Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade

Warhammer 40,000 Eternal Crusade is a Massive Multiplayer Online Third-Person Shooter (think Planetside) that was announced at E3 2013 and is slated to be released in 2016. It will be available for the PC, PS4 and the Xbox One/Ten. Steam Early access has now opened, the NDA has dropped and all that good stuff so there is plenty of content to view at your leisure.

Now many of you think that this is such wonderful news, right ? Well... This is still up to debate since the game is being developed by the people who have given us such wonderful titles like Wet, Dante's Inferno (PSP), The Lord of the Rings: Conquest (DS) and Naughty Bear. However, Behavior (the guys making this thing) pulled in talent from all around - especially from Funcom Montreal (Age of Conan, The Secret World); recently, Graham McNeill and Anthony Reynolds (known for writing the Ultramarines and Word Bearers series, respectively) have been confirmed to be working alongside them as well. The devs have confirmed that if you buy the game, you unlock all the premium content (IE rest of the races), and that Dark Angels and Iron Warriors are *not* the only Space Marine/Chaos Space Marine chapters present.

Orks are planned to be the only F2P race, and the devs are hoping this will make them outnumber the rest of the other factions when released. So, that is a higher than average understanding of 40k lore, and is typically considered a genius fucking idea. Unfortunately, this "Free To WAAAGH" system, as it's called, has been delayed to until after the initial release of the game, which has led many fans to begin wonder if the developers have complete control over the game at this point.

Current State

The current state of the game is in Alpha state - Space Marines and Chaos Space Marine and Eldar are in, and the games are played as instanced arcade-esque shooters not unlike Space Marine's multiplayer. If this sounds quite far from the original premise, that's because it is; Seeing how insurmountable an MMO of this kind of proportions would be to create from scratch, Behaviour decided to scale down the initial size of the game, and then scale that down for Open Alpha. For Alpha the game is a straight-up classic shooter, with bog-standard matchmaking and 25 to 30 minute control point matches, with factions being added on a "when it's done" schedule. For the release candidate, the game will still have the four races, the classes and general gameplay promised, but the world will be cut up into 20+ instances, where the players will fight in several matches to control the region. The long-term plan is to gradually open up the world, making larger regions, until the continent of EC is one region in it's entirety, somewhat like Planetside 2, as was originally the plan. An invading army will need to capture at least 2 of a region's outposts before they can attack the primary base of that region, allowing for large-scale strategic planning. Once the Tyrannids are implemented, they'll help balance out control for the map as they'll attack whoever controls the most territory.

While this has lead to much outcry from the Founders and the fanbase in general, many do now see the benefit of improving the core gameplay to be a fun shooter, before making a massive world with barely nothing in it and with poor gameplay. Furthermore, through the weekly Twitch shows and an active cooperation with fans on the forum, combined with a positive reaction to the current Alpha build, the initial outrage over this controversial move has died down a bit.

Races

The game will debut with four playable factions and one NPC faction, each including several subgroups, and classes. The class list has been confirmed on the EC forums and it mostly the standard stuff as seen below. Sub-factions will all have unique bonuses which will effect the game such as Space Wolves having access to Rune Priests, Blood Angels Sanguinary Guard and so on. We haven't had full confirmation of each of these effects but they are confirmed as being in.

Space Marines

Ah, Space Marines. Heroes, Mary Sues, warrior monks and nazi supersoldiers, the Space Marines are the "generalist" faction, with no particular strength or weakness. Their Apothecaries tend to be better in defensive environments, and with the addition of the Storm Shield, they have taken defense as their main stick. There's not a lot to say about them; they're marines, what do you expect. The current playerbase is predominantly Space Marines, and Space Marines fans make up 40% of the fans. So nothing new there.

