Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters

Last updated
Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters
Warhammer 40,000 Chaos Gates Daemonhunters cover.jpg
Developer(s) Complex Games
Publisher(s) Frontier Foundry
Series Warhammer 40,000
Platform(s)
Release
  • Windows
  • 5 May 2022
  • PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
  • 20 February 2024 [1]
Genre(s) Turn-based strategy, tactical role-playing
Mode(s) Single player

Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters is a turn-based tactics game set in the Games Workshop's Gothic science fiction Warhammer 40,000 fictional universe.

Contents

The player commands a squad of Grey Knights in a fight against the forces of Nurgle who are attempting to release a plague on the galaxy called the Bloom. It is a reboot of the 1998 game Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate and was released 5 May 2022. The game was developed by Canadian studio Complex Games and was published by Frontier Foundry. [2]

Plot

The Grey Knights are a secret order of the Imperium of Man. They are a chapter of Adeptus Astartes (Space Marines) composed of psychics created by the Emperor of Mankind and Malcador the Sigilite for the purpose of combating the daemonic forces of chaos.

In the game's prologue, Captain Agravain of the Grey Knight Strike Force, Xiphos, battles on the fallen planet of Gaheris against a Khornate warhost, led by the Bloodthirster, Ere'khul. Agravain manages to banish Ere'khul, but he and most of his squad die in the process. Ectar, a Grey Knight Purifier aboard the strike cruiser, the Baleful Edict as part of punishment detail for reckless actions in a previous mission appoints one of the survivors of the campaign as the strike force's new commander. Ectar and the Adeptus Mechanicus Dominus, Lunete, travel to their home base of Titan (one of Saturn's moons) for debriefing and repairs when they are intercepted by Inquisitor Kartha Vakir of the Ordo Malleus. Coming aboard their ship, the inquisitor requests their service to aid in her investigation of a sector-wide plague known as "The Bloom".

Their investigations lead them to an Aeldari Craftworld that has long been lost to the corrupting influence of Nurgle, the Chaos God of Disease and Decay. Vakir accompanies the squad of Grey Knights to the Craftworld's infinity circuit chamber, and a dormant Avatar of Khaine explains to her that The Bloom is being spread by five Champions of Nurgle known as the "Reapers". The Reapers intend to spread the Bloom until the entire sector is infected, and thus allowing a being known as the "Morbus" to be summoned. As Vakir tries to obtain a sample of a bloom seed, she and the squad are attacked by Death Guard traitor astartes, led by a Daemon-Prince of Nurgle called Kadex Ilkarion (said Daemon-Prince had once been encountered by Vakir and was successfully banished many years ago).

During the battle, the Supreme Grandmaster of the Grey Knights, Kaldor Draigo, appears and manages to fend off the Death Guard whilst Vakir and the squad escape to their ship. Vakir proposes to hunt down the five reapers and trap their essences in a book known as the Codex Toxicus and save the sector. After dealing with three of the five reapers, Kadex Ilkarion attacks their ship and manages to destroy the Codex Toxicus before being captured. Vakir scries Kadex's mind for a way to locate the remaining Reapers and stop the bloom, but discovers to her horror that defeating the Reapers is not enough. The Bloom's roots are connected to the Garden of Nurgle, located within the Realm of Chaos itself. Kadex gloats that the bloom cannot be stopped, but when he mentions Kaldor Draigo, Vakir believes that Draigo and his sword, forged by the Emperor himself, can destroy the roots and finally put an end to the Bloom.

Kaldor Draigo has been cursed to wander the Realm of Chaos for centuries, and can only return to real-space for a short period of time before returning to the Warp. The Baleful Edict travels to a planet with a high level of warp energies, and Vakir manages to summon Draigo to inform him of their plans. As Draigo heads to the Garden of Nurgle, Vakir once again enters Kadex's mind and discovers that Kadex had tricked them into luring Draigo into a trap. Kadex's master, the Daemon-Primarch of the Death Guard, Mortarion, intends to ambush Draigo and take his vengeance upon him for the events that happened on the planet of Kornovin (where Draigo had carved the name of his slain master on Mortarion's heart before banishing him back to the Warp). It is revealed Mortarion is the Morbus, and he intends to use the sector as a base to launch an assault on the Grey Knights.

