Warhammer 40000: Inquisitor – Martyr

+ 90% Discount
+ Simple Tech Tree
+ Lore Friendly Storyline
+ Self Contained Missions (I am so sick of open worlds)
+ Decent Faction & Enemy Type Variety
+ Respects Your Time (You can knock out several missions in an hour)

This is a very good ARPG to just relax to. Path of Exile nerds please look elsewhere! But if you just want to chill while obliterating hoards of xenos, this is the game for you.

Warhammer 40000 Inquisitor – Martyr (bundled with Prophecies in the definitive edition, which I would highly recommend) is a hack and slash game. The game is set in the Warhammer 40K universe, and does it justice, both in visuals, and in general tone.

There is an offline version of the game, I chose that right from the start. In the online part you can play together with others, there are guilds and season characters – all of which I ignored in my offline play. Season characters get unique rewards, I missed out on those. Since the online and offline versions are hermetically sealed, you should decide right from the start which you want to play. The advantage of the offline is that you won’t lose the loot from the last run, or in extreme case your whole progress if there is an issue with connecting to the servers.

The gameplay will be clearing maps of enemies, of which there will be quite a varied selection. The scripted stories from the base game and DLCs took me around 50 hours to finish the first time. The base campaign (i.e. the first five chapters) was almost 30 hours. Various mechanisms are unlocked through the campaign, so you should play it till chapter 4 even if not interested in the story. The vendor and storage for example will appear only after finishing the relatively short Chapter1 (i.e. tutorial).

There are several classes to choose from, but for the first play don’t choose a tech priest. That will have a different tutorial scenario, happening in parallel towards the end of the base campaign. Then it will continue with Chapter 6 of the main storyline, skipping all the previous parts. In fact, the tech priest can be played through the standalone prophecies extension too (it is a separate entry in the gamelist), but you should play it in the main game instead. I played through the base campaign with a crusader, but the tutorial Chapter 1 can be quickly played with all the possible classes, and then you can choose your favorite.

There are two map types : corridor based and open field. Most of the maps will be corridor based. There will be some variety of the goals on the map, but in the end it is mostly just how many enemies you can ignore completing the goal. Killing everything is always an option, and sometimes the required task. A special case is when you must protect someone. There are only a few such campaign occasions, but then if the person dies, the map is failed. Otherwise, dying on a campaign map has no consequence, you just respawn nearby, keeping the progress and loot. In fact in the final map I just kept doing suicide runs on the final boss, eventually killing it (and unlocking a perk because of the number of times I died on maps as a crusader).

There is a large skill tree. Some entries are class specific, but most of them are shared between characters. At first most shared entries will be disabled, but by playing the game eventually they will be unlocked through fulfilling the requirements for them. Generally you should focus on the class based skills first. Soon enough the cost of total respecing will be trivial enough. The same is not true though for your gear, that is much harder to re-orient for a completely different build.

Early on you will be selling your loot, as the only option to get rid of the junk, or even relics, but by Chapter 3 you will unlock the ability to break them down for materials, which I did after that point. There are always some high value drops, like intelligence, which can be sold to vendors, those will be enough source of money, besides what you gather directly on the maps. A small storage is shared by all characters.

The music of the game is good, though it mostly melds into the background during the missions. The sound effects are very satisfying, the sound of weapons and attacks are fitting, and the enemies die with satisfying sound (and visual) feedback. Your character is fully voice acted, and so are the members of your crew, and a few quest givers. The voice actors generally do a great job.

The graphics of the game are good enough. With all the DLC’s there will be a lot of enemy variations (though there will be only 1-2 factions on a given mission map), with varied animations – and ways of fight. The backgrounds are reasonably detailed too.

There is no save system, aside from autosave after the end of a map. Generally the maps don’t take much time, some are shorter than 10 minutes.

The game can be played with keyboard and mouse, or with a controller. The game won’t switch seamlessly between K&M and controller, you have to do it in the options menu, and perhaps restart the game. Not that it mattered, I played with K&M, the game seems to be with that in mind.

There are a few game modes, prolonging the lifetime of the game after finishing all the main and DLC campaigns. Probably the oldest one is a warzone, a set of predetermined missions starting from level 50 and progressing till level 100. Another option are the randomly generated missions, out of the few archetype missions. There are a few priority missions, as purchasable DLCs. They have a meager written background story, and you can make a few decisions during them. In the end, one priority mission storyline can be completed in around an hour, and some will reward you with cosmetic rewards the first time you complete them.

By far the most interesting option is however the void crusades. These are journeys through some predetermined graphs with nodes and available paths. They have a start point and several end points. By traveling through the available paths, you reach nodes. You can see only the effect of the immediately available nodes, though the setup and end nodes location will be clearly visible. The catch is that some nodes will permanently increase the difficulty. Most with only +1, but some by +2. But you must progress through some of them to reach the exit. For example, having a +4 difficulty will increase the received damage by around 200%, and reduces the dealt damage by around 80%. The more nodes you travel through, the higher end rewards there will be – if you ever reach a final exit. Still, merely completing a node will reward you with some random rewards too, so even failing to reach the end isn’t a total failure. Some maps have keys hidden in them, collecting those will allow to open more from the final reward chests. All in all it is a nice risk versus reward adventure, and probably the end game content for most offline players.

There is a card system, to increase difficulty – and to receive specific rewards along. Things like more XP, or more chance for relics. The effect of the cards can be upgraded, but for that you must collect a specific currency. Not sure how to obtain it, but eventually I collected a few. Not that it matters, as they can be used only to increase one random card by 1 fraction. There are around 40 cards, each with 10 fractions, so even after close to 100h I wasn’t in the situation to upgrade even a single card. Supposedly each card can be upgraded multiple times.

