Warhammer 40K Chaos Gate Daemonhunters comes to console next month & I’ve played it

Games Workshop, Frontier Publishing, and Complex Games' turn-based tactics title, Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters is coming to both current and last-gen consoles next month.

The title, which launched on PC in May 2022, is an XCOM-like take on the Grey Knights, one of the tabletop game's most fabled units, capable of tremendous violence and psychic powers - and it plays pretty brilliantly on console, too. I got to play it before its February 20 release date.

Warhammer 40K Chaos Gate Daemonhunters plays great on console

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I was able to head to Frontier HQ earlier this month and go hands-on with a preview build, and while Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate passed me by before, I was glad to finally get a chance to go hands-on as a lapsed Warhammer 40K fan.

XCOM Enemy Unknown arguably revitalised the turn-based tactics genre back in 2012, and Chaos Gate definitely follows much of the same well-worn template that's been seen in everything from Gears Tactics to Mutant Year Zero in the years that have passed, albeit with a lot more armour and viscera.

Chaos Gate is a difficult game, but it's also one that rewards aggression. Whereas I'm a cautious XCOM player who rarely splits up my squad, here I found myself routinely switching up tactics to help take out entrenched cultists and Chaos-driven monstrosities, constantly looking to get into melee range to tear through the hordes. A Chaos plague called 'The Bloom' continues to spread throughout missions, too, adding surprise modifiers like removing healing with a few turns.

It's a strategy game with momentum, but the pendulum swings both ways; one boss battle with Cruciatus the Generous sees the plague-ridden mech needing to be outrun and outthought, rather than simply outgunned, a nice change of pace. Cruciatus requires some light puzzle-solving to stun for big damage, all while avoiding his abilities.

All of this handles well on controller, too, sticking closely to the turn-based tactics games I've buried myself in for years, but with the added 'thud' of hulking armour suits and the delightful haptic feedback that comes with them via controller rumble.

Warhammer 40K Chaos Gate Daemonhunters Purifier Edition explained

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Warhammer 40K Chaos Gate Daemonhunters will arrive on February 20 on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X | S, and Xbox One, and will retail for £34.99/$44.99/€44.99.

The Purifier Edition (£39.99/$49.99/€49.99) adds Castellan Garran Rowe, Champion of the Order of Purifiers as a playable squad member option.

Players can pre-order now and save 15%, and also get in-game items dubbed the 'Relics of Titan' to help contain The Bloom.

For more on Warhammer 40K, check out our review of Rogue Trader.