Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Aug 10, 2016

  Why on Earth did they target the glory of Gregor towards mobile devices. Gregor deserves the full high fidelity and potential depth that a PC / Console release would demand. Eisenhorn deserved better. At least the books won't let me down like this does. Edit: I should justify this negative review. 1. Controls are irritating 2. AI is stupid 3. Gameplay is repetitive (as you'd expect from a mobile --> PC port) 4. The level of detail clipping is VERY apparent (2k + max settings) 5. The AA is very poorly done 6. Models and animations are low quality 7. Textures would be pretty, but the LOD wankness kills it 8. The ambient effects (water, steam, rain) is rubbish 9. Level Design is mediocre 10. The novels provide such depth of story and visual description it is amazing that the title has gone ad-hoc in some cases for the sake of creating an 'interesting level' For what it is (a mobile game) it is excellent, it is what you'd expect; but publishing it on PC may have been a mistake.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 11, 2016

  It's difficult to give this a thumbs up or down. For the price point, it's OK. The combat can sometimes be janky. The characters aren't fleshed out enough. The pop in textures are aggravating like with any Unreal game. But what this game DOES HAVE GOING FOR IT. The maps can be very interesting in detail. The narration is spot on. The sound direction isn't half bad. It's a very simple story driven action title for $20 when it isn't on sale. Too many of the thumbs down crowd are holding really high expectations. I didn't even realize this game existed until 2 days before it's launch. I got what I paid for. I'm content. If you want a 40K experience that's slightly different from what you're accustomed to and don't mind the lack of polish. Get it.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 6, 2017

  Eisenhorn: Xenos is a very special kind of game which is most definitely not aimed at the general public. Once and foremost, it is an interactive retelling of a Warhammer 40K book. That's what it ultimately is, not only in its core but in its entirety. This leads to two problems. 1. The entire gameplay is just filler material to progress the story and the gameplay which is in there is probably only in there to not have made it a walking simulator with cutscenes. 2. The fact that there was zero focus on actual gameplay shows massively in the form of very half-baked mechanics. If you are interested in Eisenhorn, be ready to play only to progress the story and to get annoyed by very dodgy combat and stealth mechanics. Be also ready about hit and miss voice-acting. Some of it awe inducing, some of it so awful that it is mainly inducing cringeworthy mental pain. Most of the writing is taken close to literally from the book Xenos and this is both a blessing and a curse: The parts which are copypaste are absolutely amazingly written, most parts that are not, are massively lacking in impact. On the technical side it's wonky too, being a mobile port, but to me it looked reasonably well on 4k with everything cranked up to the maximum. The main selling point are the story and the atmosphere after all and those are spot on. Everything looks as if you would have imagined it, sometimes even better and more grandiose. The feeling of the Warhammer 40K universe is absolutely perfectly conveyed and this is what the entire project mainly was about. I, personally, had a lot of fun with Eisenhorn: Xenos, being a Warhammer 40K fan. At the time of playing I had not actually read the books, but I ended up getting them because I was so amazed by the fantastic writing. And oh boy was it worth it. I really do hope that the other two (soon to be three with Magus) books get digital adaptations as well. Judging the game as a game, it's a shoddy game appealing to diehard fans at best. Judging the game as an interactive book, it's amazing. I'm going to do the latter and hope that if there will be a game for the second of three (soon to be four) books as well, it'll do a better job in regard to mechanics. I can't technically recommend this to everyone, but I simply refuse to downvote a product I personally had an amazing time with, as even with all its flaws, it did manage to entertain me a great deal. So this isn't for everyone, but a must have for people who enjoy stories over gameplay.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 10, 2016

  I love 40k, but it pains me to see constantly a lot of bad games from the license from devs that clearly don't quite know what they are doing. A lot of the voice acting is really sub par and distracting which is bad for such a story focused game, and when it isn't is giving you moments of cheap and hard to dodge hazards, terrible animations, and combat that comes down to spamming left click when you have a single enemy to deal with because you stunlock them, or alternitively the rest of the enemies all attack you, and stunlock you to death, which is made worse that the combat is pretty unresponsive, as in press the dodge button, but you are locked into an attack animation for the next second. When it comes out on mobile, maybe it will be like $3, pick it up then, not now and not on PC because it really gains nothing, and the aspects of it being put on mobile eventually bring everything down.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 10, 2016

