Mordheim: City of the Damned

This game is a major garbage fest. I've been a fan of all Warhammer related content for almost 20 years including the 40k one. This failure is plagued with many horrible design choices which stem from it trying to replicate tabletop accurately. 1. Forced Ironman mode. The saves are encrypted and hidden so the "developers" literally spend time to ensure you can't play the mess differently than they want you to. 2. Quirky RNG. Yes, you could argue that for a 5d20 outcome {1,1,1,1,1} is equally probable as {3,13,20,18,10}, but when you consecutively see your figures roll failures and the ai rolling what looks like 5d10 with +10advantage to each roll, something is wrong. The usual answer is "get with it" is even more insulting. 3. Enemy warband is ALWAYS mirror image of your party. Bringing one ogre rat? Expect and ogre in the opponent force. Always! 4. Enemies scale to you so there is literally now way to pick easy encounters to scrape by and get back on your feet after defeat. Or picking your fights wisely.

Mordheim is not the sort of game one can pick up and immediately do well at, and that is one of its strengths. The gameplay is as brutal and unforgiving as the blighted city that gives the game its name (as well as being equally grim, dark, and flavorful). Perpetually in what is often called Iron Man mode, your every mistake, and success, is saved automatically. And, like any tabletop game, the dice (or, in this case, the RNG) can play utter havoc with your best laid plans. Characters that go down in battle do not always die when they go down but instead have a chance of injuries both physical and mental, occasionally with positive as well as negative effects (having a character lose an arm increases their dodge bonus, for example, but they can't use two handed weapons or shields). Given time to level up your Warband and figure out their strengths and weaknesses (which differ a great deal by race) Mordheim offers a lot of customization as you level up, with each member of your Warband leveling independently of one another. This does not mean the game is without its faults. Other than the aforementioned learning curve, which some will find a joyous challenge, it's a relatively slow experience. Every animation takes just a little longer than it feels like it should, as does waiting on enemy turns. The story missions, while well voiced and conceptually interesting, all take longer to complete than they should and are some of the least challenging parts of the game (this last because, unlike skirmishes, they do not level to your Warband. For maximum fun, I suggest doing them early). All that said, there's a lot to love here, a lot of variety, and a lot of replayability. This isn't the kind of game you can pass judgement on right away. It takes time to learn its ways and fully appreciate it, but once you get there it's a real treat of a strategy game with far more depth than it at first appears, and set in one of the most interesting fantasy settings around to boot.

If you like Warhammer or Tabletops this is a great game, the atmosphere is superb, the warband building is fun and the different warriors are all interesting. My major problem with this game is the seemingly biased RNG, with 20 hours in, and 15+ battles; the overwhelming trend i've noticed is that when you NEED to hit you won't... when the AI wants to, it will. Example: out of 8, 81% chances to hit in one battle i hit 3 (I'm just giving stats on my highest to hits, the other were all as abysmal I just don't remember the exact numbers) the opponent in the same turns hit all of its attacks (something like 20-25) with 7 characters in combat ranging from 64% to 79% chances to hit my people. So if you like great atomsphere good gameplay and getting it in the butt because the game doesnt like you that day this is a GOOD choice for you

I've never played the table top version of Mordheim, but imagine it would be entertaining enough. Unfortunately, as with many videogames that emulate the rolling of dice, Mordheim: City of the Damned fails to capture the key ingredients of table top games; playing with friends, and the suspension of disbelief that somehow the way you shake the dice, blow on them, and flick your wrist as you roll them actually has a material effect on the outcome. Instead, a background algorithm performs this on your behalf. There's little satisfaction to be gained from a successful 'roll', and great disappointment in an unsuccessful one, given the game mechanics. Throw in repetitive maps, one single animation for each character in combat, objectives that are often hard to complete, the sheer time it takes for the computer to take its turns (up to 3 minutes per character on occasion), and a rather lacklustre campaign, and the end result is a game that quickly becomes a grind, and is just not enjoyable to play. That said, those who particularly enjoy hardcore gameplay and turn based tactical action may well get far more from this game than I did.

I have just wasted 380h to finish all campaigns of this game. All DLCs are rather must-have. However, it is a little annoying that you can start a campaign because you need to buy DLC. So, the price is high for all, but the game is ok, in my opinion. It is nice to play some matches after work. Pros: - good fun - you need to use your brain (sometimes) - nice graphics Cons: - price - this game is very repetitive - sometimes enemies are stucking somewhere (problem with AI) - there is something weird calculation hits e.g., I have 87% chance to hit and after four attacks all missed, sometimes is almost impossible to cast a spell with 75% chance to success