really hope this turns out to be good!!!
looks pretty impressive like the actual game
hope this is good. I need a turn based strategy game
havent played and warhammer games but this looks a good 1
Yep this is a buy. x-com on psp would rock!
OOOOOH YEAAAAAH !!!!!!! I love everything about warhammer 40k and warhammer
I played this game on computer it kicked ass and this version looks mehish hope its good! looks promising
I wish they'd make a Warhammer game that is more like Star Wars Battlefront with multiple playable units. Between the Space Marines, Eldar, Tyranid, Chaos and Orks they could make a bad ass game, I'm tired of them just using the frachise for strategy games.
SWEETTTTT!, what to many t not enough !!, SWEETT!!!!!!. That's better.
i was excited until i saw it was turn based
watever..... still aint better than world of warcraft
if this does not pwn, i will be very angry....
looks ok it would be cool playing it on PSP or DS
Yeah, it is about time for an accurate simulation of the tabletop game, ruleset and all.
Awesome! I'll be getting this one obviously. Now, we just have to start banging down someone's door to put the first X-COM on portables! I love that game to death, but as the years go on, it'll get harder and harder to run the original on PCs as the tech changes and stops supporting old games. :-(
cannot wait!
looks like a buy to me :)
hmmm. looks fun
WOOOT !~!!!!!!!!! Finally the warhammer universe are invading the gaming world !! I can't wait for the this PSP warhammer 40k game. However why can't they make the game in 1st person shooter instead of 3rd person cameras like the Fire warrior where it is armed with 1st person shooter cameras.
Looks great... can't wait for the day they just do things properly and sim the tabletop game though. Haven't played that in about 10 years but would still love to see it. Why SM vs Chaos AGAIN though? And only 15 missions? The online play is clearly gonna make or break this one, without it it'll probably last me a day. With any luck though, this could be the online 40k equivalent of X:Com: UFO Enemy Unknown. If you're too young to remember it, look it up :) The golden age of turn-based strategy!
Yayy! ONLINE!!!! :D
Uuugh... Turn-Based!? Yuuuk!
looks interesting hope it plays as good as it looks.
@enosives7- obviously they won't be close. look at other games that have tried to do both systems. the one that comes to mind is lego star wars ii. given the choice, almost everyone would take the psp version.
I hope the DS graphics hold up to the PSP version. If they are even close, I will buy it.
Hopefully similiar to Space Crusade on the Amiga. Here's Hoping!
hope it is as good as the pc games
very interested
looks good, little strange controlling the characters, but looking forward to it
Physics?
Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command
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- Publisher(s): THQ
- Genre: Strategy
- Release: Dec 17, 2007 (US) »
- ESRB: T
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