Warhammer: Mark of Chaos

The Success Of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War has shown the money men that the RTS doesn't have to be about dead civilizations or World War II. But while the 40K universe is manhandled by the boys at THQ, plucky Namco hold the reins on the hacking and slashing of orc-age past Think Total War but with goblins instead of Roman centurions. Think four playable armies - empire, chaos, skaven and high elves. Think customisable and paintable units. Think a supporting cast of orcs, dwarfs, vampires and goblins. Think playing Warhammer without a single roll of a dice! That's tantamount to witchcraft, isn't it?

I'm Horny, Horny, Horny, Horny

As your armies fight their way from battle to battle, your heroes and champions learn new abilities, unlock new tactics, command larger units and challenge other champions in crucial fights to the death. We reckon we could take on these homy red blokes easily.

Fiery Catapults

Siege gameplay takes a major role in Mark Of Chaos. Each of tire turrets in the pictured stronghold can be upgraded with catapults, which will deliver a fiery payload to anyone foolish enough to march within their projectory.

Massive Big

As you can see here, developer Black Hole has gone for an epic sense of both scale and detail. Most battle scenes have thousands of characters sprawled across the battlefield, with huge demons and intricately rendered battalions dominating tire field. With Glastonbury on hold, it's the most action you'll see in a field this year.

You're Terminated, Goblin

Pie rendered cinematics in Mark Of Chaos are being worked on by Hungarian animation studio Digic Pictures, whose previous work includes Terminator 3 Rise Of The Machines. Prose featured in these cinematics are, however, far less likely to be robots in disguise.

Flying Red Muscle

Clearly, it won't all be on-ground hack-and-slash, what with these chaps providing aerial attacks. Civilizationconquering jaunts like that pictured are probably rare though, since the chaps at the back would get sick of looking at hundreds of demonic arses.

Get Off My Land

A variety of the buildable structures and environments in Mark Of Chaos can be damaged or destroyed. For example, forests, swamps, plains and tundra can all be blown lengthways and sideways to help or hinder your battleplans. We can't wait to build a small fort out of pine trees.

Cocks On Banners

Customisation lias a role in Mark Of Chaos; body-part swaps, along with weapon and armour enliancements are all possible. In addition, you can use the game's built-in controls to paint your army of orcs and create your own custom banners. We can see the phallic flags already.

Barmy Army

As the name suggests, war plays a very big role in Warhammer. Mark Of Chaos emphasises battles over topics such as base-building and resource collecting, so the element of war really will take centre And who needs diplomacy when you've got < sword and a head on a spike?

With Warhammer Fans waiting patiently to surrender a monthly stipend and a substantial fraction of their lives to Age of Reckoning, it's a timely re-release of the thoroughly acceptable fantasy RTS from Black Hole Entertainment The game suffered from some presentation issues - the dated world map will make you wonder what you're getting into - but the core of the game is solid, meaty strategy. You keep your troops from one battle to the next, so you're forced to consider casualties, and not just push for a map victory against all reason. You'll have to use height advantage, line of sight, flanking manoeuvres and combined arms to finish levels with enough troops to get to the next town.

This isn't a game without problems, but Mark of Chaos will give a wedge of pleasure to any fans of RTS games or Warhammer. If you're both, then our recommendation is to fill your boots as quickly as possible.