Warhammer: Chaosbane Previews
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Thanks to a closed beta that ran from March 7th to March 13th, we already had a chance to read a few previews for Eko Software's Warhammer: Chaosbane that's currently slated for a June 4, 2019 release. And if you're interested in learning a bit more about this upcoming action-RPG, you may want to check out some fresh previews below.
First, here's a video preview from Shacknews:
And on the text side of things, here's PC Gamer:
My main takeaway from this beta is that sigh of relief, repeated every time I see Chaosbane dodge a common pitfall. It's got lots of skills to spend points on but not so many it's confusing (I can tell already I'll navigate this by ignoring the ones geared for co-op play, of which there are plenty). It's got a slider for difficulty and any time you're in the hub you can tweak it as much as you want. Loadouts can be changed anywhere, and health is a represented by a bright red orb that's easily visible. These are low bars to clear, but after seeing so many games screw up the basics it's nice to see them done right. I can see myself sinking hours into this just like I did with Torchlight, clicking on monsters, comparing the stats on gloves, collecting armor sets, and killing a lot of tiny green brats.
I may not be familiar with Warhammer but I am familiar with the appeal of a good dungeon crawler and Chaosbane fulfilled those obligations with ease. I felt powerful, charging headlong into a fight with continually improving gear buffed by a well blended skill set. Even something as simple as dialing up a fast attack while I was still in a power attack animation delivered a crowd-clearing combo slap full of green damage numbers. I could feel myself picking up good fundamentals as I played more. I just wish I had a little more of a coach at the outset.
Let’s start with the basics. Chaosbane is a blast to play. The simple plot quickly brought me up to speed before letting me loose in a sewer to slay baddies gushing poison and chaotic energies. Enemies fell quickly to my attacks, which fluidly cut through opponents in a tornado of numbers.
I picked the Soldier class, one of two available for the beta, which I at first thought was a mistake. The mage certainly wins on pure spectacle. Still, I was won over by Chaosbane’s fluid movement and impactful attacks. Whirlwind was an early favorite. I love the way it chucks dead opponents through the air like party streamers.
And Wolf's Gaming Blog:
Right now combat feels fine, but attacks lack a sense of impact. Whacking something with a hammer in the game’s current state doesn’t have the meaty thump you’d really expect, so some work on the audio effects and the animations could help improve the feel of combat a lot.
The pricetag doesn’t feel right, either. Right now you can pre-order it on Steam for a hefty £39.99, putting it up there with big-budget triple-A titles. Frankly, Chaosbane doesn’t feel like it should be sitting in that price bracket. £20-25 would be about right, based on the beta.