While I bought the definitive edition, one DLC was still unavailable – the hierophant. Granted, I didn’t even finish the story with the all the base classes. My tech priest was level 75, my crusader 51, my battle sister 37, the rest of the classes 7. The hierophant seems similar to the tech priest, but using other human characters instead of constructs.

There are 3 weekly mission opportunities. Those increase the standing with the 3 ordos factions, unlocking various permanent bonuses. Those weekly missions reset on Sunday, but due to a bug I could only play them after Tuesday, leaving a total of around 5 days instead a full weak. Not that it matters, a mission takes around 15 minutes or less.

The offline game was stable, it didn’t crash for me – though the online version might act differently if the mandatory connection to the servers fails.

This game took me by surprise.

I am a major fan of the Warhammer franchise of video games and this one in particular did not hit with me at first.

When i booted up the game and since the start, you are hit with a multiple of information overload that will take a lot of people back at first. However, once I took the time to get it together, learn the mechanics, look what all these stats did and what the de-buffs and buffs did, it all came together to start to become a fantastic experience I cannot put down.

Lets go over pros and cons...

Pros!

Game play - The game play is SOLID and fun and a ARPG style video game. The game play loop is addicting and satisfying. The classes feel varied and run. The weapons truly alter your game play style and you will start to pick your favorites relatively quickly as you explore the different weapons available to you (there is a lot to choose from). You can also alternate weapons with weapon set I and II allowing for diverse game play depending on the situation at hand. This game gets very addicting very quickly and I loved every second of it.

Story And Voice Acting - The story is actually very interesting and the available DLC's do expand on it in a meaningful way. The voice acting is pretty top notch with most characters personalities shining through well. Usually in ARPG's i consider the stories to be fairly forgettable and you tend to focus more on the grind but this game I was interested in knowing what was going to happen next. You also have branching paths you can take choosing between a radical and a puritan thus altering the story and what you will experience based on your actions.

The Loot - The gear you can find in this game is awesome and while confusing at first, you start to understand it very well. Once you do, the combinations are endless. The gear itself is fun and has varied levels of rarity and you also have crafting mechanics and gear upgrading available to you. Overall this game has a super solid gear system and it will keep you playing for a very long time.

The Cons!

Graphics - If you care about graphics in ANY way, you will not find it here. The graphics are nice...but just that. Nice is the best way to describe it. Not great in any way. The character screen will show you more graphically than the actual game play will. The cinematics are BEAUTIFULLY well done, but its not game play graphics at all. Overall this is a very simplistic game graphically speaking.

Combat Jank - The game has some combat jank where sometimes you may or may not use a skill you intend to use randomly, thus resulting in having to wait for a cool down. The animations feel clunky and overall simple, not flashy in any way (at least for melee). There isn't much jank to the game, but the jank that is there is noticeable.

Overall Warhammer 40k: Inquisitor Martyr is a fantastic entry in the Warhammer franchise that was recommended to me on my YouTube channel. As a fan of ARPG's and Warhammer games, i found it to be a very solid entry and is a video game that will keep you hooked for hours on end. I have 42 hours in this game so far and I will easily reach 100+ in due time.

Thank you for reading this review!

honestly dog, this game is mindless fun im having a grand time just rippin through xenos and watching king of the hill on my other monitor

screw all diablo games, screw both PoE games, and screw any other exhausting piece of **** arpg game. Inquisitor martyr is the ****.
and its 40k, what else do you want?

A fun and simplistic ARPG set in the Warhammer 40k universe. I would recommend it but not at full price because while it can be fun it also has some serious downsides.
Things I liked:
-great sounding weapons
-decent plotline
-good minmax potential for your builds
-gameplay that is quite dynamic. You barrage enemies with plasma cannon shots, missiles or grenades, they shoot you with artillery and stationary turrets.
-the differences between classes. The assassin has a dodge mechanic, psyker has spells with side effects, tech priest has summons etc.
-the general grim atmosphere of 40k can be felt
-decent but scarce music
-the crusade and other activities are enjoyable
Things I disliked:
-the lack of inherent class skills. Most classes use weapon and equipment skills. Some classes (ex. the psyker or hierophant) have unique weapons that add spells but they take up skill slots. A heavy gunner crusader and sister of battle will have the same skills for a bolter. This can cause the gameplay to feel samey .
-resource based classes can feel resource starved for most of the game which in turn forces you to rely on your weapon and equipment skills that add to the feeling of sameyness
-higher difficulties can feel frustrating because enemies scale incredibly well and can use bullshit abilities.
-there is little variety in level design and mission objectives
-summoner classes are very clunky to use
-the skill tree is boring. Only passive effects and no unique skill altering routes.
-there is a decent amount of grinding for reputation, materials or tarot card upgrades.
-the DLCs beside the additional classes are generally not worth it
-the game is old and has a lot of jank and weird bugs (like the resolution bug).
-for some reason you need 80 GB of disc space.
Overall I would rate this as a 6.5-7/10 game. It's decent for a few sessions but it probably won't catch your attention for countless hours. The game would be better with more complexity and more class specific skills for more variety in gameplay. Hope they will make Inquisitor Martyr 2 someday.

An extremely overlooked, and under appriciated ARPG. Game has been patched into a fanstastic state, all seasons are permenatly available for any character you start. New characters can skip the story and go straight into the endgame loop... a loop that is snappy and fun, easy to knock a quick mission out before work, or get absorbed for hours. All dlc classes are a blast, and every class has something unique going on that makes their progression fun. Highly reccomened, especially for solo/casual ARPG players who don't like the seasonal model of current ARPGs.