Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior

Fire Warrior is a console shooter from an era when that did generally mean that a game is going to suck (the first Halo being the one exception). I've really tried to love Fire Warrior back then, having been a huge WH40k fan at the time, alas, it's just not good. And it's not a good PC port either. First off: it's just your typical mediocre corridor shooter that feels cheap all around. The graphics, the animations, the sound, the voices... everything just feels off. Top if off with a lack of in-game music (a decision I can't comprehend). It also suffers from bad guns that usually just lack a punch and aren't fun to use due to mostly firing slow projectiles that have no perceivable impact. Enemies barely react to hits and generally don't die in a satisfying manner. And most enemies are generic humans who just frantically run around the screen an annoying lot. The level design is also pretty bad as it manages to be super linear and making it still hard to guess where to go. It's a corridor shooter of the worst kind. Then there's of course your typical early console port issues. There's no quicksaving and no checkpoints - die and you have to start over. But most importantly: you MUST play the game with AUTO AIM ON (off by default in the current GOG version). The mouse behaviour is god-awful in this game and makes it ridiculously hard hit anything, especially the randomly strafing enemies. Auto aim is a game changer here. It's quite aggressive, making the crosshair lock onto enemies, and may feel weird in a PC shooter but it's the only way to make the game bearable in my opinion. As for redeeming values: there's some decent locations (a space hulk NOT overrun by tyranids!) and the cutscenes are great. And GOG also did a great job (besides not making auto aim on by default). Widescreen resolutions work just fine and there's no issues with launching the game on Windows 10 (making the original version work on Win 10 was a nightmare).

I love this game, and spent a lot of time in it back in the 2000's with my ps2 and friends. I like Kaius, I like the story, I even enjoy the overall gameplay. However without my previous experiences with it this game is admittedly mediocre at best as a game, thought the story is still pretty solid in my eyes if not BS in terms of the 40k universe.

Nothing less, but unfortunately nothing more either. Which is sad, because I think it wouldn't take much to make this game feel good, like having proper music during the action sequences and more allied NPCs to give you a better impression that you actually are in a battle. Both are there, but the soundtrack consists of ambient music and AI teammates are few and far inbetween and most of the time, they only join you for a short time or get killed right away. Which somewhat ties in to the "Fluff" aspect of the game. This is a mixed bag and while I understand that they can't stay 100% true to the lore, due to balance reasons, some of the stuff in the game just feels wrong. For example, a normal Imperial Guardsman can take up to 15 hits from a Pulse Rifle and a Seargent takes a full magazine before going down. And Pulse Rifles are supposed to be among the most deadly weapons in the galaxy. An other issue is that the Pulse Carbine, the second Tau weapon you get, is horribly inaccurate and acts more like an SMG than the middle to long range weapon it is in the lore. Both weapons can be "fixed" when turning on auto aim, which makes the Guardsmen die faster, too, but you shouldn't resort to auto aim to make the game feel closer to the fluff. I also think that the Tau military is pretty underrepresented in the game, because the only units you actually see in combat are Fire Warriors, but none of the others. No Stealth Suits or Devilfish transports, although both are mentioned in the tutorial, no Crisis or Broadside Battlesuits, no Drones, no Kroot, no Vespids, nothing. So, what does Fire Warrior actually do right? Well, there is a good amount of weapons and aside from the Tau ones, feel actually reasonable. Lasguns and Autocannons are worse than Tau guns, Plasma guns burn the enemies and Bolters make the enemy go up in flames or make make them explode into little gibs. Equally, there is a good amount of enemy varitey and later levels touched by the Warp look nice.

This review is so hard for me to write because I don't want to be too negative, I have to spend at least 2 weeks just to try to give this game justice. I played this game on PS2 and it's the worst shooter I've ever played. I'll start with the positives. -If you're a 40k fan & you want to explore 40k environments in a more personal detail. The main 40k theme is hopelessness & depression, that is exactly how I feel when I play most of the time. Back when this game was made, the Tau was painted as the good guy. Their interiors tend to be clean & bright to give you that hopeful feeling & this is actually the reason why I pick up the hobby as a Tau. If you are a hardcore 40k hobbyist, I would recommend buying this game if you want some ideas for your maps. -The game gives you an authentic experience on how does it feel like to take on Space Marines as a mere mortal. When a 7 ft man covered head to toe in armor coming at you with a chainsword, you will rightfully fear the Emperor & the Imperium. -Thanks to the 40k lore itself, the difficulty scale is perfect. When you piss off the Imperium, first they sent lowly guardsmen to fight you. If you survive, they'll start sending stormtroopers, space marines, assassins. This game has a long list of negatives, and it is rightfully so. I won't go over them but I'll give you my fair warning. -The aim is terrible & it will be the reason why you'll die pretty much all the time even with auto aim (or at least, it's the reason why I even die). -Cheap jump scare tactics. Chaos Space Marines may feign dead & Chaos Raptors will start appearing behind you and since you're a Tau you can't fight in melee so you're basically dead. Your character has a sword but you'll forget it exist for just how useless it is. -Sometimes the game gives you a mission that you can't finish just so you could fail it. I learned not to care & just go through the stages. If you want a good 40k shooter to play, play Space Marines.