A lot of people are crying on the fora that Space Marines doesn't feel "Space Marine" enough, being too weak and feeble for their taste. While the TTK is slated to be increased, a lot of people are in for a surprise when Marines aren't the most powerful faction in a game with four, equally supported factions. Part of the "problem" here is the engine mechanics, which deliberately makes all characters in the entire game somewhat sluggish (the best example is how infantry have a maximum turning speed, so upping your mouse sensitivity won't let you you 360 quickscope, and there's lots of other more subtle examples)

• Chapters: Ultramarines, Space Wolves, Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Imperial Fists.
• Faction Leader: Belial, Master of the Deathwing.
  • Sub-Faction Leaders:
    • Ultramarines: TBA, Captain Titus if we're lucky, Cato Sicarius if we're not.
    • Space Wolves: Ragnar Blackmane.
    • Blood Angels: Mephiston, Lord of Death.
    • Dark Angels: Interrogator-Chaplain Cassiel.
    • Imperial Fists: TBA

Space Marine Default Classes

	Objective	Heavy Weapons	Ground Melee	Air Attack	Medic / Support
Unit	Tactical	Devastator	Ground Assault	Assault	Apothecary
Weapons	Bolter, Storm Bolter, Meltagun	Heavy Bolter, Lascannon, Plasma Cannon	Power sword, Power Fist	Bolt Pistol, Chainsword, Power Fist	Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Chainsword
Abilities	Capture Objectives		Storm Shield	Jump pack	Narthecium for heals, Adrenaline for Buffs (possibly more modifiers in the future)

• • Elites: Legion of the Damned Legionnaire, Terminators (Confirmed not for initial Release) and Techmarines (Unconfirmed if for release), among others.
  • Heroes: Master of Relics, Librarians and Chaplains, among others.

Chaos Space Marines

Pissed off motherfuckers de jure, the Chaos Space Marines are, like the Space Marines, a generalist faction, but thanks to their Sorcerers, the newly introduced "Mark of Nurgle" and the skill of the generally neckbearded veteran players, Chaos Marines are more aggressive, and can have some outright insanely long sieges on enemy points. Otherwise Chaos Marines share most of the same loadout as Space Marines, making it fairly easy to switch between playing the two. Chaos Marines will be very customizable, and their Marks will make them quite the force to be reckoned with. In addition, the fact that the current playerbase is almost exclusively grizzled 40k veterans make a lot of teams driven and better at coordination. 'Cause dem corpse-worshippin' fellas gotta burn.

Chaos is the second most popular faction at the moment. Only because there've only been 2 factions for the longest time.

• Legions: Iron Warriors, Word Bearers, Black Legion, Night Lords, Alpha Legion.
• Faction Leader: Abaddon the motherfucking Despoiler.
  • Sub-faction Leaders
    • Iron Warriors: TBA
    • Word Bearers: TBA
    • Black Legion: Ash'Hy Mok: a badass sorcerer created for the narrative who has been very busy liquefying space marines and Eldar alike in the short stories release each week.
    • Night Lords: TBA
    • Alpha Legion: TBA

Chaos Space Marine Default Classes

	Objective	Heavy Weapons	Ground Melee	Air Attack	Medic / Support
Unit	Tactical	Havoc	Ground Assault	Raptors	Aspiring Sorcerer
Weapons	Bolter, Storm Bolter, Meltagun	Heavy Bolter, Lascannon, Plasma Cannon	Power Sword, Power Axe	Bolt Pistol, Chainsword	Power Sword
Abilities	Capture Objectives		Mark of Nurgle (Defense Buff)	Jump pack	Healing Spell, Warp Instability (Debuff), Nurgle Heal (AOE heal) Slaanesh Lash (Damage + Debuff), Flickering Fire (Damage)

• • Elites: Possessed Marine and Terminators (Confirmed for not initial Release)
  • Heroes: Fallen Captain

Orks

The Orks are slated to be the good old underdog faction we all know and love from the tabletop, and will be geared towards close-quarters combat and melee. How exactly the faction is going to function is yet to be revealed, but many fans theorize that a WAAAGH mechanic is sure to be implemented, which will gear Orks to play together in large groups. Unlike what some of you might think (you know who you are), the Orks are not a horde army in the traditional sense, and Ork characters will be on the same level as any other character from another faction, by a combination of 'Ard Armour, Ork tenacity and a little goodwill, as stated by the developers. Discussions on the official forums about whether Orks should control large groups of Orks or be Nobs persists regardless.

