Eisenhorn Xenos is a 3d action adventure game set in the Warhammer 40k universe. Specifically the game takes its content from the first book in the Eisenhorn trilogy due to it being based on the series. The game is being developed by Pixel Hero games, using material written by a well-known writer, Dan Abnett, of the black library and should be available for PC and other mobile devices.
For me personally – only accidentally stumbling into some of Dan Abnetts book’s, the last two in the Malus Darkblade series, it was great to hear about some more games inspired by the 40k’s lore even if I had no real idea on this “eishorn trilogy”. The game starts with you playing as Gregor Einshorn an inquisitor for the imperium of man arriving on the planet Hubris due to his tracking of a dangerous heretic known as Murdin Eyclone. Even in this small early development build of the game the complex narrative structure is presented in a clear way even with the very confusing terms such as the “Adeptus Arbites” and “inquisition” which you would have to know a little about the 40k universe to understand. But, as I have not read the books, it is still very accessible and really interesting and where the early build left off made me sigh that the developer didn’t let me see more.
The gameplay also fits the game with its simplicity allowing you to immerse yourself in the story rather than the mechanics of the game. In combat you can physically hurt your opponents by either shooting them or introducing them to your sharp friend. Rolling is also a good option if you need to quickly dodge an opponent approaching you. But, all of these actions will drain your strength which can be minimised by either correctly timing your strikes or by purchasing equipment which can be equipped while not in battle. The game also auto locks when attacking enemies so if you’re a bad aim, it should not be too much of an issue. However there was a slight issue I had with this as it was easy to not really know how many enemies you were actually fighting. I mean there were plenty of times I would be looking away from my enemy, about to turn and cut through him onto the next, only to be sent flying across the screen to an enemy that was behind me that I didn’t even know about. Apart from this, the combat was extremely smooth and intuitive which was helped by the very simple changing of equipment in the armoury allowing you to easily see how these choices made an effect on your combat prowess.
But, combat is not the only thing you can expect in Einshorn’s adventure as he is able to be quite stealthy and the game seems to give you plenty of help to achieve this. This is due to the inquisitor’s psych abilities which allows you to see where enemies are if they are fairly close and also call them over to you so you can flank them and silently assassinate them. Or, you can always use your Asupex, an item which lets you interact with mechanical devices to trigger varies equipment to distract those heretic scum to quickly bring their heresy to an end with not much fuss. This may be why the game was so enjoyable to play as in themselves the small tools do not seem too original to amount to much however because they are done in a way that is integrated with the story rather than a gimmick they seem to be like something you will get used to and start to develop quickly and intelligently. This is probably seen best in the hacking mini game and psych hacking that you perform to a person to get some information quite close to the end. They are interesting but not overly complicated or too often to be irritating. Admittedly there are some quick time events when Gregor has to pry open a door with his sword however this is done in a way that if you do not do it repeatedly fast enough it will just take longer.
The look of the game maintains that gothic feeling and Warhammer 40k feel that you would expect with everything looking like it should in the universe it is set in. Obviously with this being the beginning who knows what fantastic tracks for epic battles could await – the only real issue I have was in one particular scene. In this scene due to the events that transpired with Murdine Eyclone the planet is very un-happy with you which is represented by odd, barely distinguishable voices which sound like they would be more at home in an old sitcom like friends. But, apart from that I wouldn’t say there is anything to complain about at all.
The game so far has a great box of tricks in which it will be exciting to see how they get fully developed. This coupled with a very interesting narrative set in an awesome world makes me wonder if I should pick up the books from the black library or wait for the game to be finished. So good luck Pixel hero games and thank you for also showing me how silly a standard man would look in space marine armour.
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