[Review] Warhammer 40000:Gladius -Relics of War

[R e i]

Gladius is an addictive tactical turn based 4x which goes in heavy on the warfare and totally neglects the diplomacy aspect of the standard 4x formula. As I have matured as a gamer I have noticed with 4x that often the weakest part of the AI is their ability to negotiate and carry out diplomacy like a human would (The random and emotional choices sometimes made by a human are hard to emulate with AI). This tends to ruin the immersion of the game. To solve this the developers of Gladius have virtually eliminated diplomacy and relied on refining the AI to carry out warfare in a sophisticated manner. This works extremely well as the AI is both competent and clever in how it fights you and the wildlife in Gladius. I have seen the AI attack and withdraw competently and co-ordinate large forces under its control into impressive assaults on the player.

 

The base factions include the Space Marines, Astra Militarum, Orks and Necron with each of these having an extremely unique play style that is fun to learn and take advantage of. For instance the Space Marines can only ever build one city but have fortress drops to capture resources and some extremely powerful units. The Astra Militarum start off weak but their end game is the best and most devastating on Gladius Prime. Each faction has its own unique research tree and as you progress in Gladius you unlock more powerful and versatile infantry, vehicles and hero units. The hero units can then advance their skills and level into powerful end game finishers. Certain resource points can be captured to aid with the economic side of the game with goody huts providing gear that can be equipped onto hero units. The leveling and equipping of these heroes provides for an RPG feel to the strategy. I do feel that this area of the game could be expanded upon but overall it provides an interesting layer to the game.

The map is infested with NPC armies and wildlife which you fight to clear land and level up your units. These fight competently and attack and retreat where required. It can take some time to fight your way to the rival factions on the map, by which time you should have leveled up your units significantly. Occasionally you will come across an enemy early on which makes for a tight dogfight. The selection of map size and custom game options allow for the player to create interesting scenarios and challenges.

The Multiplayer scene is great and I have regular games with Steam friends, these are easy to make using the Steam forum and Discord server for the game. The multiplayer requires significant time to finish a match, but does add another dimension of enjoyment to the game. The graphics in the game suit the subject matter well and the units are very detailed. Overall the graphics reflect the grim nature of the eternal war of the 40k universe but are not as strong as some other games in the genre. However this does allow you to play on slightly lower spec systems and the game ran at around 40fps on my 950m laptop. I am interested to fire this up on my new gaming rig with all graphic options pushed to maximum.

The DLC packs released so far have included both Tyranid and Chaos Space Marines faction pakcs (I have it on good authority that Eldar will be added next). A Unit Reinforcement Pack and the Lord of Skulls, a super NPC that can arrive mid game and devastate factions. All the DLC packs have been excellent and add more layers to the base game.

Gladius is one of the the best tactical 4x strategy games out there. On the surface it may look simple with a stripped back 4x approach but it is actually very complex once you dig a bit deeper. Overall the Warhammer 40k theme is presented incredibly well, get it and enjoy it!