If you like novels and choose-your-own-adventures then this is definitely your game. It's a bit hard to read at first and it definitely helps to have knowledge of the Warhammer Universe because in the first 15 minutes of the game, you're introduced to Terminators, Space Hulks, Strike Cruisers, Epistolaries, Tech-Adepts, the Warp, teleportariums, genestealers, gretchinz, lightning claws and all manner of various Warhammery things. The basis of the game is you are Brother Nabor of the Imperial Fists Chapter and you are a Space Marine. More specifically, you're part of a squad of Space Marines tasked with exploring a Space Hulk that has just been "vomited" out of the warp. Be careful though, the wrong choice can lead to you dying very quickly as the Warhammer Universe is rather unforgiving. There is combat in the game but from what I've experienced so far, it's rather shallow. You can choose a target, attack, and focus but seemingly not much else. You have wounds which indicate your health, honour which can be built up to unleash a powerful attack, sort of like a rage meter or something and everything is done on a pretty simple green grid. The models are actually pretty good looking but it all looks like simple telemetry. This game could've done well to have just a bit more art in it, I would think. The music, despite being only one track, is nice and creepy, just as a game involving a Space Hulk should be!

Being a mobile port, I can already tell there are a few issues when attempting to select things, like the difficulty for example but hopefully that'll be ironed out in time. As I discover more, I'll be sure to update this review. As it stands, this reads very interestingly and I find myself wanting to know what happens next. If you like text-based adventures then this is definitely a worthwhile game, otherwise keep waiting for Dawn of War III.

Gameplay Footage (me getting way too into the narration and also explaining somethings about Warhammer as I go):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LII7Q9Qtsmw

Like the undying pilot of a battle-worn Dreadnought, Warhammer 40,000 stomps around the Steam store groaning in agony and begging to be released from its mechanical servitude. And much like any Dreadnought, we don't want it to die but we don't want it to be pained any further. Legacy of Dorn: Herald of Oblivion isn't the blessing of the Emperor that it needs to soothe its exploitation from the warp-addled minds of Games Worskhop, but it's certainly greased the intellectual property's joints.

Infusing themselves with the Terminator armour of an Imperial Fist, players join their battle-brothers to cleanse the ancient space hulk "Herald of Oblivion" of xeno filth, be they necron, dark eldar, ork or tyrannid, it all depends on which paths you choose and when you walk them. Because Legacy of Dorn is a choose-your-own-adventure game, your interface with the game is minimal - you'll read blocks of very descriptive text, and then choose one of multiple actions. The limited number of save states, and needing have a certain amount of purity for some actions makes things all the more interesting, and encourages replay value so you can see what you'd missed in previous playthroughs. From the start you'll be seperated from your crew, so you'll notice how differently each playthrough is from the get-go by choosing a different path. It also helps that randomness is kept only to 'wheel of fate' rounds and fights (the former particularly rare), so the more you play the better you can plan. Eventually you'll know who to rescue in which order, and what wargear will be necessary to get better results. However you can expect that to take a fair few hours and at least one playthrough where you reach one of the multiple endings.

The game's combat is as simple as it gets, bearing similarity to Enchanted Arms and Phantasy Star games in that how close/far away from a target determines your chance to hit and be hit. Both ranged and melee combat function in similar ways, where you have a percentage to hit and can use focus to increase your chance to hit, as well as reduce an enemy's damage done to you for that turn. It's primitive to say the least, especially when on medium difficulty you can Focus-Attack-Focus (a move that costs 3 action points, and makes you virtually invulnerable), but with some tweaks to weapons so that they *feel* different to one-another I'd find it rather enjoyable.

Legacy of Dorn's visuals are..... interesting, despite being almost nonexistent. It's a text game that has the retro-futuristic look of the Imperium technology; the game's dominated by emerald-green screens and lime text, and the battles take place on a black and green grid. And yet this is one of the best visual styles I've seen for Warhammer, because the game's writing paints a much more evocative image of what it must be like to be on a Space Hulk than.... well, even Space Hulk. As for its music, it's nothing special - bleak chimes and horns make up most of the soundtrack, and I fail to be inspired by the battle music. There's also no audio options to have the game read the text back to you, and given how good Warhammer voice acting's been in the past, it's a shame not to have it here where the lines are superb.

In conclusion, Legacy of Dorn: Herald of Oblivion's a damned fine game, but it makes the same mistakes as other Warhammer 40k games that may cause you to roll your eyes and look elsewhere. The Space Marines (albeit a different chapter) are the protagonists, and as per usual other armies are given little room in the spotlight. It's unfortunate given how well it describes the lore, and makes you feel proud to have purchased codexes entirely for the fluff material (or am I the only one who does that?).

I rate this game a Teleportarium out of a Your Adventure has come to an End.

