Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire Edition
- April 21, 2020
- Tin Man Games
- 16h median play time
Get on Steam"Warhammer Underworlds – Shadespire Edition" is a digital adaptation of the turn-based strategy tabletop game from Games Workshop. The game includes all warbands and cosmetic DLC, with unique abilities and distinct combat styles for each. Play online matches, bot matches, or single-player challenges with fourteen warbands, such as Steelheart’s Champions, Magore's Fiends, and Garrek’s Reavers. Note: The character count is based on the summary text only, excluding the quotation marks, steam ID, and developer/publisher information.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Faithful adaptation of the tabletop game, capturing its mechanics and strategic depth.
- Regular updates and active developer engagement with the community, addressing bugs and adding content.
- Great way to learn the game and practice strategies without needing to gather physical components.
- Clunky user interface that can be confusing and lacks intuitive navigation.
- Limited content at launch, with only a few warbands and cards available, leading to a repetitive experience.
- Performance issues, including slow gameplay and bugs that disrupt the gaming experience.
- gameplay162 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The gameplay of this adaptation of Warhammer Underworlds is generally seen as a faithful representation of the tabletop version, offering strategic depth and tactical gameplay, though it can be slow and clunky at times. While the mechanics are solid and provide a good learning experience for newcomers, some players find the card system confusing and the overall pace of the game lacking. Despite occasional performance dips and bugs, many appreciate the graphics and the potential for meaningful tactical play, especially for those familiar with the original board game.
“It takes a couple of play-throughs to get used to the mechanics if you're unfamiliar with online deck-building games, but for someone who enjoys the tabletop game and wants to play it more often, it's a great way to do that!”
“Awesome gameplay, a faithful recreation of one of the deepest tabletop strategy games ever created.”
“The gameplay itself is fun and I love the tabletop version.”
“The gameplay is way too slow and not engaging.”
“As it stands, gameplay is a confusing mess.”
“Core game mechanics appear to be solid, but UI and turn mechanics need serious improvement for the game to be remotely playable.”
- graphics146 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 51 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the solid visuals and faithful recreation of the tabletop experience, while others criticize the busy interface, lack of graphical options, and performance issues. Many users express a desire for improved clarity and customization, noting that the graphics can appear grainy or cluttered, detracting from gameplay. Overall, while the graphics are generally considered decent for a low-cost game, there is a consensus that enhancements are needed to elevate the visual experience.
“Deep strategy, stunning yet elegantly simple visuals.”
“A faithful recreation of the tabletop game with fantastic visuals.”
“They've captured the spirit of the game with solid graphics that won't tax old machines too much, but are still fun to look at.”
“The graphics are pretty grainy even on the highest settings, and the UI is a bit sluggish as well.”
“The board looks very cluttered, and there are graphical effects when certain cards are used that make it really hard to actually see the board.”
“I have more than the recommended settings and everything lags and glitches, even the soundtrack. Changing the game graphics doesn't improve anything... it makes this game impossible to play.”
- stability52 mentions
- 4 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 96 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a significant concern, with many users reporting persistent bugs, UI glitches, and performance issues that hinder gameplay. While some players note improvements and regular updates from developers, the overall experience remains marred by frequent crashes, unresponsive controls, and unbalanced mechanics. Despite its potential, many feel the game is still in an unfinished state, making it frustrating to play.
“It looks and runs great for me.”
“However, it is so buggy that I have been unable to complete half my games.”
“The game has great potential, but at this state it is unfinished, buggy, and not too pretty to look at.”
“It is clunky, freezes constantly, and numerous cards don't work as intended.”
- optimization26 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 31 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization has received significant criticism, with many players reporting poor performance, low framerates, and noticeable stuttering, even on high-end systems. While some users noted that occasional performance dips did not severely impact gameplay, the general consensus is that the game feels clunky and unoptimized, with a need for substantial improvements before it can be considered polished. Additionally, issues with the user interface and graphics further detract from the overall experience.
“The interface is a tad clunky, and the game could use some optimization, but other than that it looks great.”
“The performance can have an occasional dip, but overall the stutters never caused any trouble in the gameplay.”
“I like what I'm seeing so far, but this still has a lot of issues related to performance and velocity of the game; please focus a lot on performance because it's quite annoying to wait after you do an action and feel it's really slow for everything.”
“After playing the release version, I was disappointed. The game was clunky, unoptimized, and it didn't really look good.”
“The optimization is awful, low framerate and enormous screen tearing - which should be impossible with a simple game like this.”
“The game is also a resource hog and the graphics aren't optimized very well.”
- music26 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The music in the game has been widely criticized for its lack of variety and engagement, with many players noting that it consists mainly of a single ambient track and minimal sound effects, leading to a feeling of emptiness. Reviewers expressed a desire for more dynamic and immersive audio elements, such as voice acting and varied music, to enhance the overall experience, especially given the game's slow pace. Overall, the sound design is seen as a missed opportunity that detracts from the game's potential enjoyment.
