Warhammer 40000: Inquisitor – Martyr

I've played this game and on and off since release. To be honest the game is currently the best it has ever been. If you own it and haven't played in a while its certainly worth a revisit.
To comment on some things people say;
Server's constantly disconnect you: This isn't true, I've spent many hours without any disconnects. Most people I know who play have never had server connection issues. Maybe if you are on a dial up modem, it might be worth looking at your internet before blaming the game.
DLC aren't worth buying: You can literally earn "FATE" in game to get all of the DLC except the class based one (Prophecy) for FREE. All you have to do is play. It takes about 2-3 days of playing to earn 1200 Fate to buy a DLC addon of your choice. Why buy when you can play to get for free? (Yes some DLC missions are greater than others, just google it)
No content: This is an ARPG with a ton of depth. There are multiple-Meta and multiple-Off Meta builds for each class. There are relics that give functionality that enable new builds. It has about 20+ hours of Fully Voice-acted pure WH40k conversations and scenes. (anyone who says they beat the game in 3 hours is lying) Story is divided into chapters, intel missions and special missions. Its not handed to you, you have to be the inquisitor and investigate.
Game is clunky: By default yes the hotkeys are badly set up. But its like 3 clicks to fully remap your keys to your favored layout. Just cause you have fat fingers, doesn't mean the game is clunky. Remap that shit into a good setup.
Mission Grind: Literally identical to maps in Path of Exile. Anyone who complains about repeat maps at end game literally is not an ARPG fan in general. Grim Dawn resets, Path of Exile Maps, Diablo Rifts. There are about 200 tile sets in this game and maps have "distinct" layouts. This is partially due to the fact that if your on a map that is on a ship it needs to feel like your on a ship.
Loot Loop/XP loop: This is where the game shines. There is crafting of gear, upgrading gear, constant loot drops, and more. Void Missions are the best currently for loot, and there is something satisfying about beating missions above your level for rewards you can't equip yet. That feeling that your build just "shines".
Time sink: No joke, early game leveling is fast. This slows to a crawl near level 60-70. Especially if you know nothing about the game. Read a bit, learn a bit, and soon you are speeding through those levels as well. There are ways to increase level xp by well over 500% if you know how. Level 100 Cap- But you can push mission levels well over that. Satisfying.
Real Cons
-----------------
Low player count for an ARPG. This means that group play/pvp requires you to meet people in game or have friends.
Upgrades can be downgrades. Not all equipment is worth changing to, only to be replaced later with better.
Crafting is expensive.
Repetitive Loop. Its very possible to have a 3 button build that completes maps in 2 mins or less. For some, this gets boring.
Real Pros
---------------
Fully voice acted and convincing story line for Warhammer 40k.
Several dozen builds for each class, build experimentation is satisfying.
All DLC is free except the class ones. Just play the game to unlock them.
Combat is fun and impactful (once you remap your keybinds)
Has Seasons that add new gear, challenges, mechanics, and Cosmetic Reward tiers. (play to unlock)
NO BATTLE PASS!
NO IN YOUR FACE MICRO-TRANSACTIONS!
The Emperor Protects!

TLDR: if you would like a game that is like Diablo 3 but Warhammer 40k with some better bits, and is similar to the Dawn of War series (similar, not the same).....this game is for you.
Here's some dot points for you to consider (positive and negative...up to you how you take it):
- Extremely similar to Diablo 3 in style (loot farming, random map generation, socketing, specific classes with customisation through skills and weapons, seasonal character options).
- Reasonably good campaign. Story seems ok, if you're into that sort of stuff.
- Mission generation on random maps.
- Level scaling, with heaps of options to increase difficulty.
- Disparity between characters (some are definitely OP.....Tech Priest?).
- The DLC is not bad, but it's still DLC.
- Pretty maps.
- Quite a deep tech tree for each class and sub-class to consider. Can be challenging to get your head around.......and then suffers a bit from "cookie cutter" outcomes.
- Some classes get a few weapon options, and some get everything. Good and bad?
- Crafting available. Not terrible....maybe a bit more useful than Diablo 3 when you're levelling and also early end-game.
- Not much in the end game area, outside of DLC. "Void Crusade" is a good attempt at providing campaign-level content at end game.
There's probably more, but meh. It's worth the purchase with DLC if on special. Would likely not want to pay full price for everything though. Definitely get this if you want a loot farmer and you like 40k.

