Warhammer 40K: Mechanicus II serves up a turn-based PC demo

Just dropped onto Steam is the demo for Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II. Fans can get a sneak peek at the strategy title now.

The Mechanicus returns

Maybe (we’d say ‘definitely’) one of the less-famed names out of Games Workshop’s massive pantheon, the Adeptus Mechanicus is back for round two. The technologically-obsessed Imperial faction will return for more action in Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II, the sequel to 2018’s original.

From Kasedo Games and Bulwark Studios, the upcoming game will once again pit the Mechanicus against the Necrons. Two sides of the same coin? Maybe, but they make for pretty great adversaries too. Players will be able to dig into the full game some time soon, hopefully before the end of the year. But before we get to that retail release, there’s a demo to try.

Just launched for Steam on the PC, this early look explores the game’s prologue. It sounds pretty wide-ranging too, allowing for play as both the title group and the aforementioned Necrons. So if you’re a fan of either, you might want to grab it and give it a play.

Shutting down the Tomb World

As Warhammer 40,000 fans know well, the Necrons are kind of everywhere. An ancient race reborn in mechanical bodies, these xenos are a constant threat, as the worlds that they once held are numerous. Each one of those has the potential to be a so-called “tomb world” too, giving rise to a revenant army at the drop of an implant. Not a great prospect if you’re an imperial colonist of any sort.

It’s also the narrative that’s at play in Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II. Within the above demo, players will get to experience the first days of a tomb world’s reawakening, from both angles. As mentioned, that means playing as the Mechanicus and Necrons alike.

Kasedo Games says that players will get a pretty solid idea of what the full title will offer in the demo, starting with troop selection. Job one is assembling your forces, a task that is described as delivering a “vastly expanded selection of fighters” this time around.

Players who engaged with the first release in the series won’t get to feel all that comfortable either. According to the press release, there will be fresh “environmental mechanics” at play. And those will “require players to maneuver their forces like never before and play to their chosen faction’s strengths and weaknesses”. From the sound of it, that means that the Mechanicus will need to use cover in combat, while the Necrons will have to destroy it.

Again, there’s no final release date for Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II, but we expect to see it arrive for the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S some time soon(ish).