The first Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus had this really specific brutalist tactile energy to it. It was dense with lore, weird religious obsession, and tactical combat that felt surprisingly tense for a game about slow-moving robot priests stomping through tombs. Since then, I’ve fallen way deeper into Warhammer as a whole. Somewhere along the line, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader completely consumed my life for a while, and that definitely changed the way I looked at Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II going in. The expectations were a lot higher this time around.

The scale is immediately bigger. You are not spending the entire game crawling through claustrophobic ruins anymore. This is a full planetary conflict now, with the Adeptus Mechanicus fighting against awakened Necron forces led by Vargard Nefershah. Being able to play both sides gives the sequel a lot more personality early on. The Necron campaign especially stands out because it flips the perspective in a fun way.... Read more