Battlefleet Gothic: Armada

 PC
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 36 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 36
  3. Negative: 0 out of 36
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  1. GameGrin
    Apr 30, 2016
    90
    At once gorgeous, accessible, true to the lore and entirely engrossing, there hasn’t been as emphatic a tribute to the universe of Warhammer 40,000 since Dawn of War. Warhammer fans will love it and space RTS bods will enjoy its complexity and depth of tactics. Battlefleet Gothic is a game the God-Emperor Himself would be proud of.
  2. CGMagazine
    Apr 21, 2016
    90
    Armada is tactical, unforgiving and at times difficult, but incredibly fun and gives a great feeling of victory when things go your way. It's a side of 40K that I don't see explored that often, and it does so in an incredibly astonishing way.
  3. PLAY! Zine
    Apr 21, 2016
    90
    BGA is a great strategy and even better Warhammer 40K game. Its difficulty might scare away some players, but details on ships and impeccable voice acting will thrill the die-hard fans of the universe. This is a game that is truly blessed by The Emperor.
  5. Everyeye.it
    May 29, 2016
    88
    Battlefleet Gothic: Armada lets the player dispose of tens of thousands people at a time in battle, and the micro-management is no less complex. It appears as an excellent digital transposition of the original boardgame, and it also represents a great first test for the newborn development studio – Tindalos Interactive.
  6. Hobby Consolas
    Apr 22, 2016
    88
    Battlefleet Gothic Armada is a superb example of a perfect RTS with a unique gothic universe, some technical issues with the graphics card are the worst aspect of this great game.
  7. CD-Action
    Jun 29, 2016
    85
    It’s not just the best game set in Warhammer 40,000 universe we’ve seen in years, but also the best modern space strategy. I need to warn you though – it is brutally difficult. [06/2016, p.48]
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  8. GameWatcher
    Apr 28, 2016
    85
    With a multiplayer that has as much nuance and depth as each ship you can manage, Armada is well worth your time if you’re a fan of the 40K universe.
  9. Game Debate
    Apr 27, 2016
    85
    By and large, Battle: Fleet Gothic Armada is a great game, and another one of the nice surprises that can occasionally emerge from Games Workshop's plan for world domination.
  10. Critical Hit
    Apr 21, 2016
    85
    Slight frustrations aside, I’ve really enjoyed Battlefleet Gothic: Armada. It’s a fantastic micromanagement heavy “naval” skirmish game that drips with the Warhammer 40k flavor. It’s always great to see a genuinely good Warhammer game, particularly a 40k one, that’s not something of a throwaway these days.
  11. GameStar
    Apr 25, 2016
    83
    Despite some problems with game balance and mission design, this is the best Warhammer game since Dawn of War 2: Retribution.
  12. Pelit (Finland)
    Jun 14, 2016
    81
    Battlefleet: Gothic Armada has a cumbersome UI but otherwise it feels like an excellent digital transformation of the original board game. [June/July 2016]
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  13. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jun 20, 2016
    80
    Successful realtime strategy game in which you will learn how to lose. Despite a few flaws it offers great entertainment and lots of activities for space tactics. [Issue#264]
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  14. Gaming Nexus
    Jun 10, 2016
    80
    Battlefleet Gothic: Armada is not your typical space strategy game. It's a fun violent strategy game focused on space combat rather than micromanaging an empire.
  15. Ragequit.gr
    May 27, 2016
    80
    Tindalos Interactive’s capital ship combat RTS provides a mix of deep, tactical gameplay and epic Warhammer 40K atmosphere. It misses on a “classic” status because of repetition in mission types and maps during the game’s lengthy campaign but it is still highly recommended for fans of the genre.
  16. Eurogamer Poland
    May 11, 2016
    80
    Battlefleet Gothic: Armada is an interesting proposition, worth recommending for gamers interested in complicated strategy, with quick reflexes and divided attention. It's also a beautiful adaptation, perfectly conveying the atmosphere of Warhammer 40,000.
  17. DarkZero
    May 3, 2016
    80
    But for those prepared to deal with the learning curve, micromanagement and single-player focus – and especially for anyone who loves the tabletop game – Armada is well worth your time.
  18. Gameplanet
    Apr 26, 2016
    80
    Battlefleet Gothic: Armada is a beautiful game that’s flawed but brilliant. Occasionally obtuse but always entertaining, it’s a wonderfully unique way to experience the Warhammer 40k universe.
  19. 3DJuegos
    Apr 25, 2016
    80
    If you want to be an admiral of colossal starships in the Warhammer 40.000 universe Battlefleet Gothic: Armada is your game. It's an epic, challenging and exciting adventure, especially in its multiplayer battles 2 vs 2.
  20. The Games Machine
    Apr 21, 2016
    80
    The developers of Battlefleet Gothic: Armada openly wanted to create a videogame with a feeling as close as possible to the original board game, and to that extent, their goal is achieved. The single player campaign feesl a little bit repetitive from time to time, but overall, fans of strategy games and Warhammer 40.000 will be more than pleased.
  21. PC Gamer
    Apr 21, 2016
    80
    A tubthumping tribute to the 40K universe, with perfectly grim design. Multiplayer definitely needs work on its balance though.
  22. IGN Spain
    Apr 21, 2016
    77
    Battlefleet Gothic Armada is a deep strategic game but maybe some of that depth should have been used in explaining to the player how to play it. Not for everybody.
  23. GameOver.gr
    Jun 8, 2016
    75
    Battlefleet: Gothic Armada is as epic as its grandiose name in terms of design and gameplay scope. Be prepared for an especially challenging and rewarding RTS experience. Also be prepared for extreme micromanagement, an unfriendly UI and inconsistent difficulty spikes.
  24. IGN Denmark
    Apr 21, 2016
    75
    Filled with grotesque Warhammer 40,000 aesthetics and complex tactical space battles as expected. The steep learning curve and the absence of three of the game's four races of the campaign at launch, however, makes us hope that Tindalos Interactive will continue to expand the game in the near future.
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  1. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Apr 22, 2016
    More than anything, it’s left me with a wide grin and itchy fingers, and as soon as I’m done here I’ll be jumping right back into the game.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 128 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 85 out of 128
  2. Mixed: 25 out of 128
  3. Negative: 18 out of 128
  1. RaygunCourtesan
    Apr 25, 2016
    0
    Battlefleet Gothic: Armada - The game of epic naval strategy (in space) that is none of those things.