Enraged by this deception, Ectar almost slays Vakir before he is stopped by Lunete. Vakir claims that they can still save Draigo from Mortarion's trap by going to the Garden of Nurgle itself. Vakir proposes to infuse Kadex with a psychic beacon before slaying the Daemon-Prince, and following his returning spirit to the Garden. Before Vakir finishes her spell, she reveals that she has sacrificed her soul to Kadex so that she can act as the beacon. Once the spell is finished, Kadex's soul returns to his master, with the Grey Knights following suit.

The Grey Knights follow Kadex's soul to the Garden and manage to reinforce Draigo. As the Grey Knights battle Mortarion and his minions, Draigo cuts all five of the Bloom's roots. Once the final root has been severed, Mortarion flees. The Baleful Edict returns to real-space whilst the Grey Knights who fought Mortarion remain in the warp to accompany their Supreme Grandmaster. Ectar and Lunete return to Titan, where Ectar, impressed by Vakir's loyalty and bravery, recommends she has a memorial made for her.

After the End-Credits, a skull that contains Kadex's soul is shown. Kadex has managed to capture Vakir's soul, and declares that he will use her to further his future plans.

Reception

Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. [3] [4] [7] [6]

During the 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters for "Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year". [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Warhammer 40,000</i> Miniature wargame

Warhammer 40,000 is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987, and the tenth and current edition was released in June 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epic (game)</span> Tabletop wargame

Epic is a series of tabletop wargames set in the fictional Horus Heresy and Warhammer 40,000 universes. Whereas Warhammer 40,000 involves small battles between forces of a few squads of troops and two or three vehicles, Epic features battles between armies consisting of dozens of tanks and hundreds of soldiers. Due to the comparatively larger size of the battles, Epic miniatures are smaller than those in Warhammer 40,000, with a typical human being represented with a 6mm high figure, as opposed to the 28mm minis used in Warhammer 40,000. Since being first released in 1988 as Adeptus Titanicus, it has gone through various editions with varying names.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War</i> 2004 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment and based on Games Workshop's tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000. It was released by THQ on September 20, 2004 in North America and on September 24 in Europe. Three expansion packs have been released: Winter Assault in 2005, Dark Crusade in 2006, and Soulstorm in 2008. Its first sequel, Dawn of War II was released in February 2009. Another sequel, Dawn of War III, was released in April 2017.

Inquisitor was a tabletop miniatures game based in Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe. Whereas the main line of Warhammer 40K games is based on squad based tactical warfare, Inquisitor focused on a small group of player characters akin to many role-playing games. Inquisitor miniatures are no longer produced by Games Workshop but, whilst they were, the game had its own website and 54 mm scale models were available as "Specialist Games" from the Games Workshop catalogue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Codex (Warhammer 40,000)</span> Warhammer 40,000 rules supplement

A codex, in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop wargame, is a rules supplement containing information concerning a particular army, environment, or worldwide campaign.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate</i> 1998 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate is a video game set in the gothic science fiction backdrop of the Games Workshop game system Warhammer 40,000. In it, players take command of a number of squads of Ultramarines to do battle with their ancient enemies the Word Bearers Traitor Marines, Chaos Demons, and their commander the Chaos Lord Zymran. A sequel, Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters, was released in 2022.

Warhammer 40,000 comics are spin-offs and tie-ins based in the Warhammer 40,000 fictional universe. Over the years these have been published by different sources. Originally appearing in Inferno! and Warhammer Monthly, the initial series of stories have been released as trade paperbacks by Black Library, who have also released original graphic novels and shorter prestige format comics.

<i>Dark Heresy</i> (role-playing game) Tabletop fantasy role-playing game

Dark Heresy is a role-playing game published by Black Industries in 2008 that uses the Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay system. A second edition was published in 2014 under Fantasy Flight Games.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine</i> 2011 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is a third-person shooter hack-n-slash video game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. The game was released for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360 in North America, Australia, and Europe in September 2011. It was released in Japan and published by CyberFront on October 27, 2011.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Chaos Rising</i> 2010 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Chaos Rising is a real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ, and the sequel expansion of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II. The game was released on March 11, 2010 for Games for Windows.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Retribution</i> 2011 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Retribution is the stand-alone second expansion to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, part of the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War series of real-time strategy video games. Set in Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 fictional universe, the single player campaign is playable with multiple races.

