Warhammer - PC, 5/2/96

Although we like to pretend the funny world of sitting around rolling 900-sided dice and decorating daft little lead orcs is a closed book to us, Mr Biffo's shamed past just won't shut up.

But that needn't matter - not today! Today, we embrace a game that manages the impossible: it makes an engine out of rubber (it makes an interesting game out of a dull concept).

The concept is as fantasy wargame.

Warhammer is a "campaign battle real-time strategy adventure", or a real "Battle Royale!" in terms that you might understand when you grow up.

Are you a mercenary who gets paid for missions like escorting carts through a goblin-filled valley or defending villages from naughty orcs? How funny - this game is about you.

Succeed, get paid, use funds to bolster your array of horses, siege machines, wizards and whistling wizards.

The combat in Warhammer isn't conceptually novel - you choose troops, position them, then point and click on an overhead map to assign which units they are to attack.

What's nice is the isometric view of the real-time fighties. You can zoom in or pan around for an overall view or a close-up of a particular skirmish. It really is most appropriate.

Assuming, that is, you have a Pentium. The half-pixel option for 486 owners is like having to bathe a tramp.

Being a fantasy wargame, some of the 25 troop types in Warhammer are wizards, whose influence depends on the magical manna your troops build up.

And being a fantasy wargame, it can also be arcane (though the manual is superb) and unforgiving - the usual way to find out which combination of troops a mission requires is to fall 11 times.

But there's more than enough here to make both smelly orc-painters and normal people become happy for weeks. Just don't expect instant C&C thrills.

Warhammer - PC CD-ROM - by Mindscape

Req: Win '95
Graphix: 84%
Sonix: 80%
Gameplay: 88%
Lifespan: 91%
Originality: 90%
Uppers: Cerebral fighting
Downers: Requires perseverance
Overall: 87% - Whammer