Title: Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior
Developer: Kuju Entertainment
Publisher: THQ
Released: October 2003
I’m trying to keep these “Retro Monday” things relevant. So the Games Workshop stock fell by just under a quarter. They’re not going under, by the way. In comparison to other British companies, they have a lot of resources and money in the coffers. They’ve survived this before many-a-year ago. And not so long ago they survived the death of their (out-of-house) video game publisher THQ. Most of the games that where made with the license where ok. One such game was “Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior.”
I’m not clued up on all of the Warhammer lore but it’s not that hard to understand. By my recollection, it is the future; humans have started many wars with different planets/species. They also made a new god out of a human whose body is kept alive by a giant life support system called the ‘Golden Throne.’ The humans who didn’t want the new god believed in a set of new gods called the “Chaos Gods.” That’s pretty much all you really need to know about the lore.
It’s been a long while since I played this game. Last time I played it was when I had to get used to FPS controls on the PC. And the PC that I was playing it on was terrible. Still is. It’s this one. Anyway, on to the game.
The game follows a Tao (an alien species) called Kais. It may be the future but fantasy naming rules still apply. It plays out over battle filled 24 hours. Like “The Getaway,” but with aliens. I have never finished the game. Mainly because the game is not that interesting. It’s not boring. It’s just not interesting. Looking at the whole plot of the game I have realized why. The game goes (mostly) out of its way so you can see all main species in the main cannon for at least one level. The tutorial layers on the Tao lore. At least you can just skip it if you’re not interested. Then you head into battle and fight the Imperial Army, then Storm Troopers, then the obligatory betrayal and truce with the Ultramarines so you can play on their side, which happens in most Warhammer 40K games, and then you fight the Chaos army and blow up the planet.
The game play is a standard affair. It plays like all other FPS’s of the time. There’s not much that stands out. You fight through trenches, ruins etc., with the standard array of machine guns, pistols, shotguns, etc. At all very… standard.
Searching the internet for this article I found out, however, that the PS2 port of the game was much better received then the PC version. I have only played the PC version. I didn’t even know there was a PS2 port. Not really sure why the port was better received then the PC version, especially considering the shouting that ‘PC gamers’ do about how games, especially FPS’s, are better on the PC. And I don’t like the term ‘PC gamer,’ because we’re all ‘gamers’ and if anything we should call ourselves that.
The whole game is very standard. There’s nothing distinctly bad in the game but there’s nothing that stands out either, even if you’re a fan of the franchise. It’s nothing special. It’s a rather forgettable gaming experience that is pretty bland and uninteresting. There’s nothing even to get angry about. Its just average. Solidly average.
Retro Score: 2.5
Modern Score: 2.5