Orks will be bolstered by "Free2Waaagh", which will hopefully boost Ork numbers significantly.

• Klans: Goffs, Evil Sunz, Deathskulls, Bad Moons, Blood Axes
• Faction Leader: Warboss Skarblitz (a Bad Moon with a Dreadnought's power fist as his Power Klaw and a thing for smashin' Wolves.)
  • Sub-faction Leaders:
    • Goffs: Luguk 'Edpuncha, known for being the largest Goff on Arkhona Orkhona and carrier of the kombi-rokkit launcha called Spare Keys (you know, as in 'Look boss, dis door is locked', 'No worries grot! I brought my spare keys!' KABLOOIE!)
    • Evil Sunz: Brakenek Wazcrash, arrived on Arkhona recently, fought some 'nids and got a cool idea for a plasma cannon design.
    • Bad Moons: Gazzagug, a warphead, and one of the senior members of Skarblitz's tribe.
    • Deathskulls: TBA
    • Blood Axes: TBA

Ork Default Classes

	Objective	Heavy Weapons	Ground Melee	Air Attack	Medic / Support
Unit	Shoota Boyz	Lootas	Slugga Boyz	Stormboyz	Painboy
Weapons	Shoota, Rokkit Launcha	Dakka Deffgun, Zzap Deffgun, Plasma Deffgun	Slab Slugga, Choppa	Slab Slugga, Choppa	Slab Slugga, 'Urty Syringe
Abilities	Capture Objectives		Capture Objectives	Rokkit (Functions identically to jump pack)	Can both heal & poison with 'Urty Syringe

• • Elites: Cybork Madboys, Nobs, Meganobs (Probably Weirdboys and Mekboys but not confirmed).
  • Heroes: Skarboy Kommandos has been confirmed as a hero class. Probably Warbosses. No full heroes announced officially though. (Don't be mistaken by the shop, some of those are heroes - others are elites)

Eldar

Our favorite Space Elves are the fourth faction in the roster, and will probably be the most alien of the four. Eldar will be a faster, more dodgy faction based around speed and dodging, while staying out of the enemy's reach. Eldar have a more limited class customization but have more classes to reflect the paths, as per fluff. Not a lot have been shown on the Eldar, but of them and the Orks, the Eldar are a little more settled in their general concept, and as such get less widespread discussion done.

... Or they would be if the fanbase weren't pretty much nazis on anything Eldar shown up until now; upon seeing the first model made for the game, the Eldar part of the forum went mad over how every little detail was messed up. At least they're invested, we suppose.

• Craftworlds: Biel-tan, Saim-Hann, Iyanden, Ulthwé, Altansar )
• Faction Leader: Jain Zar, Phoenix Lord of the Howling Banshees.
  • Sub-Faction Leaders:
    • Biel-tan: Possibly a farseer named Ksenyia, found in one of the short stories, but yet to be fully confirmed.
    • Saim-Hann: An Autarch by the name of Maelydahn Windstrider; a young and energetic guy with flowing red hair.
    • Iyanden: Soraya, an old Deathspeaker wearing an azure cloak hiding most of her body.
    • Ulthwe: Warlock Amatheon, a badass old guy who, for some reason, can't see through the Warp for shit.
    • Altansar: TBA

Eldar Default Classes

	Objective	Heavy Weapons		Ground Melee		Air Attack	Medic / Support
Unit	Dire Avengers	Fire Dragons	Dark Reapers	Striking Scorpions	Howling Banshees	Swooping Hawks	Warlock
Weapons	Shuriken Launcher	Fusion Gun	Shuriken Cannon, Reaper Launcher	Chainsword, Shuriken Pistol	(Not currently implemented)	Lasblaster, lots of grenades for grenade-bombing	Power Sword
Abilities	Capture Objectives			Invisibility, Capture Objectives (visible only)		Glide	Healing Spell, Jynx (Debuff), Protect (AOE Shield), Destructor (Lightning)

• • Elites: Wraithguards and Outcast Rangers
  • Heroes: Autarchs (Probably Farseers but not confirmed)

Tyranids

While Tyranids are confirmed to be in the game, they will not be playable. Instead, they will be an NPC faction, providing enemies for PvE content in underground "Hives", which act as wave defense maps, and acting as a counterbalance to ensure that no one faction remains overwhelmingly dominant over the others by attacking random regions, and so attacking the most powerful factions the most. Using tyranids to maintain the status quo... Now where have I seen that before?

