A bit of history. It was in ancient times (that is, 1983) that the world of Warhammer was created, driven by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, founders of Games Workshop. Initially, it was simply a backdrop for a figurine range. Over the years, the license expanded into role-playing games, board games, and even video games. For many RPG enthusiasts, it became a major universe, serving as the setting for countless adventures since its inception. Among its many variations, Warhammer was adapted in 1995 into a board game named Warhammer Quest. One to four players could explore dungeons while trying to complete quests. Nearly 20 years later, an iPhone and iPad version of this board game was released for 4.49 euros. PC gamers, don't worry, a new version was developed by Rodeo Games and Twistplay, launching on January 7, 2015, for 14.99 euros on Steam for the standard edition. But how does this version compare to the iPhone one?
Dungeon Express
Warhammer Quest offers you a team of four companions of fortune (hopefully, at least) who specialize in dungeon clearing, eliminating orcs, goblins, and other creatures. The premise remains the same: you travel peacefully from town to town, each time receiving text descriptions of the local atmosphere. Then, you are assigned a quest, reminding you that you're not just a tourist. From the town, you can choose between a red dungeon, symbolizing the main quest, and several white dungeons, where you can mainly earn equipment for your heroes, while the main quest rewards you with gold. The game involves chaining dungeons, leveling up, and progressing from town to town, always with a new quest. It can be quite addictive if you enjoy this style of play.
Classic but Effective Gameplay
If you've played turn-based role-playing games before, Warhammer Quest won't confuse you. The top-down camera view effectively frames the action, allowing you to see your dungeon progress clearly. You’re unlikely to get lost since most of the hallways offer only two directional choices, and often, you'll move in a straight line. Dungeons flow fairly quickly, so this isn’t too much of a problem. As you progress, you’ll encounter random enemy groups. In combat, you plan your actions and finish your turn, which then triggers the enemies’ turn, and so on. It’s quite a standard approach, but ultimately, easy to grasp and very efficient. Fans of the genre will be pleased. As for equipment, your heroes can carry 5 common items, 5 rare items, and 5 legendary items, including consumables like potions, bandages, and magical scrolls, as well as armor and weapons. The system is well-designed, with a clear and user-friendly interface.
Oh, a Wild Rat Appears!
What drastically changes the gameplay experience, and might severely test your patience, is randomness. It plays a central role in this game. Sometimes it can be fun, adding life to the dungeons or journeys across the map. It can be beneficial, like encountering an ailing priestess who heals your entire team. But on the flip side, the game can also rob you blind. It’s not uncommon, after leaving a merchant’s shop, to find one of your heroes arrested for murder, forcing you to pay 150 gold pieces for their release. Sometimes, you’re given a choice, which makes the punishment less frustrating. But when you take shelter from a storm in someone’s home and get extorted for 200 hard-earned gold pieces, it’s hard not to feel a sense of injustice. Combat can also be hair-pulling at times. You might enter a room and find a group of enemies, only to have that group reinforced by six skeletons on the next turn. If you’ve played tabletop games where random encounter cards are drawn, this won’t shock you, but if not, you might feel persecuted, perhaps even shouting at the game in frustration. It sometimes feels like you’re in an episode of "The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk."
A Luxury Demo
To be clear, even back in the day, one of the main criticisms of the iOS game was about the DLCs, which cost more than the base game. On PC, it’s the same story, except that the base game has gone up by 10 euros. What I didn’t mention earlier is that the fabulous map above has three regions... but two are locked behind DLCs, which can be purchased upfront with the deluxe edition or individually. The standard edition, priced at 14.99 euros, gives you access to one map with nine quests and four character classes (which are quite basic, to be honest). You can, of course, pay extra for the deluxe edition, which includes three regions, eleven character classes, five legendary items, additional monsters, and more dungeons... In short, the full game, but for nearly double the price—27.99 euros. It feels like a steep price for a mobile game port that doesn’t add any visual enhancements. The presentation animations of the towns are nice but quickly become repetitive, while the rest of the game barely meets the bare minimum for a phone game. There are no cinematic scenes, just blocks of text, often verbose without saying much. The attack animations are especially dull, particularly for the wizard. Don’t expect visually impressive spells— the most devastating attacks will look like a small firecracker tossed by your younger sibling on a July 14th.
As you might have noticed, my frustration grew while writing this review. The game’s flaws weigh heavily, which is a shame, because it has some interesting strengths. If you enjoy the core gameplay and can tolerate the randomness, you may find yourself losing track of time as you level up and hunt for loot. However, the gameplay becomes repetitive and lacks a central storyline. Although there are plenty of descriptions about the towns and quests, they aren’t connected and often boil down to saving a baker or finding a lost object. With no overarching narrative, excessive randomness, and very traditional turn-based mechanics, this game is more likely to appeal to board game fans than PC RPG fans. The high cost of accessing all the content, especially considering the standard edition's limitations, is particularly off-putting—especially given that we're on Steam, not the App Store.
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