  I tried so hard to enjoy this game , the visuals and atmosphere are very nice and immersive but any time there is a gun shot ( ive heard air rifles with far more convincing bang ) or anyone speaks that is not Eisenhorn there is a clear lack of love and your immersion and warhammer boner will shrivel faster than your genitals after jumping into a bath of ice. I think I will just buy the books and Give Dan Abnett my money instead , and I would urge you to do the same as your imagination would probably build more convincing and likeable characters. The weapons are rediculous when compared to the fluff . a bolt pistol does less damage than a auto revolver used by imperial Guard , and the las pistol can only hold 12 shots and takes about 6 of those to kill a man in cloth / leather tank tops.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 10, 2016

  People are right: this game has issues. the camera movement is rubbish, the art is outdated, voice over is only decent for Eisenhorn, combat is terrible, stealth is tolerable, but the camera is terrible. Plus there are a lot of minor issues (textures) Yet I cannot stop playing. As a fan of the books I just got hooked into it again. Also the music is really helping to establish the athmospere. This is a solid A game form 5 years ago. This is a bad game now. I know what happens next and still want to see it and hear it. I will finish it. I am a 40K fanboy who reads HH every day for an hour in the metro and plays with even the most rubbish of 40K games. I cannot deny who I am. The Emperor protects.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 3, 2017

  First of all, to enjoy this game one must meet some criteria: 1. Able remember a day when a game was not judged by the size of its empty sandbox *cough*phantom pain*cough* 2. Accept that the game is linear and meant to tell a specific story. This is effectively an interactive memoir. 3. Love 40K. This game is spot on with the architechure and attitudes for most of the characters. 4. This isn't mass effect, the witcher, batman arkham, or dark souls. If you compare small studio games to the triple A's you will constanly be let down. All that said, if you aren't a fan of the Warhammer 40k or maybe even Mark Strong, I do not recomend the game. The gameplay is rough, the graphics sub par, and due to it being based on the first part of trilogy one could feel let down in the end. Make no mistake, this game was made for the fans who are drawn forward by the lore. But even for fans, buy it on sale. Its pretty short and flawed mechanically. And pray to the Emperor that they finish the trilogy with some lessons learned.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 10, 2016

  Let us clear the air. I'm a massive fan of the Eisenhorn book series. I cannot help but be biased in some regard for a game that I would've never ever thought would be made. There seems to be a lot of talk about the graphics, so let's talk about them. I have an Nvidia 980GTX SLi system and while in single gpu mode, this game can be ran in DSR 4k@ 60fps with no dips,ever. So the game isn't terribly unoptimized. The graphics overall are about 5 years dated so if you have any sort of Nvidia gpu, consider using DSR to boost the graphical fidelity. Voice Acting, it hits and misses at the same time. Major characters are very well voice acted, but most of the minor characters sound like they were casted using devs. Gameplay, basically a controller-style button smasher like Arkham Knight or Mad Max. Storyline, Incredible; Since it's a direct copy of the novel itself. If you've never read the Eisenhorn book series. You probably won't enjoy this game. This is one of the strangest games ever made since it caters to a small community of Warhammer novel fans and little else. But I personally do enjoy this game and at under $15 I can easily justify the cost. And if you play this game and like it without ever reading the books, buy the books. you'll like them.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 12, 2016

