Review: Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus (Nintendo Switch)

Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus is a turn-based strategy game based on the tabletop Warhammer 40K games. While the game was originally released back in 2018 for PC, it was recently released on the Nintendo Switch. Being a fan of turn-based strategy games, I have always heard good things about the Warhammer series and have always been curious about it. The problem has always been that very few of the Warhammer games have made it to Nintendo consoles over the years, and even fewer of those have been turn-based strategy games. Let’s take a look at it and see how it stacks up. 

Players take control of the Tech-Priest member of Cult Mechanicus, which is led by Margos Dominus. You and your team are exploring the planet Silva Tenebris, which is a tomb for an ancient robotic race called Necrons. As your team explores, the Necrons begin to awaken. 

Combat is entirely based around Cognition Points (CP). This is needed for every attack in the game. It can be earned by defeating enemies, within levels by scanning the environment, and various other ways. Before most battles, you’ll find yourself exploring various rooms that lead to the battle. Scanning these rooms leads to a small scenario where you are presented with a variety of tasks. Depending on how you respond, different things happen. An example is finding old Necron tech as you move from room to room. Will you choose to destroy it, ignore it, or repair it? Depending on your choice, the outcome can be positive or negative. A positive result includes earning extra CP, gaining resources, or restoring health. A negative outcome would be losing health, CP, or other resources.  Warhammer is very interesting in that every decision has an impact. Losing a battle doesn’t necessarily mean that your game is over, as there are many paths to choose from. This keeps the game feeling fresh as you play through.

Once a battle is won, you earn Blackstone, which is used to upgrade your Tech-Priest. Upgrading your Tech-Priest is another extremely important part of winning battles. Progressing your way through the skill tree is a must, providing very helpful skills. These range from offensive, defensive, and even strategic, such as regaining one CP per turn. 

Previously stated, losing battle isn’ the end of the game; you don’t even have to replay that battle until you win. You just simply move on and try to learn from the experience. A full playthrough of the story can take up to about twenty hours give or take a few. Players who choose to take advantage of all the side missions would overall take considerably longer. 

If the idea of a future with cyborgs and robots battling each other interests you, and you don’t mind a bit of a learning curve, then Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus is probably for you. There were times where battles felt long and drawn out and even a bit slow. A few times, battles felt overwhelmingly difficult. Fans of the Warhammer series may have a better understanding and experience with the game. Overall it was a fun playthrough and should definitely be considered for your next strategy game.