Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader Reviews
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader delivers a dream CRPG for Warhammer fans if you can get past its bugs.
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is a CRPG worthy of its grimdark sci-fi setting, offering players engaging tactical turn-based combat and an immersive adventure. It lacks polish, and we encountered some frustrating bugs, but deep class customisation and an exploration of the setting like nothing before means there's plenty to recommend for fans who are willing to take the plunge.
With the great amount of love for the setting that was poured into the game evident from every line of dialogue and every little detail, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is one of the best games based on the universe created by Games Workshop, and a solid tactical turn-based role-playing game that can provide hundreds of hours of fun.
Rogue Trader gets 40K's atmosphere right, but it's buggy and the rules are a mess.
Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader's adventure across the dangerous Koronus Expanse is full of fun sci-fi lore and companions, but it's buried beneath wonky balancing, tedious spaceship battles, and quest-breaking bugs. Perhaps after numerous patches, Rogue Trader will one day become a strong addition to the CRPG genre.
Few fictional universes are as dense and impenetrable as that of Warhammer 40k. Owlcat Games (previously known for Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous have managed to create a gripping story of the darkness that lurks in man, accentuated by stellar writing and a combat system that masterfully increases in depth as the game goes on. Despite some bugs and technical issues, this easily counts among the very best delves into the grim darkness of the 41st Millennium.
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Even with the bugs, Warhammer 40K fans will enjoy Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader immensely. If you are a tactics RPG fan looking for your next fix, this is your game.
Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader is an astoundingly complex game that perfectly conveys the feeling of living in the 41st millennium. Its story is entrancing from the get-go, the characters are diverse and memorable and the gameplay will keep you hooked to your screen for hours on end. It's a must-play for diehard Warhammer fans and a great entry point for prospecting Warhammer fans. As far as Warhammer games are concerned, it's a definite 10, and a new benchmark for storytelling in the franchise.
Rogue Trader is very much a release in the Owlcat Games mould, combining a great degree of customization with a solid story, meaningful choices, and interesting characters. While all that, combined with excellent use of the Warhammer 40,000 setting, comes perilously close to pushing Rogue Trader into the greatest realm of CRPGs, unfortunate balance issues, obtuse design elements, and myriad bugs prevent the title from achieving its full potential.
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is a phenomenal roleplaying experience offering an immersive story and an impressive, highly-connected web of features and systems. The soundtrack, writing and voice over are all deliciously over the top, and gameplay provides a new step forward in a tactical cRPG genre, rewarding positioning, teamwork and attention to details. If you are new to the Warhammer franchise, the game can serve as a perfect stepping stone into the universe.
If you’re a 40K fan or just looking for a combat-heavy RPG outside of the normal fantasy fare, Rogue Trader will make a welcome addition to your library. It dives deeper into the setting and lore than any other video game to date, showing that it’s clearly a game by fans, for fans. Owlcat gave us multiple Pathfinder RPGs - hopefully, we’ll see more adventures in the Koronus Expanse in the future as well.
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is an excellent adaptation of the Warhammer universe into a genre that some may expect not to work. A compelling RPG with a strong understanding of its original property, it’s a great example of the classic C-RPGs of the 1990s and early 2000s. Although it perhaps does nothing revolutionary, it provides an intriguing and exciting adventure, especially for fans of the tabletop game.
Paying extensive homage to the source material while weaving a compelling tale of its own, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is an involving experience with fun combat and memorable characters.
Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader delivers a solid option for players who are looking to lose themselves in the darkness of the franchise’s universe.
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is the sort of game that the Warhammer 40K setting has long needed. A disgustingly massive, social calendar swallowing CRPG offering, Rogue Trader's numerous presentation issues aren't enough to distract from its galaxy-spanning odyssey into Games Workshop's most famous and beloved setting.
A long awaited Warhammer 40K CRPG executed superbly not only in terms of combat but also story, atmosphere, and character building.
Rogue Trader is a near-perfect encapsulation of 40k. Its dark-but-pulpy story puts you in the position to make tough choices with no right answers, its combat is a healthy mix of TTRPG and game balance, and the amount of content on display is jaw-dropping. The Emperor has blessed Owlcat Games.
In the end, the moments of jank and the less-than-gripping combat didn’t diminish my experience or my desire to play. I still enjoyed leveling my character. I still enjoyed building my party, especially where skills were concerned. I was also impressed by the intuitive nature of skill checks. When making a check, the game will automatically select the character with the highest rank in that skill to carry out the check. It’s a small touch, but a nice one. Ultimately, this is an easy game to recommend if you like RPGs that put their narrative forward and build their characters in meaningful ways. It may not find a home in everyone’s collections, but it will be a shining star for fans of the setting who appreciate a narrative focus.
This is the Warhammer 40,000 experience that I’ve wanted from a video game for two decades. A game that gleefully wallows in the medieval futurism of its setting. A game that isn’t about winning wars on the battlefield, but focuses on all of the grim-dark insanity that goes on behind it all.
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is a game with immense potential, steeped in the rich lore of its source material and offering a depth of gameplay that will delight fans of the franchise. While its current version is marred by technical issues and a steep learning curve, the game’s commitment to its universe and narrative complexity make it a noteworthy addition to the RPG genre.