Matt Ward is a British author and miniature wargaming designer, who is best known for his work with Games Workshop on the Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Warhammer 40,000 and The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game systems. He was also a frequent contributor to the magazine White Dwarf during his first stint at the company.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf is a free-to-play, squad-based strategy card game, developed and published by HeroCraft. The game is licensed by Games Workshop. The game was released on October 28, 2014, on iOS and on Android on July 16, 2015, and on Microsoft Windows via Steam on February 17, 2017. The PlayStation 4 version was released in March 2019 in North America and Europe, and on Nintendo Switch on January 23, 2020. It was later released for Xbox One on June 30, 2021.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III</i> 2017 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III is a 2017 real-time strategy game with multiplayer online battle arena influences, developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sega. It is the third stand-alone title in the Dawn of War series, and the first new release in the series since Dawn of War II: Retribution in 2011. It was released for Microsoft Windows on April 27, 2017. Feral Interactive released macOS and Linux versions on June 8 the same year. Linux version uses both the OpenGL and Vulkan graphics APIs, while the macOS port uses Apple's Metal.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr</i> 2018 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr is an action role-playing video game developed and published by NeocoreGames for Microsoft Windows on June 5, 2018, for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on August 23, 2018, and for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on October 27, 2022. It takes place in the setting for the wargaming franchise Warhammer 40,000 created by Games Workshop.

<i>Warhammer: Chaosbane</i> 2019 video game

Warhammer: Chaosbane is an action role-playing game developed by Eko Software and published by Bigben Interactive. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 31 May 2019. Players choose to play as one of six character classes from the Warhammer Fantasy setting: a human soldier of the Empire, a High Elf mage, a Dwarf slayer, a Wood Elf scout, a Dwarf engineer, or a human witch hunter. The character must help save the Empire against the demons of Chaos. Downloadable content featuring a storyline around the undead Tomb Kings was released on 16 December 2019. An enhanced version of the game was released for Xbox Series X/S on 10 November 2020 and for PlayStation 5 on 12 November 2020.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Darktide</i> 2022 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is a first-person action video game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, developed and published by Fatshark. It is a spiritual successor to the Warhammer: Vermintide series. It was released for Microsoft Windows on 30 November 2022. It also was released for Xbox Series X/S on 4 October 2023.

<i>Total War: Warhammer III</i> 2022 video game

Total War: Warhammer III is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. It is part of the Total War series, and the third to be set in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe. The game was announced on 3 February 2021 and was released on 17 February 2022. It received positive reviews from critics and was nominated for the British Academy Games Award for British Game at the 19th British Academy Games Awards.

<i>Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness</i> RPG supplement published in 1988)

Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness is a 1988 role-playing game supplement for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay published by Games Workshop.

Ben Counter (1979) is an English fantasy writer, predominantly known for his numerous fiction contributions to various Warhammer 40,000 series. He is also the writer for the Out of Place podcast, a work of serialized fiction with over two dozen episodes.

References

  1. ↑ "Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters coming to PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, and Xbox One on February 20". Gematsu. January 16, 2024. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  2. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (3 June 2021). "We're getting a new Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate game - nearly 25 years after the last one". Eurogamer . Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  3. 1 2 "WARHAMMER 40,000: CHAOS GATE - DAEMONHUNTERS". Metacritic . Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  4. 1 2 Edwin Evans-Thirlwell (4 May 2022). "Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters review - rich, raucous Space Marine strategy". Eurogamer . Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  5. ↑ Leana Hafer (10 May 2022). "Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters Review". Eurogamer . Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  6. 1 2 Robert Jak (4 May 2022). "WARHAMMER 40,000: CHAOS GATE – DAEMONHUNTERS REVIEW". PC Gamer . Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  7. 1 2 Phil Iwaniuk (4 May 2022). "Warhammer 40k: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters review – slick strategy". PCGamesN . Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  8. ↑ "2023 Awards Category Details Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . Retrieved December 4, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.