Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War: A Brutal Blast From The Past
The Eldar are stepping out of the shadows and onto your desktop in a way that feels like a massive punch of nostalgia. Walking onto these huge maps feels exactly like looking down at a tabletop battle from the late 90s, bursting with that iconic chunky art style and bright colours that ooze personality. It’s a grimdark time capsule that captures the vibe of the hobby when I first started collecting, throwing you straight into a war for survival without any of the modern fluff.
[Specs] [Gameplay] [Performance] [Settings]
Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War Steam Review: Specs & HUD
- Download Size: 553.69MB download.
- Platform: Steam release of the 1999 classic.
- Controls: Strict mouse and keyboard setup.
- Lore Alert: The opening screen warns that lore may not be up to date with new wars.
- Encyclopedia: Massive library of knowledge for everything in the game.
- UI Detail: Character stats sheets, abilities, and buffs can be viewed at any time.
- Achievements: Full Steam achievements included.
Gameplay Review & Mechanics Breakdown
Campaign mode is the meat of the game for solo play, giving you a war room feel where you get your objectives, see the map, and listen to the narrated story before building your army. You work with a points limit where every troop type has a specific value, so you really have to think about your list before you begin the fight. Once you are on the map, it is a pure turn-based strategy where you move and attack individually. Combat is determined by stats to keep it feeling like the tabletop version, so just because you click attack doesn’t mean you go first; the numbers decide the flow of the scrap. It is a difficult game, but that’s mostly down to learning how an old game plays and finding your rhythm with the mechanics.
You are moving across a massive map where you can zoom the camera to track enemy troops unless they are hiding in buildings or trees. Each scenario has a turn limit, and you can choose to rest or skip a turn if you need to. Clicking a character brings up a honeycomb grid for movement, and when you get into range, the cursor turns into an awesome crosshair interface. It’s definitely old school, so you don’t get any mod cons or notifications telling you that you still have actions left to spend. You have to be meticulous. I really like this type of game where you have to move everyone yourself, and while it takes a while, the slow combat is really rewarding. Plus, being able to undo your last move without messing everything up is a massive help when you’re learning the ropes.
Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War Steam Review: Performance & Fidelity
- Graphics: Original chunky graphics style with beautiful character animations.
- Visual Options: You can opt to change or toggle animations, but I wouldn’t do it.
- Audio: Awesome CD-quality music and sound effects.
- SFX Vibe: Great sounds that are sometimes funny or don’t suit the soldiers, but they are still entertaining.
- Voice Acting: Fully voiced narrative accompanied by text.
- Map Scrolling: Scroll by hitting the edge of the screen or using arrow keys.
Settings, Customisation & Control Details
- Difficulty: Three choices: Guardian, Aspect, and Exarch.
- Audio Settings: Simple on/off toggles for music and SFX.
- Gameplay Settings: Minimal tweaks available outside of difficulty and camera jumps to enemies.
- Multiplayer: The War Room allows for online and LAN matches via IP address—proper classic multiplayer.
- Saves: Save and load whenever you want with custom naming, though it adds a bit of needless typing.
- Controller Support: None, and it would be a nightmare to use one here anyway.
- Tutorial: Optional tutorial included, though the text and colours blend together so it’s easy to miss.
Related Gert Lush Gaming Reviews
- Review: Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf (Nintendo Switch)
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Master Crafted Edition Review
- Konfronto Review: The Addictive Ship-Building Roguelike
Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War Steam Review
Summary
GOOD STUFF
I personally love all the art as it was around the time I first got into the hobby, and the bright colours just ooze style. Having this game is a wonderful thing for the hobby, as it can bring in a different type of gamer or a player wanting to see how much the series has grown. The animations are beautiful with that chunky graphics style, and the CD-quality music is absolutely awesome. It’s great that you can save and load whenever you want, and the massive encyclopedia is a huge library of knowledge where you can jump straight to character entries. The combat is slow but rewarding, and the crosshair interface looks killer.
BAD STUFF
It is an old school game, so you don’t get mod cons like unit placement help or notifications when you still have a move left, which means you have to move every character individually, and it does take a while. I missed the tutorial the first few times because all the text and colours kind of blend together. There aren’t any new additions like museum pieces or a high-quality scan of the manual, and you can’t even use the mouse scroll wheel to move the map. The save system forces you to type out names, which feels like a layer of needless typing, and the sound effects are sometimes funny and totally unsuited for some of the soldiers.
FINAL VERDICT
Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War is a brilliant trip back to the early days of the hobby that doesn’t care about holding your hand. It’s a difficult game that forces you to learn its quirks, but the tactical depth and Eldar focus make it a must-play for fans of the lore. Even with the lack of modern features and the clunky map scrolling, it captures a specific vibe that modern strategy titles just can’t replicate. If you want to see where the series started and don’t mind the slow, stat-heavy grind, this is a classic that belongs in your library.