    Is it epic? No. The game limits    Battlefleet Gothic: Armada - The game of epic naval strategy (in space) that is none of those things.

    Is it epic? No.

    The game limits you to a handful of ships (usually 3-4) which is both tremendously underwhelming if you were looking forward to commanding you know...an armada, and necessitates (or is perhaps a consequence of? Which came first, the dead duck pretending to be a chicken, or the rotten egg?) the other aspects of the game.

    Is it naval? No.

    BFG was always a naval combat game given a space skin. That's why it was always 2D and the rules never dealt with issues like persistence of momentum in a vacuum. That's a good thing, suspend disbelief and it helps keep the game simple and accessible.

    Unfortunately the units in BFG do not behave anything like ships. Sail powered, motorised or space. They're more like rally cars with very poor tire grip.

    Ships do not move in a deliberate fashion, instead every vessel from the smallest gunboat to the largest battleship wheels, skids and turns on a dime in fractions of a second. It sort of defeats the point of having things like weapon facings or positioning at all.

    Is it strategic? No.

    The consequence of having very few units to control and allowing them virtually complete freedom to re-orient at a moment's notice means that there is no room for strategy or planning. The best laid plans can be undone at a moment's notice and setting up ambushes or positioning for running broadsides is actually rendered a detriment.

    The emergency manuever mechanic will take up the bulk of your gametime. The depleting and constantly replenishing power bar is generous enough to repeated instant 180 degree turns on even the biggest ships and once finally exhausted, it replenishes in mere seconds.

    The remainder of your time will be spent managing cooldowns. And oh my, does this game have cooldowns. It heard you liked cooldowns, so it assigned cooldowns for your cooldowns, so you could manage cooldowns while you wait for your cooldowns.

    Did I mention cooldowns? They're a thing.

    There's a cooldown to make your shooting better (on every ship). A cooldown to take damage better (on every ship). There's even a cooldown to reduce your cooldowns! (and yes, its on every ship!). Why these are necessary at all is beyond me. Since its essential to use them constantly they'd be much better off being rolled into the base stats ("But then what buttons will people press?!?!".

