The Sanctus Reach system is all but lost under the seemingly unending wave of Ork Forces. Grukk Face-Rippa leads his Waaagh! Into the last planet of the system: the Knight World of Alaric Prime. This is where a brave company of Space Wolves makes its stand to defend the last bastion of mankind in the system. That’s right folks, welcome to another game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Say hello to my little friends

Warhammer 40,000 Sanctus Reach is an all-new turn-based strategy game developed by Straylight Entertainment and published by Siltherine. The developers have attempted to create a bridge between the table top experience and a turn based strategy in its cored design as well as coming with a map editor and multiplayer.

Sanctus Reach comes complete with 2 single player campaigns containing over 20 missions each, a skirmish mode and the aforementioned, multiplayer mode. The single player campaign only allows the use of the Space Wolves but players can play as the Orks in both Skirmish and Multiplayer modes.

Gameplay

Video Review

Warhammer 40,000: Sanctus Reach

Slaying Xenos one turn at a time...

Performance & Graphics

Graphically Sanctus Reach is a mixed bag by having nice 3d character models but then having a lack of character animation variety. While the game certainly looks averagely pleasing, the choppy animations, some poor textures and an overall lack of polish that would add that little bit extra visually is a little disappointing.

While average in the visual department for the most part, the game does run well on a consistent basis. Thanks to the low minimum requirements, many people will have access to this and should be able to run it on a decent level unhindered.

Minimum System Requirements:

o OS: Windows 7, 8, 10

o Processor: 2GHz

o Memory: 2 GB RAM

o Graphics: 512Mb DirectX 9 Compatible Graphics Card

o DirectX: Version 9.0

o Storage: 2 GB available space

o Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card

Nobody panic, Steve crashed the ship again.

Additional Thoughts

Sanctus Reach has plenty of content for people to get their hands on, not to mention the core mechanics are great and well implemented. The inclusion of different terrain types, cover, and the large unit variety leave battles engaging. The challenge of the AI while not the most difficult still manages to keep things tight as to not let the single player campaign become easy and some battles can go down to the wire.

The inclusion of a map editor and multiplayer allows the game to have plenty of longevity and replayability if the game picks up a decent player base. The time commitment of games could be an issue on this front but undoubtedly there will be plenty of people looking for a good hour long strategy experience.

Overall it’s a well-executed turn based strategy that gets all of its gameplay elements right but lacks that extra bit of shine here and there to really push it over the edge. A little more customization in the leveling department would have also been a strong move and having more story driven content such as cut scenes or voice over narration would have been a benefit.

The codex astartes does not suport this action

WARHAMMER 40,000: SANCTUS REACH VERDICT

Sanctus Reach is a well-executed Warhammer 40,000 game that should easily please turn based strategy fans and provides plenty of content for the price.

TOP GAME MOMENT

Taking down a Ork Boss with just an average bloodclaw squad thanks to some nice critical hits always feels like it was destined by the god emperor himself.