“But the graphics are good, and the animation of units is good enough (but you can improve it still)... music is nice.”
“Listening to music or something is a must when playing.”
“As the game is pretty slow-paced, I think more heroic and interesting sounds and music would make up for it.”
“No voice overs for tutorials, no music besides the one ambiance track and the main menu theme.”
“Music: there is none, only a humming ambient noise.”
“No background music really feels empty.”
- story18 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 22 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight a significant lack of a story mode and narrative progression in the game, with many players expressing a desire for a campaign that includes cooperative options and a fleshed-out background to enhance engagement. Users feel that the absence of a compelling story and character development detracts from the overall experience, making it less appealing, especially for those who prefer single-player content. Overall, the demand for a structured narrative and progression system is a recurring theme among players.
“It would be great to introduce some story mode missions where you move through the plot of the game, and it has to have a co-op option for at least 2 players; otherwise, if story mode does not support co-op multiplayer, it is not interesting for me personally (I have played too many single-player games in my life).”
“Add in some story to help flesh out the warbands.”
“Maybe if it had a story mode or something, I would put more time into it.”
“No single player campaign, no story, no progression of your warband or heroes.”
“We really need a background story/introduction so that players not familiar with Age of Sigmar will realize from the get-go what this is all about.”
- atmosphere18 mentions
- 44 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 22 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is generally praised for its spooky environments, moody lighting, and captivating graphics that effectively recreate the tabletop experience. However, some players feel that the immersion is hindered by a lack of sound effects during combat and a bare-bones presentation, suggesting that improvements in these areas could enhance the overall experience. Overall, while the atmosphere is considered strong, there are calls for further refinement to fully realize its potential.
“Fluff-wise, the game is bare-bones, but it has spooky environments, moody lighting, and cool models that look like animated versions of the minis they represent, so overall, very cool and atmospheric.”
“The interface is smooth, the graphics and atmosphere are captivating, and you can really tell that the development team listens to feedback from the community.”
“It pretty faithfully recreates the tabletop experience, with some atmospheric sounds and effects for good measure.”
“The atmosphere is pretty lackluster with just spooky sounds playing in the background.”
“Also when the characters on the board hit, it often makes no sound at all, which ruins the whole atmosphere for me. Combat sound is really important if you let the characters fight in front of you; very sad.”
“While the atmosphere of the Age of Sigmar world is definitely captured, my ability to tune the visuals a bit on my side would be a great quality of life improvement.”
- monetization16 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players viewing the DLC and skin purchases as necessary for revenue generation, while others criticize it as a cash grab, particularly due to the lack of value in the skins, which are often just recolors. There is a call for the game to adopt a free-to-play model with microtransactions to attract a larger player base, as current monetization practices may hinder its mainstream appeal. Overall, while the game is appreciated, its monetization approach is seen as needing improvement.
“The warband DLC monetization is warranted for revenue generation.”
“Monetization on skins is a good thing, but the skins themselves are not really worth buying as most of the time it's just a recolor, which in quite a few cases is just anticlimactic.”
“Hoping to see people pick it up as the game is really good, but I hope they're considering making it free to play with microtransactions, as nobody playing the game is kind of holding it back from mainstream appeal.”
“It's a standard cash grab Warhammer game and it's ugly!”
“Well get past our ads and sales promos to your game that GW obviously cares less about than sales.”
“Hoping to see people pick it up as the game is really good, but hope they're considering making it free to play with microtransactions as nobody playing the game is kind of holding it back from mainstream appeal.”
- replayability10 mentions
- 80 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game boasts excellent replayability due to its strategic hex grid design and the ongoing release of new warbands, which keeps gameplay fresh and engaging. However, concerns about balance among warbands could impact player retention if certain options become overpowered or underused. Overall, players appreciate the depth and variety that contribute to hours of enjoyable play.
“The small board game style hex grid enables some interesting maneuvers and decisions, meaning it has fantastic replayability. With more warbands being released periodically, this will only grow over time.”
“Underworlds is a great multi-layered strategy game that provides hours of replayability and is only getting better as more content becomes available.”
“Intense, rich, and sharp, great with infinite replayability.”
- humor6 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as "hilariously broken," with players finding amusement in glitches like characters maintaining their movement animations after minimal actions. However, this humor is often overshadowed by frustrations, such as opponents quitting after losing, which detracts from the overall experience.
“It is hilariously broken and should be taken off of the Steam market.”
“For instance, models keep their moving animation after taking a 1-tile move, which is hilarious but also annoying.”
“It's fine enough, but it's not funny to have an enemy lose one hero and quit a few times in a row.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players appreciate the grinding aspect of the game for its accessibility and value, as it eliminates the need for physical components and the associated hassles of traditional tabletop gaming. The absence of tedious rules disputes and the convenience of playing from home enhance the overall experience, making grinding feel less burdensome.