In order to make this game much better there is one thing I would recommend to you:
Change the movement to wasd, map your 4 weapon skills to your mouse, auto pickups and f to use stuff.
Now you have a great game.
This a fun Diablo 3 in a Warhammer 40k setting. A bit grindy, yes, but it has lots of different game types and challenges, randomised maps, a big team mission, pvp, as well as a seasonal challenge and recently some new event came out.
I absolutly love the crusader with a flamethrower, I build him in a way that I heal myself while purging the heretic, with insane DoT.
Oh there is also an option to get in cover... but I do not see a reason to cower before the heretics!

Minor pre-purchase/play advice.
If you are new to WH40K space marine universe/lore you might want to research a bit into the lore and atleast get a base understanding, else it will probably confuse the heck out of you lol
Little about my personal perspective on arpgs and this game
I'm actually not a huge arpg fan, well the ones from this view perspective. I have a few but this is the only one I have with 1100 hrs invested in. (Been playing since April 24th 2020) I promise even after this review that time will still be increasing.
About classes and builds
I currently have 1 of every class and 3 of the 4 capped at level 100. Lotta build diversity and multiple metas per class and also even sub par builds that still are very interesting and fun to use. That is one of the main reasons I love this game, is the class build diversity and weapon diversity. All classes can use range or melee weapons and even a mix of both at the same time. Classes in some ways can have multiple roles.
Crusader he can be melee 2h warrior or 1h & shield baring tank if you like that raw range crowd control damager he can do that pretty effective also.
Assassin can be laid back in the pack sniper or a quick on the crits up close in your face trickster with time manipulation and hit run tactics.
Psyker this is your mage class cast them wicked chaos spells or become battle mage with sword or a gun do lil of both. Your imagination is your only limiter really.
Tech Priest that you get with the (DLC prophecy) is a minion master, you can choose your weapon be it range or melee also. But most of your offense comes from minions. Your minions also have progression, in the gear department. Tech Priest I would consider a more advanced player class, because you have to work minion gear as much as your own. So might wanna save him till you get atleast 1 level 100 character that way can fund him lol.
On to missions and story.
Story is a one shot thing per char unfortunately, meaning you can't go back and do repeats of it with the same character.
Not a huge deal but even I would love to do it again at level 100 be pretty neat, w/e though no biggie.
After story is complete and at any time outside of story, all missions are randomly generated and technically there is no true end to this game, it only ends when you quit playing it.
I do highly recommend that you get the prophecy expansion, it adds a little more story for the 3 martyr classes to play but the tech priest class gets a bit shafted as it can only play the prophecy story line even if you own martyr.
Just buying it for the class alone is worth it in my opinion. It is one of my most used and loved classes.
(like a necromancer in some ways if you need that deeper detailing)
There is a system called tarot cards these cards give you a bonus and at the same time makes enemy more difficult. Like the saying I use in RL, "caresses you with 1 hand and stabs you with the other" lol. It's a good system as it allows you to set the challenge yourself, risk and reward type system. The game does have 4p Co-Cp and PvP.
You can play all missions including story in Co-Op.
Lets go with technical stuff, updates and bugs
Yes there is bugs, I'm here to give you the 100/100 review as deep and truthful as i can.
Most bugs that exist can be solved by restarting the game. Since I started most of the bugs I encountered has been ironed out. Some still linger but not to the point that it infuriates me or anything. Some I've got used to, don't even notice anymore. The developers are still updating and adding to the game, fixing bugs etc. The game is still very much alive from a developer point of view, the community is fairly small, yet there is plenty of people including myself that stroll the forums, always wanting to help to the best of our ability, knowledge and experience. Sometimes these people take breaks from the game, including myself. Though we usually return even if not actively playing the game just to offer up a helping hand here n there.
Final Thoughts
My personal meta score 90/100
Buy this game and play the sh*t out of it like I have. If you like what my review says, there is a good chance you will like this deep, beautiful WH40K game, it is a rough edged work of art. I still enjoy this game as much as I did the day I started playing it, to be straight about it. I actually like it more today then I did as a newbie. That says alot, I can't say I own many games I still love to play after 500hrs much less 1100 hours and still counting. I play completely as a loner 120% solo player. (I prefer to). I could give more major positivity and lil more minor negativity from my review, some features and bugs I did skip but I feel the review is becoming so long most might not want to read it. I could understand that entirely.
Hope you enjoyed my review. Take care and happy gaming!