  I am an avid reader of the Eisenhorn series, and the concept of a game based on the books sounded incredible to me. I've played only 24 minutes of this game, but it was enough. It feels wholly unfinished and unloved. The narrative was good, but the character models were janky all of the time, even during cutscenes. The audio for the sound effects sound as though they were pulled from the youtube free library or perhaps a cartoon soundboard. The combat system is horribly simple, and consists of a single melee attack, a roll, or firing your gun. You can also use a psychic "force" attack that has no precedent in the lore. Combat quickly became repetetive and unrewarding, and I couldn't even bear to make it to the end of the prologue. This game had so much potential and certainly looked amazing in screenshots, but it is simply unfinished and broken. I'm glad I got my $40 back.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 24, 2017

  Please take this review with a pinch of salt because I'm somewhat biased of WH40K-themed games in general. So, Eisenhorn:Xenos is a story driven action game based on the first book of Dan Abnett's Eisenhorn trilogy, "(Ordo) Xenos". It's a great book and a great series overall, but I won't talk about it any further, give it a read, really, it's one the best series in WH40K setting. The storytelling in the game itself is quite mediocre, it is lacking smoothness and is not deep enough, as if you're rushed forward imo. Dialogues are all scripted scenes where player has no influence whatsoever. The biggest bright light here is the voice of Mark Strong, who did a fantastic job of Eisenhorn's voiceover. Its gameplay can be divided in three main sections: exploring the level (this includes running, jumping, breaking doors, some QTE, etc.), combat (that reminds me of Batman:Arkham series) and some simplistic puzzles that you need to solve (in order to advance the plotline, open doors, disarm traps, activate portals, etc.). First one is evident on its own, the levels are linear, no challenge and much alternatives here, it is quite boring. Combat, however, is more interesting, though it's not even close to Batman:AA in terms of quality. To be honest, my first walkthrough I just clicked enemies to death, never making any combos, and thought that combat system really sucks. Halfway through the game I forgot I have slo-mo mode I can use, so my clicking became even more boring and repetitive. Only in extreme difficulty I gave the combat mechanic a closer look. First of all, the game values stealth and stealth kills (they grant you more money, much more). So you should aim for stealth kills whenever you can, especially on harder difficulty levels. Second, making chain combos with timely mouse clicks is really effective and it even looks better, when your inquisitor fights like a skilled swordsman and not some whacking whacko. Tie in your combos with slo-mo mode activation to finish closer enemies or to stun ones aiming to hit you from behind, and you get a hang of combat real fast. Siderolls are your best friend, as in many other games. Important thing to notice - ranged weapons sucks in this game, don't bother wasting your coins on it, you'll be fine with plasma pistol lvl1 or lvl2 for the most of the game. Ingeldina power sword is my favourite melee weapon, the damage is medium, but the speed really compensates, and your health should be your priority anyway, not the damage output. Later in game you get a fighting companion, though its AI is not that good and most of the time he would just be a punching bag for your enemies while you deal all the damage. Also, combat audio effects suck, badly. Puzzles - these include some fast clicking on a scale with moving marker, activating key points in the brain with your psychic powers and some level-specific ones (press the switch here, activate the button there, that kind of thing). All these, are not much fun, with time they even tend to annoy you. Animations and graphic details in the game are sub par to say the least. So, after reading all this, you may be questioning yourself, what's the point of playing it at all? Now let me tell you, I don't think this game is bad. Yes, it is nothing spectacular and mediocre at best, but I liked it nonetheless. Nearly all WH40K games are about neverending combat, you never get to see the non-combat part of the universe - planets, buildings, architecture, characters, people, all that - this game gives you a chance to see it for yourself. Yes, the dialogues are all scripted, yes, the animation is choppy and lacking, and voiceover aside from Mark Strong is crappy in most cases, but it gives you a glimpse of the other side of the universe you read about in BL books and never encounter in DoW\SM\SH and any other PC WH40K game. And I feel like this game was made with love to the setting, and the people who made it were giving it all they could with the limited resources they had, there are some epic sights and views and moments, there's a lot of accurate WH40K weapons (bolt pistols, plasma guns, chainswords, eviscerators, arbites shotguns, you name it). Music score is also good. This game is worth buying it on sale and would be entertaining for at least one run imho. P.S. another game flaw is at least one broken achievement. Support is silent :/