Warhammer 40000: Gladius – Relics of War
Gladius Prime was known to Imperial scholars as a planet of archeological interest. During its colonization ancient relics were found, revealing hints of a shrouded past. But it was more than relics. Something awakened, an unspeakable horror from an ancient past, and the citizens of Gladius found themselves trapped in a terrible war for survival. Gladius Prime was once a planet of peace. Now there is only war. Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War brings you to a world of terror and violence with the first turn-based 4X strategy game set in the Warhammer universe. Face challenging AI or cooperate or compete with friends and strangers across the globe. Play as one of four iconic Warhammer factions (Astra Militarum, Space Marines, Orks or Necrons), each with their own unique playstyle and technology tree. Explore a randomly generated world filled with special features and threatening wildlife that can crush your troop's morale.
Steam User 225
Have you ever wanted to play any CIV game? but without any kind of diplomacy? well have i got the game for you! say goodbye to silly things like trade and sea travel, and say hello to cool stuff like meat grinder offensives and a vast quantity of metal men destroying you're cities. its fun but if you want all the DLCs wait for a sale. each faction has something different to offer and Necrons are definitely one of the strongest. fear them. good game, I'm not very good at reviewing stuff.
Steam User 1261
Brothers of the golden cross, do not allow the groomers of Slanesh, with their fetid, dung streaked purple robes and rainbow pigmented hair, to set foot within our towns and cities. For if they do, then even the most remote hamlet will be enshrined by their decadence and hedonism.
If we permit them even an inch, then we will live in an age where men strut about, with their nipples pierced by iron rings, women with raiment's designed to stroke the fire of men's lust and our youth, why they will be birthed in these dens of iniquity, with their minds forever morphed by these barbaric harridans, who wish for nowt but to besmirch the very fabric of our culture, our land! Now heft up your ax and strike down these lily livered rainbow wastrels and allow their stygian, caustic ichor to permeate and mar lands aware from our benevolent borders. Today is the dawn where men are men and woman are woman! Where love is to be kindled betwixt a man and a woman and none other. Where allies to Chaos will be burnt alive at the funeral pyre, whilst our youth jubilantly skip over their derelict ashes, assembling a grey mound beneath where they once lay. REJECT HERESY, EMBRACE THY LORD.
Steam User 112
If you want Civilization, but without the dumb science or culture victories, and only want all out war but with a 40k skin, this is the game.
Steam User 51
WH40K:Gladius is a semi-loreful warhammer experience with simple but solid game mechanics and an ok variety of experiences waiting for you.
It is currently free -where I got my copy- on the franchise promotional event "Skulls" here on Steam until June 1.
The core of the game is combat and base building using the Civilization V hexagonal tile formula. Campaign and skirmish are collected into one package where optional missions see your faction story progress. These take the form of about 6-7 scripted objectives of varying intensity, asking you to build certain buildings, defend areas from neutral mobs or move units to specific positions.
These can be completed at your leisure, even as you are free to pursue the straightforward domination victory. Killing everything in your path is however the only way to win aside from following the story, since famously there only being war in the far future.
Winning on normal difficulty with normal map size and 3 opponents will take a new player about 4-5 hours if you stop to smell the roses. Games with more factions will be longer, and so of course bigger maps. Everything is randomized, so no game will be exactly the same, but provided you play every faction once this will net you at least 16 hours of playtime for the base game, with more to come if you like it enough to go again. With six other factions available for purchase for between 7 and 12 money, playtime can be increased to 44 at a cost between 61 and 116 money, depending on sale. Your wallet will decide if this is good value.
As a Warhammer product it does an ok job of representing the factions and characters of the universe. Planet Gladius is a hot mess of everything from obscure creatures from early warhammer editions, and newer tidbits of established lore, all jumbled together in a way that feels both very shallow but undeniably enthusiastic. Rarities such as Enslavers stalk the landscape, and Old One relics litter the world despite the eons between the forty first millenium and the war in heaven. Meanwhile you'll run into random packs of Kroot hounds and Kastellan Robots just lumbering about. It is contrived, and I sometimes feel like I am doing a lightning tour through a 40K menagerie, but the game is better for the variety and so is warranted.
