Warhammer 40,000 Fire Warrior (PS2)

The Warhammer 40,000 universe is an awesome setting for a game, particularly an FPS. I don't play the miniature game, but I've played Final Liberation and Dawn of War and thoroughly enjoyed them both. This, however, is a complete screw up of the 40k franchise.

You're a 'Fire Warrior', part of a 'good' alien race called the Tau. One of your leaders is kidnapped, and you have to rescue him from the humans, but eventually more forces come into play. If you can get that far. The levels are basically a series of forced corridors and dodgy scripted events. The graphics look terrible by today's standards, and the animation is 'meh'. The attempt to build up an atmosphere is pretty terrible. Explosions occur all over the place, but there's no feelingo f war. No shell fall sounds, just explosions. No mud sprays, just a bright flash of light. Your weapons feel weak and ineffective, level design is reminiscent of Wolfenstein 3d or Doom I, and the enemy (and your occasional allies) are complete idiots.

Imperial Guardsmen run at you, and stand about a foot away shooting at you, reloading, shooting. Meanwhile, their officers (armed with a chainsaw and a pistol) have 3 different attack methods. They can stand miles away swinging a chainsaw at midair, they can stand a bit away shooting a pistol at you (whilst guardsmen with rifles run at you and just stand in front of you, as mentioned before), or they can mindlessly run at you swinging a sword. If you're unlucky enough to run backwards into an obstacle or fall into their blade you take damage.

And it's confusing how, 38,000 years in the future, neither humans, or a super advanced alien race (the Tau) have weapons that can take down a normal human officer in less than at least 5 or 6 shots. In the face. This game is, unfortunately, a bit of a travesty and should be avoided at all costs. If you want a sci-fi FPS that is nicely polished, has a good atmosphere and, though linear, has some great set pieces, then try Star Wars: Republic Commando. If you're looking for a great FPS of any type on a console, consider Brothers in Arms, Far Cry Instincts, Chronicles of Riddick, Half Life 2 or Halo, but for your own health, don't waste cash or time on this!


Firewarrior   September 13, 2005
Jason Field (Birmingham United Kingdom)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

what can I say? excellent game. it's not the best FPS i've ever played, goldeneye has that crown, but it's certainly no where near a bad game. I bought this about a year ago, and lost it. a case of you don't know what you got till it's gone. I was gutted. But then I found it again! Yay! Graphics and game play are amazing. Excellent weaponry, but sometimes hard to tell if an enemy is dying or if you are hitting them, but you soon get used to the way the game handles. excellent scenary and background, certainly adds to the experience. never experienced online multiplayer as there doesn't appear to be a server anymore. gutted! but multiplayer is pretty cool. should keep you busy for a long time!


Hard as nails   July 11, 2005
O. Southwood (UK)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

One thing you cannot say about this game is that it's too easy. People who say that must be super-human because this game is extremely difficult to complete! You certainly get your moneys worth here... the game sprawls out on an epic scale across many levels, with a decent plot, huge variety of weapons and enemies and a brilliant future-goth atmosphere. The graphics are very good indeed. There are moments during play that are genuinely scary. But there are also moments that are frustrating (eg. walking round for ages trying to find a damn button to open a door), and moments that are insanely difficult (trying to destroy an obliterator which pummels you continually with machine gun fire). The sound effects are a brilliant aspect of this game, some great ambience and menacing voices can be found on the later levels. (Look out for Tom Baker's voiceover parts!). The cut scenes are pretty good too, although there's not many of them.

This game will keep you busy for months. But you need to be determined with it.


Not just for fan boys   June 23, 2004
Mr. J. E. Beattie
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

In the dim and distant future i used to play the tabletop versions of GW games so was interested to see how it ported onto the PS2 and was looking forward to blasting those space marines to bits and i wasnt dissapointed.
Not being a huge FPS fan i was pleasantly suprised that the controls were easy to pick up n flowed smoothly wich coupled with some nice graphics really added to the atmosphere. The later Chaos missions really get the heart pumping!
This game comes the closest to conjuring up the warhammer 40k universe in digital form as any i have played- reminscent of the old space hulk PC games (albeit with much better graphics)
I would heartily recommend this to any fans of FPS' or GW games. Cant wait to try it out online! Until Dawn of war comes out this should satisfy even the most ardent GW fanboy n total novice alike.