• Creatures:
  • Small: Hormagaunts, Termagaunts
  • Medium: Warriors
  • Large: Carnifexes

Possible Future Races

The developers have said that they would like to add all races over time, assuming the game is successful enough. Here is a list of non-launch races that have been mentioned by the devs. Feel free to add to this if you've heard any other tidbits.

Dark Eldar

Unconfirmed, but implied in a newsletter.

Tau

Were noted in an interview by Miguel Caron as being one of the three most requested races, at the time of the interview. Watching the devs try to justify the Tau appearing is going to be fun to watch, since the game takes place clear on the other side of the galaxy.

Adepta Sororitas

Were noted in the same interview as being one of the three most requested races. Were also referenced by Creative Director David Ghozland as being on the post-launch list via twitter.

Necrons

Were also one of the three most requested races.

Setting

Notice the planet Simahgr. Take out the 'h' and re-arrange it, and then it spells out as "Sigmar"... clever eh?

Now anyone who has knowledge of Warhammer 40,000 obviously knows the setting. However, the games events will be taking place on the Kharon System, located in the northern part of the Segmentum Obscurus. One of the devs said in an interview that it will follow a planet wide contest for a single undisclosed planet, known as Arkhona, and the events that happen from this game will become canon, but the details are yet to be released. The planet in question is somewhere in the Segmentum Obscurus and was once an effective Imperial settlement, but due to the planets volatile nature, no great foothold could be gained on the planet other than small outposts. The planet was also once inhabited by an alien race, that supposedly was exterminated during the Great Crusade. Now, Tyranids are appearing out of absolutely nowhere, killing everyone left on the planet, apparently coming from the underground of the planet like they had been hibernating there. Weird.

All this calls the playable races to action for different, yet to be revealed reasons, and are now to duke it out on the surface of the planet while the Tyranids eat everything. Lovely.

Arkhona is actually just the primary planet in a system, one that has three different colored suns, for some reason, and with ten planets or moons of playable size, so obviously down the line there will be downloadable content where you start fighting on a new planet.

Arkhona, fifth planet from the three suns, hopefully far enough to not fucking melt in the daylight.

Monetization

Eternal Crusade is partially free-to-play. Without paying, players can access the game but are limited to Ork Boyz, who cannot advance beyond a certain degree. Those who buy the game have access to all factions and full advancement. There is no monthly subscription, however a cash shop is planned. While Miguel Carron mentioned he will have Pay 2 Win "over [his] dead body", players will be able to pay for gear that is about 20% weaker to equivalent gear that can be found through playing the game normally, as well as cosmetics which do not affect gameplay. But apparently multiple classes and vehicles will be available only through the founder's program, so everybody's a little confused about whether this "sidegrades" concept is true, a stealth cover a Land Raider's worth of pay-to-win bullshit, or something in between. It's too early to tell now, but news regarding additional advantages for players who subscribed to the Founder's Program, the repeated silencing of dissent on the game's forums, and the fact that several major contributors to the game have all left Behavior with little to no explanation (some theorize it might be downsizing or worse) is leading many to assume that the end result will be a far cry from what was originally announced. Assuming it too doesn't go the way of Dark Millennium, that is- a fate that only seems more likely as time passes with little to show for it. Though considering the game has opened a closed Alpha state, it will not be going the way of Dark Millennium, however if it becomes a success is yet to be seen.

