PlayStation 2

Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior

Featuring a robust single-player experience that delivers 21 levels of play and both split-screen and online multiplayer, Fire Warrior has a lot to offer. From the moment I turned the game on, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the graphic fidelity of the title. I wouldn’t quite put it in the league of an Xbox first-person shooter, but it is most certainly close. The artwork in particular stands out to me. The game’s developer, Kuju, certainly made sure that the character models and the environments were top-notch and you can see that commitment throughout the entire game. Sadly, the game doesn’t run in 480 progressive scan, but it does support widescreen, so HDTV users do receive some benefits.

Fire Warrior takes a standard first-person adventure and does a good job of providing a continuous adventure in an established world. The look and feel of Warhammer 40,000 and solid design combine for a fun, if a bit brainless, bit of FPS action. Hardcore FPS fans will find little new here, but it's perfect for fans of the original game and others looking for a quick shoot-em-up. If you're hoping for an ecstatic online Deathmatch extravaganza, you're looking in the wrong place. With just a few maps to choose from and only three modes with little customization there's a lot missing. While the play is smooth and fun, there's not enough here to keep gamers coming back for more.

If you like Games Workshop and Warhammer 40k, you'll love this game. If you like shooting things, blowing things up and generally wreaking havoc, you'll love this game. If you have Ethernet and friends all over the world whom you'd like to Deathmatch with, you'll love this game. In short, Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior has filled the gap left when Doom and Quake got old, but could do with being a bit more taxing.

I can't speak to its faithfulness to the source material, as it is an arena of hardcore geekery that I've unaccountably ignored, but Firewarrior is solid. Its gameplay, stripped of challenge or context, is the same kind of switch-flipping, bomb-planting, key-hunting FPS we've been playing for years, with intensity-in-ten-cities combat to conceal the lack of innovation. It's slightly above average, but only slightly, and can be enjoyed on that level.

Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior is fun and challenging and a game you won’t want to miss, but for many I can see this as a rental rather than a purchase. Once you’re done with the campaign and you’ve fiddled with the multiplayer for a few hours you’re not likely to come back anytime soon.

Overall, Warhammer 40K may not be perfect, nor is it a major revolution in it’s genre, but it’s packed full of decent graphics, intense firefights, and some serious non-stop trigger happy blasting for you run and gun FPS fans looking for something a little new that doesn’t make you solve a bunch of puzzles just to get to level 2. Warhammer fans should be happy with it, even if you can’t select your chosen faction to play with, and while it’s not the original Warhammer style … good Games Workshop games haven’t popped up too frequently over the years. Take advantage of it.

Usually, a game that lives and breathes mixing a familiar franchise with components from other games in its genre could be called derivative, uninspired, or unoriginal, but in Warhammer’s case, it’s only just unoriginal. There clearly was inspiration to blend in standardized FPS gameplay elements despite not breaking the mold, as they all work pretty well despite a few shortcomings.

Det är bra, men skulle ha kunnat vara så mycket bättre. Grafiken anstränger sig, men förmår inte återskapa alla visioner från pappret. Spelsystemet plockar lite här, lite där och så det mesta från Halo. Den som är van vid genren kommer inte att finna mycket nytt, men heller inte mycket att anmärka på. Det gär att den som aldrig hört talas om Warhammer 40 000 kanske får svårt att uppskatta alla detaljer och se helheten, men för fansen är det är julafton och födelsedag på samma gång.

The Ultramarines would make for a fun time in their long running battles with the hideous Tyranid swarms and Hive Fleets and let us not forget the temperamental if not misinterpreted charm of the Ork Warbands. Everybody loves Orks. In the end, Warhammer: Fire Warrior rates best as a cult classic. If you are a fan, check it out, if not then borrow you friend's copy or give it a whirl at the rental desk. Who knows, you might discover its charm as I did.

In a nutshell, you feel like you've done it all before in Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior. Boredom is your biggest opponent when trying to finish this derivative game, no matter how many miniatures you've painted over the years while waiting for a pure action title based on the great Warhammer 40,000 franchise. There are some intense moments here that are filled with fierce shoot-outs, but the complexity of the Warhammer universe deserves more than simplistic shooting and key hunts.

Fire Warrior aura bien du mal à s'attirer la sympathie. Son gameplay est complètement dépassé. Quitte à jouer dans la catégorie des FPS bourrins, le titre aurait dû proposer le « truc en plus » qui rende son action moins obsolète. L'IA navrante n'arrange pas les choses. On joue un peu, et puis on oublie.