It’s all about the journey, not the destination…for now.

Action RPGs are my bread and butter. The amount of time I spent in Diablo II and III I can never get back, not that I would really want to. I can get into pretty much any of these kinds of games and come out enjoying my time with them even if they aren’t the cream of the crop. That’s how I feel with Warhammer: Chaosbane.

Chaosbane is much like the previous games I mentioned, players control a character in an isometric view of a map where they use powers and abilities to kill hoards of enemies, all the while gathering loot and leveling up. Anyone who has played a Diablo game will feel right at home here with the gameplay.

Platforms: XB1, PS4, PC
MSRP: $59.99
Price I’d pay: $40

Set in the fantasy world of Warhammer, players take on the role of one of four heroes – the Wood Elf Archer, the High Elf Mage, the Dwarven Slayer, and finally, the Human Imperial Soldier. Each has their own traits and abilities as well as play styles. I experimented with all of them, but eventually fell into my main character being the High Elf Mage, who may very well be one of the most fun magic users I have played in an action RPG.

One of the nicest aspects of the combat is the Bloodlust ability. Gathering red orbs that drop from enemies will not only restore health, a-la Diablo health globes, but will fill up a meter. When full, the meter can be used to begin Bloodlust mode, where the heroes begin to wreck everything in their path for a short time. Enemies killed during Bloodlust also drop gems that can be used for the special skill tree, more on that in a little while.

Abilities, both active and passive, use an ability point pool that can be refunded and used whenever. This allows for on the fly ability customization to meld with a certain build or equipment buffs. It’s also nice to know that I was never pigeonholed into a certain build or using an ability since I could also unequip it and get my points back. Killing enemies gathers XP that levels up characters. At certain levels, they learn new abilities or higher versions of abilities as well as more skill points to spend.

Along with that, there are God-tier abilities that can be used. This offers up even better potential. These are unlocked on a skill tree that must be unlocked using a currency of gems found and crown rewards. This skill tree reminded me of Path of Exile’s skill tree, where nodes on it up certain stats in increments that will lead to other nodes like the God-tier skills.

Obviously, loot plays another big part in Chaosbane. Helmets, chest pieces, boots, weapons, and others can all be equipped to buff stats along with a few extra things depending on the item. For the first 30 levels or so, I found myself just finding things and equipping whatever gave me green numbers. When I got to the endgame, that’s when I started to worry about the min/maxing. More on that in a bit.

There are four acts in all, each having to deal with a group serving one of the evil demigods that will serve as the boss of the act. The areas quickly became stale, as many assets are reused for each act. To go along with that, the enemy types don’t change up much either throughout the acts. This becomes a bit bothersome when we get to the endgame content.

Speaking of, the endgame content, while numerous, is hindered by the fact that there just isn’t much in the overall game. There’s a boss rush mode and a relic hunt mode. Boss Rush is pretty self explanatory. Relic Hunt is much like a Nephalem Rift in Diablo III. Players can choose different tiers of difficulties that come with a negative effect, but offer up better loot for the player, but because of the reused areas and enemies, it feels stale after just a few runs.

Lastly, the loading times, even on the Xbox One X, are just long enough to be annoying.

The game can be played fully in co-op both online and offline play, all of which works totally fine and offers some decent fun with up to four players.

Warhammer: Chaosbane has the potential to be a top tier action RPG in the likes of Diablo, Torchlight, and Grim Dawn, but as it stands now, it is a fun 10 hours with the endgame content being watered down. Now, developers EKO Software has stated that their plans are to support this game throughout the rest of the year with updates and new additions, of course, only time will tell on that. Currently, almost a month after release, the newest patch that hit the PC version is still waiting approval for the consoles, so that’s been fun. Until then, you get a decent loot-driven action RPG that is fun all the way up to the level cap, after that, it becomes a bit of a bland grind.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.