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n the distant future of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe, the human Imperium will do anything in its power—anything at all—to hold back the forces of chaos. They must combat humans who've given them over to cyclopean entropy, orks who raid and pillage the frontiers, and Dark Eldar, corrupted elves with their own evil plans. And now there is another potential threat: the upstart, largely unknown alien race known as the Tau.
The Tau—who look somewhat like elongated, battlesuit-wearing versions of the "Roswell" grey aliens—may be the closest thing to a force for good in Warhammer's dismal reality. They believe their race and its superior technology can bring about a new age of galactic order and peace, and they pose a very real threat to the Imperium's iron rule.
As Fire Warrior's single-player campaigns opens, the Imperials have abducted "The Ethereal," a high-ranking Tau whom the humans believe has some sort of psychic powers. Fighting from a familiar first-person-shooter perspective, players take on the role of a young foot soldier named Kais. On his inaugural mission—the one that earns him the honorific "fire warrior"—Kais must rescue the Ethereal from a human prison and return to his own ship. After that, he finds himself an integral part of future Tau battles, including the repulsion of boarding parties from a pursuing Imperium starship and a counterstrike against that selfsame ship.
Players have access to a familiar array of FPS weapons, including a machine gun, shotgun, several energy weapons, flamethrowers, grenades, sniper rifles and the ubiquitous rocket launchers. Players also carry regenerating personal shields and night vision goggles.
There are two multiplayer options. The first is the familiar split-screen option shared by most console-based first-person shooters. It supports up to four players but does not support computer-controlled bots. The second is the online option, in which players with an online adapter and broadband connection can compete with one another over the Net. Both options share three multiplayer modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag.
Enjoyable universe, but routine gameplay
As a first-person shooter, Fire Warrior is decidedly average. All of the old standbys make appearances, including weapons that have been standard since Quake (if not Doom), the ability to shoot from fixed gun emplacements and the ever-present "key quests," in which players must find certain colored keys to open doors. Gameplay is largely linear—whether on the ground or in space, most missions involve fighting from Point A to Point D, with occasional side forays to Points B and C.
The computer AI is typical, providing an adequate challenge but offering few surprises. Most of the time, the enemies either charge blindly into the way of the player's guns, or sit still and wait for the player to come to them. The AI uses none of the dodge and run tactics of Half-Life, nor do they have the attentive watchfulness of Goldeneye's villains (heck, one Space Marine actually ignored two grenades going off next to him). As a result, most encounters involve simply running in and blasting away at the befuddled enemy. If resistance proves to be tougher than normal, players can fall back, let their personal shields recharge, and return to the battle reasonably confident that their enemies won't have moved.
The lack of computer-controlled opponents cripples the offline version of the multiplayer game—competing with only two players and no bots lost its charm on consoles long ago. The online gaming mode does provide one outlet for multiplayer mayhem, but that requires gamers to have the necessary network equipment.
So with all this mediocrity, what does Fire Warrior have going for it? In a word, "Warhammer." Games Workshop's future in which peace has died has been perfectly recreated for the game, and it's as compelling as it ever was. The decaying Gothic architecture, which towers around players for most of the game, is a wonder to walk through. Fans of GW's pen-and-paper game Battlefleet Gothic will feel their jaws drop as they watch a Tau starship and an Imperium cruiser exchange fire and then launch boarding torpedoes—the recreation of the setting is that good. And what GW fan wouldn't want to slug it out with a Space Marine?
All of this is great for Games Workshop fans, as well as those who are looking to get their feet wet with the Warhammer 40k universe. For everyone else, though, there's no compelling reason to pick up the game.
While the PlayStation 2 version of this game retails for nearly $50, the Windows version goes for $20 less. Those who have both platforms available to them would do well to pick up the Windows version, especially if their PC can get to the Net but their PS2 can't. — Ken
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