''Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate'' is a

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

set in the

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

backdrop of the

Games Workshop Games Workshop Group (often abbreviated as GW) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are ''Warhammer (game), Warhammer'' and ''Warhammer 40,000''. Founded in 1975 by John Peake ...

game system ''

Warhammer 40,000 ''Warhammer 40,000'' is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987 ...

''. In it, players take command of a number of squads of Ultramarines to do battle with their ancient enemies the

Word Bearers ''Warhammer 40,000'' is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987 ...

Traitor Marines, Chaos Demons, and their commander the Chaos Lord Zymran. A sequel, '' Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters'', was released in 2022.

Gameplay

The game is turn-based and takes part on a gridded playing screen. Each turn an Ultramarine can take a certain number of actions up to its Action Points limit. Actions include moving, firing a weapon or throwing a grenade. The Chaos AI then takes its turn in the same way. Ultramarine players command a number of squads, vehicles and characters from the

Space Marines A space marine is a science fiction concept, an analogue for military marines in outer space. Space Marine or Space Marines may also refer to: * Space Marine (''Warhammer 40,000''), a type of soldier in the ''Warhammer 40,000'' universe **'' Warha ...

Codex. ''Chaos Gate'' features an experience system, where Space Marines gain experience and can improve their

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

as they participate in missions. Each Space Marine can be assigned to a general-purpose Tactical Squad or to one of three specialist formations: Assault, Devastator and Terminator Squads. Additional weaponry can be picked up from weapon crates found in the campaign maps.

Development

The game uses a modified version of the ''

Soldiers at War ''Soldiers at War'' is a turn-based tactics game set in World War II. The player takes control of eight-man squads through the campaign of fifteen historically based missions, starting in North Africa and ending in Germany. Soldiers gain experienc ...

'' engine. It was originally released for

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...

and

Windows 98 Windows 98 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of Microsoft Windows operating systems. It was the second operating system in the 9x line, as the successor to Windows 95. It was Software ...

but has since been made compatible for modern versions of

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as well. ''Chaos Gate'' was developed by Random Games and originally published by

Strategic Simulations Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) was a video game developer and publisher of over 100 games from its founding in 1979 to its dissolution in 1994 (though the brand was in use until around 2002). The company focused on computer wargames then lat ...

. In its release by

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

Games, ''Chaos Gate'' was bundled with '' Final Liberation: Warhammer Epic 40,000'', set in Games Workshop's '' Epic 40,000'' game system that pitted the forces of Humanity against marauding

Ork Ork or ORK may refer to: * Ork (folklore), a mountain demon of Tyrol folklore * ''Ork'' (video game), a 1991 game for the Amiga and Atari ST systems * Ork (''Warhammer 40,000''), a fictional species in the ''Warhammer 40,000'' universe * '' Ork!' ...

s. In 2015, GOG Ltd republished the game digitally.

Reception

Richie Shoemaker of ''

PC Zone ''PC Zone'', founded in 1993, was the first magazine dedicated to games for IBM-compatible personal computers to be published in the United Kingdom. Earlier PC magazines such as '' PC Leisure'', '' PC Format'' and '' PC Plus'' had covered games b ...

'' called ''Chaos Gate'' a title that "slowly grabs hold of you and keeps you entertained throughout its duration; something you'll look back on with fond memories rather than foul". ''Chaos Gate'' was a finalist for ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

''s 1998 "Best Strategy" award, which ultimately went to ''

StarCraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance amon ...

''. The editors called ''Chaos Gate'' "perhaps the best iteration of the ''WarHammer'' universe to date, although some weak AI hampered its turn-based squad-level combat".

Reviews

*'' The Duelist'' #36

Sequel

A sequel, titled '' Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters'', was released in 2022. The game was developed by Canadian studio Complex Games and published by

Frontier Foundry Frontier Developments plc is a British video game developer founded by David Braben in January 1994 and based at the Cambridge Science Park in Cambridge, England. Frontier develops Construction and management simulation, management simulators '' ...

References

External links

* {{Games Workshop 1998 video games Computer wargames Multiplayer and single-player video games Strategic Simulations games Video games about demons Video games developed in the United States Chaos Gate Windows games Windows-only games Random Games games