izigame.me

At a guess, I am about 75% finished with the campaign, so it's time to give this a review. If you are either a fan of turn based strategy games like X-Com, or the greater Warhammer 40k Universe, there's a good chance you're going to like parts of this game. To truly love it, you're probably going to need to be fans of both.
Chaos Gate improves upon some of X-Com's annoyances, and then abruptly adds several grating annoyances of it's own. One of the biggest complaints (at least of mine) with X-Com is the notorious 90% chance missed shots. Chaos Gate does away with that for the most part, and shows the damage you will inflict with each attack. There is a still a chance to miss certain ranged attacks if the enemy is behind full cover, or other unusual circumstances. Knowing if your enemy has an automatic chance to block a melee attack is something you the player have to factor into each turn's plan. I like the cover system, and later in the game there are weapons and skill that will help you damage enemies hiding in partial cover. The game also shines in environmental damage. There is an abundance of things that explode, or crash, or topple over onto the enemy. This is essential in the early game, and players that learn to use the environmental mechanics will have a much more enjoyable time. And then that enjoyment will be tempered by the RNG rogue-like events. My fully leveled apothecary was given a random quest to attain the paladin special class... and was killed. No combat, No decisions to be made beyond sending him on the quest, just a notification that he's gone. That hurt. I'm still bitter. The warp surges can also throw a wrench in your best laid plans. There are a few, like the witch one (damage to your marines for using their psyker abilities) that can be just brutal when you're under the gun.
Speaking of bitter, there's a lot of hate for the DLC. I enjoy it for what it is, but agree it made the game much more difficult. I did not purchase the DLC until I had my first Reaper down, and felt comfortable with the feel and tactics of the game. You can really feel the difference once those technophage missions kick in. My advice is the same as many others, do not enable the DLC until you are sure that you are ready for the challenge.
The difficulty overall is sloped. The early game is the hardest, especially if you aren't carefully planning. Injuries take a long time to heal until you build the appropriate facilities in your ship, and there are always other things you'll want to build first. It's easy to find yourself sending wounded marines into battle because you have exhausted your ranks. Something to consider though, later in the game, dead marines = extra ability points via the commune function. If you want to fully skill up a marine, it's going with to be with the blood of his brothers that fell before him. Mid game was most enjoyable for me. As you begin to get the skills that make a difference, some upgrade weapons and armor, and some support facilities built on your ship, there's more room for experimentation and riskier tactics. You will want to level all your marines as there will be times that events or injuries may put your "favorites" out of play for some time. You will want kitted out and skilled marines by the time you are tackling the Reapers.
Warhammer 40k fans will enjoy the overall storyline, callbacks and lore. The voice acting is pretty good, and most characters are good examples of the universe. Except Kai... some of his decisions do not fit the char or the story, and are just chuff to make trouble for the player. Overall, if you are a fan of the Grey Knights, you'll feel satisfied they were treated with the respect they deserve. If you've never heard of the Grey Knights before, this is good introduction to a very secretive group of psyker space marines.
I'm giving the game a thumbs up, and fully intend to finish it. I can see myself revisiting it again for a challenge with the higher difficulties or new DLC.