The Imperial Knights of the Adeptus Astartes are truly a sight to behold on the battlefield. Manned by elite warriors who undergo the perilous Ritual of Becoming, these war machines inspire fear in their enemies, be they greenskinned Orks or minions of Chaos from beyond the dark reaches of the warp.
Set in the grim darkness of the far future, Freeblade taps into one of Warhammer 40,000’s lesser known sub-factions. As fans of the tabletop strategy game will know, the Imperial Knights are force to be reckoned with. Priced at just under a hundred quid, these customisable behemoths take hours to build and even longer to paint, taking pride of place among the collections of many a Games Workshop hobbyist.
Thankfully, you don’t need to pony up that sort of cash to play Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade on iOS. Although a genuine term used in 40K lore, the name also seems to allude to the game’s free-to-play business model.
Showcased at Apple’s iPhone 6s unveiling, Freeblade definitely carries the look of a high-end mobile title. It’s nowhere near as polished as games like The Room Three or Infinity Blade yet carries a consistent visual motif that remains faithful to the Warhammer universe. On top of that, it manages to pack plenty of action on-screen thanks to some highly sensitive ragdoll effects and destructible environments.
Having previously developed the popular Gunfinger on mobile devices, Freeblade feels like a natural step forward for Leamington-based Pixel Toys. Aside from taking on a much-loved license, the studio has clearly learned lessons from its previous work on Gunfinger, Freeblade feeling very much like an evolution from that game. It’s essentially an on-rails shooter, geared specifically towards touchscreen controls.
Upon awakening, you find your homeworld in ruins as the forces of Chaos close in. Rescued by the Dark Angels, you swear allegiance to them as a Freeblade before embarking on a series of explosive firefights. Each of these self-contained shooting galleries take several minutes to complete and often encourage players to make full use of the game’s arsenal of weaponry. By tapping and holding down, your Imperial Knight will fire its primary weapon, whereas a two-finger tap and other contextual gestures are used to perform more advanced actions.
With no direct control over movement, you’ll need to blast enemies on-the-fly while making sure your weapons don’t overheat. If you push the limits a bit too far, you trigger a cooldown timer, allowing more evasive foes to escape your sights. Between mowing down grunts and armoured vehicles, you’ll also find yourself embroiled in the odd spot of melee combat. Although it looks pretty flashy on-screen, what it boils down to is a series of correctly-timed taps as you bring your chainsword crashing down.
Despite its simplicity and a little bit too much repetition, Freeblade’s core gameplay is loads of fun. There’s a grim sense of satisfaction to be had when lighting up a squad of Orks as they try and run for cover. The brevity of each mission also means that you can pick up Freeblade for five or ten minutes and then put it down again, still feeling as though you’ve achieved something.
The long-term appeal stems from the game’s loot and progression systems. Intertwined, they help to power up your Knight and unlock more advanced stages. Although experience is amassed at a steady rate, loot crops up more sporadically as well as during mission debriefings.
A couple of hours into Freeblade, you’ll become acquainted with each part of your loadout. Aside from giving your Knight a fresh lick of paint, you can swap out a number of components including guns, shields, and armour plating. At first it seems like a largely optional customisation system, but becomes more essential the more you play. Very soon you’re required to farm loot and even combine spare parts in the forge to meet certain level requirements.
For those who enjoy the gameplay, it won’t put too much of a downer on the overall experience. However, for the more casual, transient gamer, it can get a little too complex – especially if you’re looking to avoid microtransactions.
Freeblade may not be the strongest game we’ve seen launch for mobile and tablet this year, yet it one that bound to garner a loyal if niche following. If anything it’s proof that the Warhammer 40,000 license is one of gaming’s most adaptable, even on handheld platforms.