Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector | Review

Warhammer 40,000

After having thoroughly tested the first missions of Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector in the preview a few months ago, we were finally able to get our hands on the full version of the title developed by the Black Label Society and distributed by Slitherine, a title that catapulted us once again. , in the gloomy darkness of the forty-first millennium.

Screen by Slitherine

Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector is a turn-based strategy game set in the lore period that sees Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines, lead the Indomitus Crusade to try to hold together the Imperium, split in two by the Cicatrix Maledictum.

The Indomitus Crusade, however, has shifted the focus of the imperial defenses to another side, thus allowing a part of the Tyranid Leviathan biofleet to attack the system of Baal, home planet of the Blood Angels, another of the most iconic chapters of Adeptus Astartes in the entire WH40K lore, and of which we will be called to command the forces in the field, in an attempt to completely eradicate the alien presence from Baal and his moons, by any means necessary. In the distant future, on the other hand, there is only war.

Rules of engagement

The gameplay of Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector, superficially very reminiscent of Sanctus Reach, another set title in the WH40K universe distributed by Slitherine, as in general the classic one of other turn-based strategists.

Each unit that we are going to deploy, has a certain number of action points that can be spent in the current turn. The action points can be used to move, open fire with ranged weapons, engage opponents in close combat or interact with the environment, an action almost always exclusively reserved for individual characters of a certain importance. Obviously, we can also decide to use all the action points of one or more units during a turn, thus allowing us to put the unit in question in overwatch, or in a state of alert that makes it capable of reacting automatically during the enemy turn. , against every opposing unit present in its range.

An element that instead differentiates the gameplay of Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector compared to many other games of this type, are certainly the Momentum points, or a sort bonus that is assigned to our units every time they attack or approach opponents. Every 100 Momentum accumulated, the unit in question will be able to spend them to obtain an additional action or an upgrade to its peculiar abilities.



On the contrary, if our unit resolves the turn without firing a shot or without taking any initiatives whatsoever, Momentum points will be subtracted. The presence of this mechanism could push many players to constantly keep a very aggressive attitude, which certainly yields many more Momentum points than a more reasoned approach. Too bad, however, that simply loading with your head down will almost inevitably lead us to disaster. Our opponents, the Tyranids, are in fact much faster than us (usually), lethal and above all, many. So many.

They come out of the walls!

Very often we will find ourselves perhaps threatened by some enemy unit that had escaped our sight or that suddenly emerged from who knows where, given that the Tyranids have also the bad habit of receiving huge reinforcements almost continuously, thus limiting our reaction space at times and ruining the strategy we were elaborating.

This particular makes the feeling of being in constant danger of being overwhelmed by hordes of angry aliens, making it more "epic", but sometimes it is extremely annoying, due to what is perhaps the biggest flaw of Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector, which is the fact that, regardless of what the your specific objectives during a mission, once reached we will still have to kill every opposing unit left in the field. As long as there is only a miserable lone tyranid on the pitch, we won't be able to take home victory. This is sometimes frustrating, because it practically forces us to grueling "insect hunts" all over the map or, much worse, having to face some dangerous unit that we were able to avoid, with what remains of our troops, perhaps failing. the mission despite the completion of the objectives, because the aforementioned monstrosity can get the better of our survivors.



Technically speaking, Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector defends itself quite well. Graphics and sound are of excellent quality, each unit (and there are quite a few) is made in the smallest details, including special characters, giving a truly satisfying visual feeling. Gameplay is also very good, with clear and very intuitive controls, which will always be immediate even in the most complicated battle phases. Even the environments are visually created in a very interesting way, even if a little more interactivity with the scenario would certainly not have spoiled.