Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War

So if you like Warhammer 40k and 4x games this is a title you will enjoy as the core game play, graphics and sfx are sound, but it (and more importantly the DLC) is not worth the asking price. No story or atmosphere (in a 40k game!), pure war game (no trade or diplomacy), research is rudimentary, balancing is iffy, limited unit variety (or unit customization) with some of them being locked in DLC....this game has minimal viable product written all over it. This is a perfect example why I do not even consider buying games at their full price anymore. You are trying to sell me an incomplete game, why would I pay full price?

I have this game with all of the DLC (including Tau), and I must say that it scratches that W40K itch that I first got when I first played Dawn of War back in 2005. Gladius is a turn-based strategy game that gets most things right and is certainly recommended if you like either strategy games or the W40K universe. The game looks great, and a lot of care was taken with the presentation and graphics. It also has good sound effects and very good music. I like the mission/quest structure for each race, which is more or less a basic campaign that allows you to follow a somewhat coherent story line. The UI is fairly clean, and the tutorial is solid. The game is true to its lore: there is only war. There's an economic system and some light role-playing possibilities when it comes to customizing your hero units with gear and abilities. And since your units do gain experience and level up, you do start to care about them over time (you can rename your heroes, units, HQ, etc.). But the game is all about the war raging across Gladius. There's no diplomacy, no truces, no welcoming committees. It's all SM bolter fire, Ork choppaz, Tyranid acid, and Necro gauss the whole time. You are not there to just build and survive, but to dominate and destroy. It's all good fun, but just know that going in--war, war, and more war. The problems with the game are worth mentioning. There are no voices for the units, which is inexcusable. Fortunately, there is a very well-done mod called Too Many Voices that adds an array of voices for each race. Also, while you play on randomized maps, the color and terrain palette is rather limited. Moreover, the game does not have a map editor, which is rather odd. Another mod that you should get is one that disables a neutral unit called Enslavers. It really ruins the early game by mind controlling your units. The game only crashed one time for me, so no big problem with stability. Highly recommended! 4/5

If you dumb down civ 5's explore (a little bit), expand (a lot) and exploit (a lot) but hugely emphasize exterminate, it's exactly what you get here. Even though I am a huge fan of true 4X games, I am not saying this style is bad. It's just different. The matches here are way shorter, more bloody and dare I say more engaging than your typical civ style war. Neutral forces and very strong area control elements add spice to the game as well. Artifacts, tech upgrades and hero units are significantly fun too. On the other hand, city development is pretty basic, tech tree is simplistic (though, honestly, the meaningful choices are still there) and games can be a little chaotic. Map has good layout but the color schemes are not well thought - out, resulting in a pretty ugly and hard to read combat area. And the base game is pretty vanilla and while additional factions add a lot to the fun factor of the game, it also bumps up the price significantly. Overall, I think this game deserves 7/10 when unexpanded and 8/10 with added factions. Due to significant price with DLC's I say get them when on decent sale. Don't expect civ - like depthness here, but if you're here for short tactical combats, you should have a lot of fun with Gladius.

Love this combination! The gameplay is smooth and solid! The setting is perfect! And it has plenty of replay value! The only downside I suppose is not having diplomacy with other factions but then again, it's Warhammer 40k, endless war is kinda the name of the game here. And on that front, it does really well. Even during the late game with lots of units on screen, my computer has no problem handling it Overall Pros: Great setting Smooth gameplay Great replayability Great Optimization Lots of units on screen Animations are great Cons: No diplomacy Moving units when there are lots to control can sometimes be annoying Needs MORE RACES! They should add Chaos without a doubt, maybe my Tau bois and even the Eldar. I will happily pay for them as DLC Game might get laggy for lower end PC when at the late game with lots of units on screen Needs a more expansive research tree

Have you ever built up a massive army and hear/read a warning "You have too many troops you will go bankrupt in 3 turns, continue?" I have and I hated it with a passion. This game let me build a huge army of Tyranids (expac dlc), and slowly march across the map like giant vengeful locust. The game is turn based, no PC CPU spamming capturing places as I stop to breath....... This game even though turn based has very satisfying moving pieces both as they sit and wait and even better when they attack..in my opinion. I mistakenly thought the tech tree was only 4 tiers until I notice the arrows and saw it went to TEN. This version has no MULTIPLAYER.......which for me, is a "so what?" moment...I play games like this for the SINGLE-PLAYER experience. Also, and this is huge, as you set up a random skirmish, not ONLY can you buff or nerf your opponents, you can buff or nerf yourself. ( I choose to buff myself ). This is bar none, the most fun in a turn based game I have yet played, with the exception of Jagged Alliance 2.