Why would anyone spend a small fortune on models, paint, and rule books when they could just fire up a PC game that gave them the same experience? Having never played the table top game myself, I won't attempt to make a direct comparison, but certainly Sanctus Reach comes closer than anything else seen before. No doubt Games Workshop is leery of letting a PC game exist which mimics the exact gameplay of their flagship product. While there have been many recent titles set in the Warhammer 40k universe, none have really come close to depicted the table top game itself. Speaking of getting into the fight, let's jump right into the meat of the game, the combat itself. Think chunks of wet meat being thrown against a wall. Blood gushes out of units with each hit, and Orks often explode into chunks of meat when killed, accompanied by appropriately gruesome splattering sound effects. The combat is also far bloodier than one might expect from Slitherine. While the units will spend most of their time standing around waiting for their turn to fight, they will look fantastic doing it. The units are highly detailed and smoothly animated, rivaling or besting those seen in screenshots for the upcoming Dawn of War 3. One thing is immediately apparent upon playing Sanctus Reach for the first time: this is, by a mile, the best looking 3D game that Slitherine has ever published.

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