Mordheim: City of the Damned (Hands-On) (PC) Preview

Tabletop games have it rough on the PC, or any game console for that matter. There is no Settlers of Catan digital game to speak of, Monopoly has yet to expand beyond the basic level and is almost unheard of, and even games that seem like they should be easy adaptations, such as Warhammer can falter and collapse with ease. However, for every failure there is a Vampire: The Masquerade or a Baldur's Gate. At least in theory, anyway. Mordheim: City of the Damned, developed by Rogue Factor and published by Focus Home Interactive, seeks to join in the ranks of the latter, and seems like it is well on the way to doing so.

In its current state, the game is pretty straightforward. There is a city that has been overrun by baddies but there is also plenty of loot in the mix, prime for the taking. The player will then take control of one of four factions, be they sentient rat-beings, what seem to be Frenchmen mercenaries, a girls-only club of clerics, or a bunch of cultists, to try and plunder the city for booty while staving off the other factions and struggling against the monsters that still lurk in the city. On the surface, it's a simple premise, and it works beautifully.

The game works simply enough. The player is granted a bunch of characters that before battle they are allowed to customise into their own, personalised team, and then enter in to a fight against other factions in turn-based combat. A certain number of points to move are granted, along with a specific number of points to attack, and it plays on from there. What really seems to drive the game home, though, is the amount of detail provided, as well as the options and balances. For example, when in combat, gamers may opt to drop into an evasive stance, increasing their chance to dodge, which gives a use for all the movement points that they won't be using because they are busy trying to bash in their opponents face. Jumping up terrain, climbing down, exploring the city - everything seems to be very competently thought out and the title shows a lot of promise.

Saying that, there are some very important things still missing at the time of this preview. The biggest is simply the volume of content. In its current state there are only the tutorial and online matches, the latter of which are, understandably, scarce, making seeing the game in action difficult. While there will be a campaign later on, if the game decides to rely only on multiplayer it may have plenty of struggles if not enough people buy it. Likewise, without a campaign it is difficult to see the game really show off what it can do.