Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader Review

Owlcat Games has an impressive resume, but Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is an interesting beast. It’s easy to imagine that if someone already has experience with this kind of game, they will have a lot to love here. However, it’s clearly designed to explore systems in a way that feels true to its RPGs, it’s a bit harder to recommend. Don’t count that as an indictment, though, because what’s here is pretty great

The biggest thing to know before starting your adventure with Rogue Trader is that it’s very involved. Even from the beginning, when tutorials layer the screen like early noughties pop-up ads, it’s clear that this game expects you to get on board with a lot of systems and concepts. The UI in general is a little rough, with dialogue boxes often laying on top of each other in a very disorganised fashion, and menus can feel cobbled together. There’s just a lot of text to explore, and it feels like it could have been a bit tidier.

Another place you’ll (obviously) get a lot of text is the story. The story is good, but the real star is the writing. Perhaps it’s just a novice’s eyes, but some of the text is extremely well written. Of course, this is because of Warhammer‘s roots as a tabletop game, where explanation can often make or break immersion. To see it so expertly explored here, though, is still impressive, and the lore is really enjoyable to dig through.

The visuals are a bit different, however. Character portraits are extremely detailed, but the 3D models often blend in with the environment or look lifeless. Perhaps the goal was to get something resembling the miniatures of the tabletop game, but the end result leaves something to be desired.

Combat is, on the other hand, very immersive. It is also demanding of your understanding and patience, and unless you are playing on the easiest difficulty, requires a good grasp of the systems. At its core, Rogue Trader uses a very straightforward tactical RPG setup. However, it’s almost immediately evident that it won’t be as simple as moving your pawns around the board and whacking enemies. It’s very easy to miss attacks, and friendly fire is something you have to be concerned about. It feels great to mow down a line of unfortunately placed enemies, but it’s important to consider if one of your teammates will get caught in the crossfire.

It’s all in the service of immersing the player in the experience in a way other RPGs simply don’t. It’s not hardcore in a way where you constantly feel like you’re about to die. Instead, it’s hardcore in a way where you feel like you are constantly juggling a plethora of systems, and it’s very exciting in that regard.

Cubed3 Rating

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is an easy recommendation for people who already like this kind of experience, but it could easily overwhelm newcomers. It has a great story and excellent combat, wrapped in a lot of things to learn, and it’s not always the most digestible package. Long story short: if you think you’ll like it, you probably will.

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