Worth mentioning is that for the price of the complete package, you could get a big box of actual warhammer minis, some hobby equipment and a book from the franchise publishing company. If you have this kind of money to spend on entertainment, and if you are like me, I'd say you'll have more fun getting that instead for your warhammer fix.
Granted, as a single purchase, the game will probably last longer than getting involved in the expensive model hobby. But you really gotta like the civ formula for your time spent here to feel worthwhile, and I am personally confident my life will not improve shelling up for the faction packs, as opposed to painting and rolling dice.
Cautious recommendation. There is a bit more Civilization: Beyond Earth to the scattered presentation than I would like and this is certainly a quantity rather than quality type of entertainment product. Even so, if you'd rather do this than anything else warhammer related with your money, you will be entertained.
Steam User 24
150 turns and 5 hours later, I have made no progress as is life for the Imperial Guard 10/10
Steam User 51
4X turn-based strategy game
I recently had the opportunity to play Warhammer 40K Gladius, and I must say that as a fan of the series, I was not disappointed. It is a solid 4X turn-based strategy game, with thoughtfully crafted graphics that transport you into a world of futuristic warfare.
Different factions have their own special abilities and tactical options that you can use to your advantage. Different types of terrain, such as forests and mountains add to the challenge and make it much more tactical and interesting.
The UI is simple and easy to understand, easing new players into the game. You can also customize your units with different weapons and even upgrade them as you progress through the game. I was particularly pleased with the extensive research system which gives you access to powerful tech as you progress.
Overall, a great game that 4X turn-based strategy fans should definitely check out. All in all, I highly recommend Warhammer 40K Gladius for strategy gamers.
Steam User 24
This game is very comparable to Sid Meier's Civilization - the good (turn-based tactical management & strategy) and the bad (too many pricey dlcs you want or need to get everything out of the game,) except the only victory conditions are "kill everyone" or "complete a series of personalized objectives for your faction". I could go into more detail, but honestly? I don't need to. It's good, but overpriced. I'll go into a bit more detail anyways, though.
If you like Sid Meier's Civilization and games like it, odds are very high you'll like this: it's a very well done turn based tactics/city management strategy game with lots of different factions to get into that each play very differently. Balancing is solid for the most part (poor IG are just really weak here) and the variety of tactics, strategies and general tools you have access to are very well handled. Relic has done an excellent job of capturing the 40k vibe with this game and it manages to incorporate the "kill everything that moves" victory condition into a game of this size and scope much better than I feel Civ ever really did-- it doesn't take a million years of back and forth for one player to kill everyone else without relying on a "win button" like nukes, which is very nice. There's also an active mod community and workshop, who provide a much more customizable experience. Multiplayer also automatically shares all DLC owned by the host with all clients, meaning only one member of your friend group needs to buy the dlc for the whole gang to use it together, in vs or co-op. However if that one friend with the dlc is missing, the rest of the gang will be stuck with baseline content.
Again my only real complaint with this game is the scummy dlc packaging; the base game ($55 cad) gets you 4/11 "full" factions, with the other 7 factions being individually packaged DLC ($22 cad each) and several unit packs (ranging from $7-$12 cad each) introducing new, often very important units to every faction (The Space Marines, one of the four base factions, does not have a super unit unless you purchase the appropriate unit pack).
Gladius is an easy recommendation, but a hard sale. If you can grab the game on a big sale - like during the holidays - and grab as much dlc as you can it's a wonderful experience and will keep you coming back for more. However the entry fee is much too steep and will push away most potential players. It's a shame, as it is a very good game in it's niche.
**At time of writing, the most recent DLC release is the Dark Eldar. It's nice to see the game still getting new content a whole 6 years after it's release, though the price is still higher than it should be.