GamesRelay

Name: Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command

From the outset Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command looked set to be a fairly decent game, fans of the table top game would appreciate it’s turn based strategy and tactical gameplay, however, where the PlayStation Portable version made for a fairly good game with some drawbacks, RedLynx the developers behind the game have done a poor job in porting it over to the Nintendo DS.

The gameplay in Squad Command is fairly easy to get to grips with, regardless of your ability, and no knowledge is needed of the table top game from Games Workshop, which is a blessing. The whole game is played in turn-based moves which sees you using up action points assigned to each unit these allow you to either move, fire, or perform various other actions each turn. Most of the underlying gameplay from the PSP version has been kept and ported over intact so you can expect similar sort of battles if you played the latter version.

Squad Command comes with fifteen solo missions which see you usually destroying the enemy, blowing up objectives like laser turrets and tanks and other such missions. They are very similar, but how they play out is really dependent upon you since you control the action you can use whatever tools are at your disposal to wipe the other force out, this other force being the Chaos. For anyone familiar with the background of Warhammer 40,000 you’ll know that the Chaos are basically Space Marines gone bad, so of course, defeating this army of evil, oppressive and daemon lord worshipping bad guys is all important. The fifteen missions that span the game don’t have much in the way of a story to write home about but you don’t necessarily need one since it’s more about using your tactics to outwit the computer on the battlefield.

Where the game lacks in story however, it more than makes up for it in its level design. The first thing worth mentioning about the levels is destructible environments, there’s no need to waste action points heading round a building to fire at an enemy, you can just blow through it and either finish them off after or try to kill them with the environment surrounding them. The AI in Squad Command isn’t brilliant, but it’s certainly challenging and makes for some fun fire fights. The Chaos will move in and out of cover using everything to their advantage and if you fancy your chances behind a wall while a tank or a Chaos marine with a rocket launcher or equally deadly plasma rifle goes by, think again.

Controlling your units has been slightly altered over the PSP version, since the use of the stylus allows you to select troops directly as well as use the touch screen to issue orders. More often than not however, you’ll find the camera moving somewhere where you didn’t want it to or equally frustrating, moving your units by accident either by firing at a place you wanted to move to or moving to an enemy you wanted to fire at, it’s frustrating and such a disappointment that more time if any was even spent refining the controls to a more satisfyingly degree of usability. Thankfully, you aren’t stuck with using the stylus and touch screen to play the game, the game allows you to use the D pad and buttons to issue your orders which while not as convenient as a refined touch screen and stylus would of been, it allows for a more accurate system where it’s not easy to make a mistake when ordering your units about.

The graphics of Squad Command are unfortunately pretty bad, it seems they have been ported straight from the PSP version without any regards as to how they would look on the graphically inferior DS. This all results in a sub-standard frame rate which slows down when the action gets heavy especially while scrolling across the battlefield. Also apparent is the level of detail which is missing, while one shouldn’t expect the same level of detail as the PSP version, you can barely make out the Space Marines compared to other forces like Scout Troops, actually depicting their miniature model counterparts which the Warhammer series is famous for should of been a top priority. On top of this, the fantastically rendered cut scenes from the PSP have also been removed, why is unclear since the DS is capable of playing animated cutscenes, now they have been replaced by a few pictures which scroll across the screen. When the PSP and DS versions are compared side by side it’s easy to see the other areas the DS version is lacking in, obviously one shouldn’t expect exactly the same, but their are certain features which have no reason not to be included, one such aspect is the camera. The camera angle is locked into a tight isometric view that you can rotate, albeit very slightly, though it leaves much to be desired since it’s almost impossible to look around your surroundings and get a good view of the enemies emplacements. More often than not it’s too difficult to judge whether your shot will clear an object or not, much to the dismay of your fellow comrades in arms on the battlefield, while you may think your shot will not hit your squad mate when shooting, usually it more than likely will.

The second screen on the DS is also lacking in features which could have been put to great use. Throughout the tutorial it just displays text and the same goes for watching the cut scenes, it just displays subtitles. While in-game, the second screen acts as a still map not providing you with any tactical feedback such as the direction of an enemy unit you’re attacking or any type of weapon range which is an all important factor to take into account, these small things could have helped immensely in planning your strategy and tactical manoeuvres during the game.

Squad Command thankfully does include multiplayer through Wi-Fi, single-cart and multi-cart linking options for up to eight players. If you can forgive the negatives explained earlier then you can get a lot of enjoyment out of the multiplayer, that’s if your opponent doesn’t either drop out or quit, whether it be from frustration or a bad connection is questionable. Ranked matches are something worth trying since the game matches you up with someone of similar experience, so you should get a good equally levelled game.

Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command is disappointing more than anything else on the DS, it was an enjoyable experience on the PSP and while it had its flaws as most games do, it made for some good turn-based tactical gameplay, the terribly bad visuals make the game more frustrating than anything else, if you have a choice between this and the PSP version, then you shouldn’t need to think about which one to get. If you’re a fan of Games Workshop and Space Marines in general, you could do worse, as long as you can tolerate the issues mentioned earlier.