Over the years, the number of Warhammer games on PC has grown significantly, as Games Workshop’s IP left the comfort of tabletop and established a foothold in the digital space.
When putting together our list of the best Warhammer games on PC it became clear that the lengthy list of video games using the IP covers the entire quality spectrum.
While some licensing choices have led to massively successful behemoths, others were doomed to perpetual obscurity. To help you sift through them and get to the good stuff, regardless if you fancy the grim darkness of the far future or the times way before it, here is our list of the best Warhammer games on PC.
The Best Warhammer Games on PC
Although the IP has, historically, worked best when applied to the strategy genre, the best Warhammer games on PC do branch out to other territories as well, giving us a taste of their violence in both the third and first person.
Warhammer: 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade
Where the original Dawn of War set the foundation for a series that would become synonymous with Warhammer games on PC, Dark Crusade took its recipe and expanded it. The five factions previously introduced are joined by the sturdy but slow Necrons and the fragile Tau who excel at range. The linear campaigns were replaced by a more open-ended alternative in which players took turns to conquer and defend regions across the planet Kronus as one of the seven available races.
Dominance was always the ultimate goal, the campaign culminating in hand-made Stronghold encounters that provided additional challenges tailored to the faction you were going up against. But more importantly, Dark Crusade had at its core the same recipe that made the original Dawn of War – which easily deserves its own spot on this list – so popular and played even over a decade after its launch, mixing controlling large numbers of units with base building.
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 puts you right in the thick of it, having you slaughtering and dismembering hordes of Chaos Warriors and Skaven from its very first moments. A first-person co-op game, its visceral fast-paced combat rewards looking out for your teammates and figuring out the right moments to insert blocks in between dishing out damage.
Its charismatic protagonists not only have different careers that alter their playstyle but also lighten up the mood with banter that excellently caters to their personality. Add randomized loot and an upgrade system and you have a game in which you can spend hours upon hours without noticing the passage of time. For more on the game, give our Warhammer: Vermintide 2 review a read.
Total War: Warhammer II
We could rest our case by saying that this one lets you control lizards riding dinosaurs but Total War: Warhammer II’s popularity demands more than that. Sega and Creative Assembly struck gold with the first Total War: Warhammer game – which still leaves us wondering how it took the two IPs so long to merge – only to build upon that foundation in its sequel. Having started things by adding a brand new map that spans lush jungles, dry deserts and frozen expanses, the game also introduced four factions with their own distinct spin on gameplay, including the savage Lizardmen, skittish but numerous Skaven alongside High and Dark Elves.
Total War: Warhammer II also expands upon the first game’s magic system while bringing a Vortex campaign that, while not everyone’s cup of tea, provides a twist on the usual requirements of conquering a bunch of stuff. However, if you do happen to just want to conquer stuff, there’s Mortal Empires, which is likely the most ambitious thing that Total War has done up until now. The mode merges the maps from the two Warhammer titles while letting all playable factions duke it out, provided you own both games. You can take your armies, move in any direction, and fight factions you wouldn’t usually encounter in what, sooner or later, becomes a beautiful, chaotic mess. For our full impressions on the title, drop by our Total War: Warhammer II review.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
While Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine might have not rocked the world as much as the other titles on our list of the best Warhammer games on PC, it did get combat very, very right. From the punchy, devastating shots of its bolters to the satisfyingly visceral chainsword, you can easily get lost in killing large numbers of Orks in the name of the Emperor.
You control Ultramarine Captain Titus from a third-person view, while also getting to contend with the forces of Chaos, culling their numbers and the occasional pack of Bloodthirsters. Learn more about it in our Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine review.
Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2
If the previous entries on our list of the best Warhammer games on PC were ground-based, Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 moves the action to space. The sequel features each of the tabletop’s 12 playable factions with their own distinct rosters. Its three campaigns see the Imperium, Necrons, and Tyranids playing their part in The Gathering Storm and the 13th Black Crusade, two of the universe’s major events.
Armada 2 also features multiplayer which allows for bigger fights than its predecessor did, while also being the place where knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your faction alongside adeptly maneuvering your ships can make the difference between victory and failure. In our review, we called it a “satisfyingly tactical real time strategy game with a deep love of Warhammer 40K lore.”
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
While we’d normally stick to one entry per series, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II is an exception due to how drastically it changed direction when it launched. Gone was the emphasis on base building, replaced with a much larger focus on units. Cover also began playing a bigger role, being able to decide the outcome of battles.
Overall, you had to think more tactically, exploiting the enemy’s weaknesses in order to win. A heavy weapons team could easily suppress your squads, rendering them vulnerable to attack, at the cost of being immobile while doing so and requiring a few seconds’ worth of deployment time. Jump packs could hammer foes into submission but recklessly sending your troops in could result in a quick death. Although the new focus and higher learning curve initially divided the community, there’s no doubt that Dawn of War II does what it sets out to do really well. In our review we praised its “intense carnage” while awarding it a 9/10.
What titles would make your list of the best Warhammer games on PC? Let us know in the comments. For more lists, check out our articles on the best stealth games on PC and the best strategy games on PC.
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