Game Features

Read more about the game here

The game will be mostly PvP, happening on multiple continents, with campaigns lasting from a week to unconfirmed, with the actual campaign goals set by a player controlled War Council. When the campaign is over you either win or fucking lose (tears) and move onto the next campaign, with new planets perhaps coming later. Tyranids are NPCs and will be used in part to keep things a little bit balanced if player faction numbers are too unequal or one faction is dominating for other reasons. They will also constitute the PvE content, probably all of it. In short:

• PVP oriented with splashes of PVE
• Tyranids are the PVE and are as such not playable. They work perfectly for PvE, and you couldn't balance them properly. Tyranid Warrior >> Space Marine >> Termagaunt.
• Combat is visceral/skill based over-the-shoulder dakka/melee, much like Space Marine.
• Vehicles. Currently in the alpha are Predators, Vindicators and Rhinos for both marines, and Wave Serpents, Falcons, and Warp Hunters for eldar. Land speeder type craft are on the table, but not confirmed as of yet. Bikes are guranteed.
• The devs are also regularly interacting with the fans. Which is pretty much unheard of. Ask some fucking questions.
• Players will all get their own space ship which acts as player housing, that you can decorate as you like. Guilds can combine their ships together for larger housing and more options (like guild banking)
• Class customization: Assaults can trade their jump packs in for extra armor or a shield (confirmed), healer classes may potentially (not yet confirmed) be able to become support/engineer classes, as in Mekboy with a Kustum Force Field or whathaveyou.
• Day/Night cycle
• Weather, which will affect combat
• Friendly fire (Now working on the punishment system)
• Dreads, if they figure out how to implement it
• Perils of the Warp, which as of the streams have been foretold to work like the 'Gears of War' active reload
• Red ones go Fasta
• Executions which give bonus XP when performed and prevent a downed enemy from being revived, but leave the player vulnerable during the execution animation. (Going through a testing phase right now where they happen at double speed)
• Bleed-out/Revive system stolen from Gears of War, with the option to bleed faster (nominally for avoiding executions, but mostly for respawning faster)
• Cover system with crouching and vaulting.
• Classes that use jump-packs can wall jump.
• No P2W, devs are vehemently against buying power.
  • Some gear can be bought, but it will be of inferior maximum potential compared to gear earned through in-game methods or otherwise not a true upgrade.
• Miguel has a weird thing about Ork butts, as in two interviews he's described Ork butts and executions in the same sentence.
• There's been some talk about "multiplayer narrative", which basically means that there are several 'War Councils' (leaders of the factions as chosen by the players in those factions), who will be able to create objectives and put in-game resources towards specific goals and warzones as they see fit, therefore, when you enter the game, you could do the objectives assigned by the WC, do one of the slightly more generic, but ultimately "for the cause" daily/weekly/month objectives that the game will generate, or go of with your buddies and stomp 'nids. All of which ultimately help your faction. I suppose you could always charge of a do whatever the hell you want to, that is always good (Especially FreeToWAAAGH Ork Boys are expected to do this, as they are freelancers without Klans for the most, which frankly is goddamn fluffy).
• Playable Elite and Hero characters (with a few minutes to a day's worth of cool down. Some of these are gonna smack some heads in).
• Sonic blasters (no stock Noise Marine class; whether there will be a build-your-own is to be seen).

See also

• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
• Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millenium, which was canceled then un-canceled then turned into Eternal Crusade

Links

• Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade
• Meet the Team Video Notice how the opening looks strangely familiar.
• An interview with the developers, lots of information.
• Official Forum
• Meet the Team 2 This video shows some very early game footage.
• Full Pre-Alpha Footage Gameplay
• Wars of Arkhona Official Trailer

Gallery

• 

  "We go where we wilt, we slay who we wilt. Let the Emperor judge the righteousness of our deeds!"

• 

  "In the name of the Dark Gods, we will bring down the rotting edifice that is the Imperium!"

• 

  "I reckon these humies are just puny soft gits who need a good stompin!"

• 

  "How foolish they seem to our eyes. Once, all this was ours, and it will come back to us!"

• 

  Where Ultramarines: The Movie had bolters that looked too big, this promotional artwork of the Tyranid reveal has bolters that look too small.