Mark Of Chaos is a bit a gamble for gamers. It follows basic Real Time Strategy convetions but also scraps a few in the process. I can't assume whether RTS veterans will appreciate the unique style of Mark Of Chaos or whether the series is a bit too different for them.

          Mark of Chaos is set in the Warhammer world, a world inspired by epics such as The Lord of The Rings and you can see obvious references. Warhammer is a tabletop model game that has been around for quite a long time and has come a long way. In Warhammer you build an army depending on the race you want to select (more about races later) and the units you wish to use from that race’s roster. You deploy and battle under conditions set by the players. Each race differs with different units, spells, heroes and abilities but all races are pretty much equal. The four main races included in the Mark of Chaos are: The Empire (Humans), The High Elves, Chaos (Corrupted humans) and the Skaven (Rat men.) The Empire is like a medieval militia consisting mainly of iron clad peasants and their captains. The highlight of using the Empire is the Warrior Priests (Empire hero type). The high elves are white haired, tall beings just like the elves from the Tolkein books. The Chaos are huge bound mutations who worship their god-like demons who grant them with unholy strength. Last of all are the skaven, the squeaky voiced vermin who come in large packs led by their Warlords and Warlocks. There are appearances from other races however including the Dwarfs, The Greenskin horde (Orcs and Goblins) and the odd sighting of the Undead.

The Orc horde prove more than a challenge to the Empire's forces.

          There are two main gameplay modes in Mark of Chaos, you have the online multiplayer and the single player campaign mode. In the campaign mode you choose one of the two sides; The Empire (Good) and The Chaos (Evil) both stories follow the adventures of two heroes who fates are bound. At a time when the Empire is falling you play as a human captain trying to repel the enemies of their emperor or you assume the role of Thorgar, a Chaos champion desperate to unite the hordes of Chaos and crush the Empire. In the campaign you select a mission from the world map and fight for money and advancement across the in-game world. The campaign modes are split into four chapters, each one represented by a huge war map. Dotted around the map are towns, instances and battles which the player must encounter. Each major mission is introduced by a brief cutscene which describes the current situation you are in and then the battle commences...

          How is Mark of Chaos different from other Real Time Strategy titles? Instead of starting from a HQ and building barracks and armouries to supply troops, you pre select them from a menu just before deployment and upgrades are purchased via the towns which you find on the world map. That's right, you can't spawn reinforcements when your army has perished meaning that you have to put your strategist cap on and hopefully survive with all your units intact. First you deploy your army in a corner of the battle map which is selected for you. Once deployed you leap straight into battle without any preparations. You simply have to complete tasks as they appear and wipe out any enemy units you find, fairly simple, eh?

          You may feel uncomfortable with the system if you are a Dawn of War or Age of Empires fan but without the stress of building up a city before you can fight can take the dull waiting phase away from a battle. The actual conflicts between units is fought like a traditional RTS, a load of troops hack and slashing at one another until the last man falls. You can do that but there is an easier way to take out a unit: By breaking its morale. Killing a large sum of troops for a unit or causing fear to them in any other way can result in that unit fleeing and then being trampled. Lovely. Gameplay differs however if you are playing a siege battle. There are a few phases; the deployment phase, the siege phase (breaking into a stronghold) and the capture phase (hold your ground long enough in the enemy stronghold to seize victory.) In addition to the two modes there is a "create army" feature which allows you to select units to form your own army and design their features (head, torso, legs) which is quite cool but hardly necessary when they are getting slaughtered on the battlefield.

          The plot starts off a bit shabby and your heroes start off as rookies but as you progress you start to gain respect of just about everyone as you realise your destiny.

A number of specialised units make appearances in the game too such as the Griffons.

          Graphics are exceedingly good for an RTS, you can pick out the details of each individual soldier up close which is impressive but in the frenzy of battle you won’t be stopping to check them out every minute or so. The opening cutscene is mind-blowing and it’s as if your watching a fantasy film. The voice acting can be shabby in some cases but fits the context of the Warhammer world. The sounds of weapons clanging and horns being blown gives an in-depth feel of the battle and immerses you but can easily be interrupted by the random cry of "For the Empire!"

          Overall i think Mark of Chaos is good but it can do with a bit more content such as single player custom games and more races to choose from with their own campaigns to follow. If your new to Warhammer but you are a classic RTS follower you might want to approach with caution but if you are looking for something entirely new, you should at least give it a try.