I wrote a professional Chaosbane review for PlayStation Lifestyle, but it doesn’t mean I can’t write something here. I think the way plagiarism works is that I can’t copy and paste directly (please detect sarcasm here), and I don’t need to copy and paste directly. Warhammer: Chaosbane is pretty fresh in my mind, and that’s because I’m busy warning all of my friends to wait for a massive price drop.
On paper, Chaosbane appeared to have everything we’d want from a Diablo-esque WH game. I will be comparing this game to Diablo a lot for two reasons:
- it is a Diablo-lite, and
- it’s impossible not to.
So buckle in and prepare for the Diablo wannabe comparisons. It’s not pretty.
When a Game Makes Diablo‘s Gameplay Seem Complex…
Look, I absolutely adore Diablo and Diablo-like games. However, for a Diablo-like game to work and stand out on its own, it needs its own hook. Its own gimmick. Something that makes it unique. Unfortunately, Chaosbane has none of these things.
It does have a deeper skill system than Diablo, I will give it that. Players have a wheel of skills for both active and passive skills that unlock once the character reaches particular levels. However, your character needs a certain number of skill points to activate the skills in his skillset. You don’t always earn new skill points each time you level up, so the skill wheel becomes a land of bargaining. You may really need the fully upgraded version of this one skill, but then you may have to give up another high-level skill in return.
On top of this, there’s a completely additional skill tree for God skills. These need favour points (1 per level gained), gold crowns, and stone fragments to purchase. Once you purchase a God skill, you have another set of skill points to juggle with your skill wheel.
And that’s all the complexity you’re going to get in this game.
Chaosbane only offers four character classes, and no, you can’t change the gender of any of them. You want to play as a girl, you’re stuck with the Scout class. It’s fitting, actually, because I think the whole game has only four maps as well. If you thought Diablo III was tedious with its maps, at least you didn’t go back to the same exact map four or five times in one Act. No, I’m not exaggerating. Each area your character visits has up to two different maps they can visit to complete the main story. Be prepared to do one map 75% of the time you’re there. By the third Act, I was just going through the motions, wondering when it would be over. I can only do so many fetch quests through the same damn map to pad out this story.
At least in Diablo III, the maps were procedurally generated with the varieties of enemies (Who doesn’t love plague jailer arcane demons? The answer is everyone.), not to mention various events or caves would open up for exploration at different times. Chaosbane has NONE of that. If you want side quests, just wait until you finish the area, because then the Expeditions and Boss Rush modes unlock. Boss Rush is what it sounds, and the Expeditions are, get this, opportunities to explore that same damn map you’ve already done ten times before! This time, it will have various event challenges, like kill all the daemons before time runs out. Yes, my excitement went straight through the roof, too.
Zero Reason to Replay
I’ve replayed Diablo III so many times, I have that incredibly tedious Platinum Trophy for the version on the PlayStation 3. So yes, I am not opposed to replaying games. This style of game demands a high replayability factor, and Chaosbane just doesn’t have it. Sure, the trophies may be a reason in of themselves, but the overall game isn’t entertaining enough for multiple playthroughs, even when using different characters.
Plus, after you finish the game, there is nothing for your character to do other than Expeditions, Boss Rushes, and the Relic Hunts that unlock upon game completion. It feels like an absolute waste. Perhaps the DLC will add more incentives to replay it, but that just makes Chaosbane an incomplete game.
How this game sits now, Chaosbane is nowhere near worth the $59.99 price tag. If you’re wanting a Diablo-esque Warhammer Fantasy game to possibly play with friends, wait until this title goes on sale. I’d wait until the price drops to $25-$30.
I really wanted to like this game, but it’s too boring and tedious for even me.
Chaosbane
The Good
- Story good for veterans and newcomers
- Gameplay easy enough for anyone to learn
The Bad
- Horrible voice acting
- Lack of variety in nearly everything
- No real repayability incentives
Leave a Reply