This game rubbed me wrong the first time I played it, I was about to abandon it on mission 3, but after watching a guide explaining the mechanics it sounds like it might be better than first impression came off. It's a complicated game, it's just very different. And after about 30 hours in God am I glad I gave it a chance.
The biggest problem with this game is the first few missions into the campaign, (as well as the campaign itself) the way the campaign isn't really focused on your own squad of fighters is unfortunate. The game strongly suggests you play the campaign first (which is essentially a very, very long tutorial that lets you deviate quite a bit from what it's showing you) You will actually play different factions and explore a 'story' from multiple perspectives. After you complete the story driven game, you can actually go into that mode of play that lets you build and customize your own gang of fighters. (And this is the awesome part of the game, and I'm hooked)
That slow climb through the campaign gives it a strange feel of that of a TBT traditional RPG and that of something that very much is not.
The game also has some missions that have bomb timers you have to complete the mission by or infinite respawns of enemies if you don't complete objectives after so long so, that's tedious, and it does not do a good job explaining the mechanics or how to actually play. There are also a lot of menus and keys which make things worse.
Overall the campaign was okay it just felt lacking by not having much player customization, which is odd because the game does amazing with that (see later in this review for that) The campaign does however really have some amazing intro videos to each mission that drive the story along. And wow, it's worth watching alone on youtube. These videos are intense, violent and like the rest of the game have a lot of subtle detail in the lore and world of 40k and necromunda.
As for the TBT itself, it's weird. The turn sequence is One enemy then one friendly and each player can pick. The higher initiative player gets to go first (but neither player knows who the other is picking) this results in some chaotic play that can lead to various kinds of mistakes, disappointments, or surprises. Most fights eventually involve more than two gangs at a time so it's very dicey. When you select the player you can't see their stats, skills or equipment so this can be a real grievance until you really know the game well (or your units well)
Finally, there aren't any saves. You win the mission or you lose. You can save and quit, but that's it. No scumming 'round in these parts.
Still, it's a neat strategy game and has really cool cutscenes, design, music and is very violent. It really captures this gritty cyberpunk/post-apoc industrial aesthetic incredibly well and in a way that doesn't feel tired and same. It's very lore-heavy an makes things interesting. The maps are stylish and functional and well done. They are also unique because they are so vertically oriented (which is what made this old tabletop game so unique) I've played a lot of turn based strategy games and i was expecting something more tried and true but this is different enough so i'll give it some credit there. I would recommend it if you like learning games like this that require some initiate on your part to learn and enjoy the challenge of gaming their mechanic systems (Temple of Elemental Evil, Diablo 2, Divinity, etc) The levelling and stat is very RPG like and complex. There is a ton of ways to customize the models looks and paint one by one (more than i've yet to see in any games workshop game)
All in all it has flaws but it provides a lot of time to sink into something if you like the idea of creating your dark gritty cyberpunk gang hiding out in the bottom of the biggest arcology of the planet in the year 40,000. There aren't too many games like this in style or in the route-focus that it takes (which is that of the campaign) It's also a very good translation into a video game from a board game (i've played quite a bit of the original 1995 tabletop and it's surprising just how much they translated or adapted into this) It really does feel like a tabletop game and I'm tempted to say it's GW's best game yet as it is unique, it's replayable, and it feels like a proper conversion of a game to pc in a way that isn't crap and feels true to the game it came from.
Some of these maps its just jaw dropping to look up (or down) and realize you are i kind of dyson ring like arcology. Or you come across a map that is an ancient derelict factory, repurposed into something else over time... It's a weird Fallout kind of vibe. Necromunda is such a unique place. The skies in this game and scenes as you explore the maps in 'free roam' mode are really full of eye candy and lots of little details. Hopefully there will be more games and that they are better ones that a wider audience of people can appreciate.