    This is before you even get into the plethora of active abilities that actually deserve their own special buttons. Firing a torpedo spread is a tactical decision and ought to be left up to the player (ironically this is the one instance where the auto-cast actually does an okay job of managing it for you). Unfortunately, most of these tactical weapons are completed wasted due to the scale of the game. There are no battle lines to break up, no target rich areas to saturate. Just three enemy ships pirouetting about like mechanical ballet dancers who you'll never hit at anything but point blank range.

    And then we enter the much anticipated veterancy system. Rather than using this to allow ships to do what they did before, but be better at it, the game has opted to add...MORE COOLDOWNS! There're a small number of passive veteran abilities but only two or three will be useful on any one ship. And then you're forced to purchase yet more special buttons. Special buttons to regenerate your shields (could've been passive, or conditional and auto-cast) special buttons to make yourself invincible. Special buttons to throw out yet MORE inaccurate AOE effects that would've been excellent choices in a game of epic naval combat, but are completely wasted in this badly conceived skirmish game.

    In many respects its repeating the errors that plagued Rome 2 - nobody wants micro in a strategy game. They want to control a huge army/fleet and direct the flow of battle, not babysit count downs. While Total War had enough of a pedigree to realise their mistake (while of course denying they made one) and quietly removed virtually all of the button mashing from the game,

    Tl;dr - Its a skirmish game stuck in micro-hell. There's no room for strategy, you'll be too busy performing handbreak turns and spamming CD's to actually notice much less direct the battle. You react to this game, you don't take an active hand in it.

    If you're looking for a new MOBA this could be entertaining if you can find big enough team games to actually cobble together a half-respectable fleet on both sides. There is doubtless a lot to appeal to the MOBA fan here - cooldown management is essential, combat is a second-by-second affair about managing a power bar.

    If however you were hoping for the epic game of naval strategy they promised...this is not it. What's so frustrating is that it easily could have been. Why they decided to go this route with it is something i'll never understand but I don't plan to waste any more time trying to find out.    … Full Review »
  2. Veska
    Apr 21, 2016
    8
    Really amazing tactic RTS game. It isnt normal RTS just like AoE II etc. No, it is "board" game, that you can play on pc. And it would beReally amazing tactic RTS game. It isnt normal RTS just like AoE II etc. No, it is "board" game, that you can play on pc. And it would be maybe the best Warhammer 40k game, that i played. Really. I love series DoW etc, but this? This is game, that we want. Really nice graphic, every detail on ships. Four amazing races just like Orcs, Elders, Chaos and Empire. And every races have different played style. If you played board game Battlefleet Armada, you must like this game.

    Lookin' down, da' barrel of a gun,
    Gruntin' at each 'uvver
    Frough big sharp teeth,
    sayin' "dis one'll give us some fuuuun"

    Filthy Orks on a humies ship, killin' anything that isn't greeen
    Gruntin' at each 'uvver!
    Frough big sharp teeth,
    sayin' "Times are getting leean!"

    One lone Ork left ta steal da loot, wishin' it hadn't turned out sooo
    Frough big sharp teeth
    Sayin' "I shoulda let the pi-lot goooooo!

    Gruntin at each uvver,
    Frough big sharp teeth
    Sayin' "I was da' un' who saw it first!"

    WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!    … Full Review »
  3. ZaPaAl
    Jul 14, 2016
    6
    The scenery, the ships, atmosphere and voices are great. Gameplay is fun at first.
    Sadly, the story is thin and often not really presented,    The scenery, the ships, atmosphere and voices are great. Gameplay is fun at first.
    Sadly, the story is thin and often not really presented, just some text and voice.
    Campaign has around 31-33 stages with about 2-4 turns (battles) each. You can more or less choose which battle to play, but almost every battle is one out of a total pool of about 5-6 mission types. Only the ships and numbers change. The battles are fun, but the fun very soon starts dwindling away with that much repetition. Not much to do otherwise, except choosing and upgrading ships with minor differences and adjustments.
    Although I only played single player, I don't think multiplayer is very much different.    … Full Review »
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