Need a second opinion? Watch my video review! WARNING: Contains overly long intro that's loosely based on Warhammer 40,000:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3UdOIvYDm0

As an oldschool RPG player who plays tabletop, I've loved Gamebooks for a long time. Gamebooks are awesome, they allow you to play a quick game of whatever roleplaying system catches your fancy by yourself because you self-moderate and obey the rules and story in the book. Good stuff. This game is a gamebook, and I've been told it's a port of a mobile game (not that I care). So as someone who loves gamebooks, I'm a bit disappointed with this particular gamebook.

Herald of Oblivion places you in the role of a Space Marine of the Imperial Fist chapter. Throughout the adventure you're going to be rolling dice a lot, and there's two outcomes to the dice. Skulls which are fails, and Fists which are successes. The problem is, how successful your campaign will be relies entirely on those dice. This is the exact opposite of how a traditional gamebook works. The way it's supposed to work is you roll the dice, the dice result in an encounter, an uneventful journey, something good, something bad, etc. You know what traditional gamebooks don't do? Place instant death outcomes behind die rolls. Typically they allow you to make a bad decision that you know will have repercussions that may result in a game over, and then you roll for success just to see if you made it or not.

Right from the get go, you roll dice before you even begin, these dice will determine if you have a good or a bad start. Using savestates (of which you get limited amounts) at a die roll is probably going to be the standard for you. You will pick up the Apothecary's Narthecium pretty early on, which can be used to heal yourself as well as to perform surgical removal of your battle brother's gene-seeds. Now on to the next topic of criticism. Purity. You start with a purity of 10 (20 if you're on a lower difficulty) and your actions determine if your purity rises or falls. It's really easy to lose purity, but can be fairly difficult to gain purity. If your purity is too low you will automatically die in some situations, otherwise you will automatically succeed/live in some situations.

Because the whole game is an exercise in random chance, following a strict set of rules to keep yourself from instant death mechanics, and the good ending requires something that you could easily miss resulting in an entirely wasted good run, I would not recommend this gamebook. Thumb me down, I don't care, this book was poorly thought out and would need a complete overhaul to make it better. There's a huge difference between rolling dice to determine an encounter, and rolling dice to determine if you automatically die.

Short but fun w/ the sort of haunting music you'd expect right before you died horribly inside a space hulk. Strong recommendation for any WH40k fan or anyone missing the old Choose Your Own Adventure books.

You have been chosen to enter a dark and forgotten place, and, protected by the best armour the Adeptus Mechanicus can provide, cleanse it. Take with you: weapons, a valiant heart, and the Emperor's blessing, and engage the enemy where it makes its lair. Acknowledge death as it approaches, but do not succumb to its touch, for your purpose is great. You have proved yourself to be worthy of the status you now hold. I charge you now, go forth and vanquish the foe.

Do not fail your brothers.

There is no enemy. The foe on the battlefield is merely the manifestation of that which we must overcome. He is doubt, and fear, and despair. Every battle is fought within. Conquer the battlefield that lies inside you, and the enemy disappears like the illusion he is.

The honour of our Chapter hangs in the balance, brothers. Failure is not an option.

Look within yourselves, brothers, and you will understand. You have been waiting for this day, even if you did not know it. This day, when you are reminded of who you are. We are one great legion, one heart and one mind! We are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, the war gods and terrible swift sword of our Emperor! We are His will, and we have always been so!

While a great game, this unfortunately in my opinion doesn't follow true to how a space marine would react in all the situations given.
I love the way it plays, and will take a few playthroughs to get everything right, I'm sure!
I think it certainly helps that I'm no stranger to WH40K during this game, but it does a great job of explaining the myriad objects and creatures that make this universe unique, so as to aid someone new in the WH40K universe.
All in all, a great buy!

If you dont mind reading then this is a great game. Your decisions matter and the content seems cannon from what I have seen. The game's combat is unique but you should have guessed.

Most of this game is reading but it is awesome, I hate reading normally but the reading in the game is easy and simple. It explains everything so that someone with no time in the Warhammer universe can understand what is going on while if you do know you get tingles down your spine as you try to guess what happens next.

DO NOT buy this game for combat, it is stiff. The main draw for this game is the choices you make during the text portions.

This game is an easy read and the choices you make will leave you realing with excitement.

Musthave for a warhammer fan - very atmospheric and has a true spirit of grimdark! Give it a couple of blind tries, get familiar with outcomes and game mechanics, then go read walkthrough and defeat the game for the Emperor!

It's... a text game. I'm not sure what else you could expect from these 'gamebook' games.

That being said, it's honestly a solid, enjoyable experience for the cost of a new ebook or softcover. You won't exactly get much out of the setting or story if you aren't already a fan of Warhammer 40k and it won't sell you on the 'gamebook' genre if you aren't already into them, but it will satisfy someone craving a merger of the two.

It's probably better as a mobile game though, needs to be said.

More in-depth review here: https://youtu.be/YBEbcHtC15w

Sorry if you missed it son