Tl; Dr
A surprisingly wholesome game with lots of unique takes on the ARPG genre with at times superb music, great voice-acting, patchy but impressive sound design, a lot of loot, and levels that are not at all as repetitive as other reviewers make them out to be. Also, it is literally the only ARPG with proper sci-fi guns. (And boy do they pack a PUNCH!) It is all what "The Ascent" promised to be.
Disclaimer
I am rushing out this review because I want to let the gaming community know that this game is MUCH better than it seems while the Summer Sale is still going on. So far I have only 6 hours in the game, and I’ve only tried out the Crusader class, and yet I already consider my 20 euro well spent because of the unique experience.
Also, I am playing with all DLCs and especially the big DLC "Prophecy" enabled. Some content I describe below may not be available in the base game!
Take my review with a grain of salt if you will but if you see my playtime go up, you will know that I meant serious business with the following praise for the game:
Gameplay & Loot
Unlike your usual ARPG and similar to Path of Exile you don’t unlock active skills but your skill tree is only unlocking passive buffs. It is the weapons themselves that give you active skills. Every weapon has 4 skills and most of them differentiate heavily from those of other weapons.
Apparently, other classes work differently. The Psyker class especially probably comes closest to your familiar ARPG gameplay with spells and such, while the Tech-Adept is somewhat similar to your usual Necromancer.
You don’t have a single world you go through but you load into every mission individually. Which only makes sense because the game takes place on different subsolar-systems and different planets.
Mission variety is there and there are also some submissions within the missions (e.g. defending a drop of resources (which suddenly makes this game feels like a tower-defense game for a few minutes which is a nice diversion). But let’s be honest: it is an ARPG. Your mission is to kill as many enemies as possible while getting from A to B and then to C. What you need to know is that there are voluntary missions which you can play for the loot or to level up, and there are tighter campaign missions in which you will have a rudimnentary purpose for you being there. I have found the story so far quite good for an ARPG and there is some radio chatter during the campaign missions and some text messages that are always written lore-friendly and correspond to the the respective writer (be it the no-nonsense, mathematical language of a Tech-Priest or a Captain who went rogue).
Now to the loot, and oh my god, the loot! I can’t remember playing an ARPG in which I want to try out so many weapons at the same time. Normally, I find a good weapon and stick with it until I find a much better one. Here, I find myself constantly switching between different sets of equipment, and each of them are viable although all of them require you to adjust your playstyle. You can rush in with your Chainsword in one and your Inferno Pistol in the other hand and wreak havoc right amidst the enemy mob, hacking away with your sword and release a powerful single fire shot from your pistol every 2 seconds. Or you could go in with a two-handed hammer and go full melee with slow but devastating attacks. The bigger guns vary from low to high range and you have to play accordingly. Every two-handed melee weapon has at least one skill that causes enemies to topple and lie on the ground defenselessly for a short period. (It can also happen to you!) I only mention this because way too few ARPG have such kind of physics based enemy behaviour. Note that you can switch between two weapon sets at any time which gives you even more flexibility.
Upgrading your weapons works through Signia or your armor or eye implants, i.e. the upgrade slots are independent from the weapons slots (if that makes sense). All of the upgrades give you unique boosts and it is of course wise to have buffs that increase heat damage on a Melta-Rifle that lets your enemies simmer in a bright and HOT and definitively painful puddle of fire.
