It seems like Warhammer fans have been blessed with an entourage of games centred in the Warhammer universes. I’ve been lucky enough to review the epic rat infested Vermintide 2 and the decently entertaining Spacehulk: Deathwing. There’s more coming out and it seems like whenever these games drop onto shelves, I’m the first port of call. I do love Warhammer but even I need a break.
What’s that? Can I review a Warhammer action adventure title that’s similar to Diablo? I’m sure I can fit one more Warhammer game in this month.
Warhammer Inquisitor: Martyr is an isometric, action adventure game centred in the Warhammer 40,000k universe. Martyr is in the same vein as the Diablo series, as it pits players against hordes of enemy waves while they explore various exotic locations, rich in detail and visual flare.
We take on the role of a Martyr, an infamous high ranking warrior of the Imperium, who serves to destroy anyone that opposes the order of the God Emperor. Everything in your path is either to be destroyed or savaged for the greater good. Expect plenty of awesome Warhammer lore and be surprised for a well scripted story that dives into many of the darker aspects of the 40K lore. Expect everything from genocide, cleansing and even hammy voice acting which actually suit the game perfectly. It’s extremely disgusting in the best possible way and a great representation for the universe.
You have three classes to choose from, focusing on either physic abilities or angling towards greater firepower. You can expect heavy resistance on your adventure across a multitude of locations, with waves of devastating enemy’s forces trying to end your existence. There are some very compelling design choices in regards to how side quests are set up and the more compelling choices you can make in the story.
How you interactive with the map have some dynamic twists, with Uther’s Tarots providing some modifiers in the missions you embark on. This includes altering the enemy roster, difficulty, mission objectives and more, to fashion an adventure to your own will.
Investigation missions are one of the highlights here, being a series of glorified of single missions with some "tactical" choices in between. These show a lot of potential but still need some tweaking as some single choice can cripple the pacing and outcome of all missions.
While there are some great ideas here, I will express that the combat is mediocre at best, with some major balancing issues and a general dullness that can appear during long missions.
Combat works as you might expect from a Diablo inspired action adventure, with various classes having unique powers and weaponry, tackling various other factions and objectives. There are some interesting ideas regarding tactical combat but it’s hindered by a sense of grind that takes place during long missions. The game can be quiet fun at times and when you’re working with characters, it can be enthralling to immerse yourself in some heated battles. But the problems I have are with most enemies being truly relentless and overpowered, but this missed with a broken cover system only agonises the situation more. The ineffective cover system means enemies have the capability to destroy any form of protection very quickly and gain an unfair advantage.
It doesn’t help further many situations see enemies usually rush to your position in droves. Overall it’s fairly enjoyable with some neat set pieces and simple mission objectives or either, kill everything, protect someone and kill some more, which is fun at the end of the day.
While combat does have its fault, my main gripe is with the bizarre power system and the manner to which item stats can reflect extremely negatively on your power rating even though it might be high enough for a harder mission. It does take some time to get used too but I wish the developers would address this urgently as it’s a pain for new comers.
Warhammer Inquisitor: Martyr has it’s agonising issues in regards to a repetitive nature, confusing power rating system and the aggravating enemy AI with the broken cover system can be off putting. But there are still some compelling ideas here, with mission structures, decent story and some good action makes it worthwhile for hardcore Warhammer fans.
++ Some interesting dyanmics to mission structures
+ Fun classes to play as
Interesting story and world design
-- Harsh grinding from time to time
- Unbalancing issues and an ineffective cover system
- Main campaign is largely repetitive
A Steam review copy of Warhammer Inquisitor: Martyr was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review