I think there is not a ridiculous amount of different weapon types, although with enabled DLCs there are definitively more weapons than shown on the official fandom wiki! But considering that the weapons are so different from each other makes it satisfying even for someone like me who can’t get enough of different weapon types in a game. I would say the amount of weapons is similar to that of Path of Exile.
Variety and sound design
I’ve watched dozens of videos of the gameplay over the last 2 years to make an informed decision whether or not to buy Inquisitor. At the end of the day, I never pulled the trigger because it seemed like there are mainly dark indoor levels inside of spaceships. And I had no interested in that. However, contrary to these second-hand impressions, I can say now that there is a big variety of biomes/map layers. There are snow landscapes, deserts, hive cities, oil fields and some more. Right now, after my limited playtime I would still say that about 60 percent of the game happens indoors in somewhat same-y looking spaceships. But since the general design and the little environmental story telling is so good, I don’t really mind that discrepancy between indoor and outdoor levels.
I watched SkillUp’s review from 2018 in which he complains a lot about the game. Admittedly, the game has changed a lot since then, especially with the 2.0 patch that released together with the Prophecy DLC. But the biggest issue for SkillUp was the audio. He especially complained about the sound effects being too similar and that that would be an issue in an ARPG since you hear the same sounds potentially for hundreds of hours. And granted, the audio never seemed very good when I watched gameplay videos.
But oh my, is that far from the actual experience! The audio design in this game is nothing short of incredible! I have never heard such an impressive Bolter Rifle in all of the Warhammer games I have played so far. It really feels like it shoots a HEAVY caliber whereas in other games it only sounds like a light machine gun. There is even a faint CHING when you stop shooting and the bolt snaps back for one last time. The laser pistol albeit small makes a decidedly uncanny noise after each shot. And there are three different sounds that vary in between the shots! You really feel the energy that comes out of this pistol is deadly. Then the plasma rifle with which you can shoot some kind of mortar strike which propels half a dozen plasma “shells” towards your enemies which will then explode with a sound that is completely different from a “normal” explosion.
I will readily admit that the melee sounds are a bit on the weak side. But then again, the Chainsaw is spot on. (Note that when you hold the left mousebutton you will not only just swing towards your enemies but actually saw into them!)
The music is serviceable 50 percent of the time, and fits right into the Warhammer universe. The rest of the time, the music will blow your mind. I mean it! For me, some of the tracks are right up there with Mechanicus’ OST! The ambient sound is also very good and adds to the immersion.
I must note though that the sound can be patchy at times: the oil pumps are thudding down loudly on the respective oil field map layer but when you come closer to the pump, the thudding isn’t audible anymore. The same happens with some melee sounds at times.
The voice acting, by the way, is very good, too, and just what one should expect from a proper Warhammer game.

You'll know within the first 30-60 minutes if this game is for you.
It's very repetitive, the beginning of the game, that's going to be the kind of feel and layout all the way until the end game. The levels will be unique, the challenges will be unique, the customization will be extensive, the grind will be real, the loot will be intense, the crafting and rolling of items will be intense, and the amount of enemies killed will be intense. I happen to really enjoy games like these, so for me I can just grind endlessly, I put on some technical lectures in the background and I kind just get hyper-drone focused on the subject matter while getting lost in this game at the same time. It's beautiful.
It's not for everyone though. There's no doubt about that, you'll know very quickly if this is for you or not. The Tech Adept is the best first starting class, super fun to play, just roll through enemies like they're nothing. I love it, highly recommend if you like these types of games and don't mind the grind.

Honestly if you don't want to think and just shoot things, this is your game.