Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr

Inquisitor: Martyr is a fun horde killer with a fair amount of variety to boot; also with the promise of more races to come and live events, it’s a good investment for any 40k fan who wants some bang for their buck.

Not all the ideas that Neocore infused into a well-known hack&slay formula, seem to work and need fine-tuning still. But having said that, the surprisingly simple, yet effective cover mechanics, the multi layered character development and especially the beautiful art design could be enough to drag you into the brutal world of the 40K-Inquisition.

Far from being a perfect product, Warhammer 40.000: Inquisitor - Martyr is however a versatile and enjoyable title both by fans of the genre and, above all, by lovers of the boundless background of reference.

True to the Warhammer 40 000’s universe, Warhammer 40 000 Inquisitor Martyr is a fun hack’n slash game, with its local co-op multiplayer. But its graphics feel dated and the whole thing is pretty repetitive.

Diablo meets Warhammer 40K in Inquisitor – Martyr, a game that, despite flaws in the progression system and its missions, offers a quite fun gameplay, good storytelling and tons of content.

Νeocore uses all of its accumulated experience -gained from the Van Helsing franchise- and delivers a complete action/ RPG, faithful to the source material and accompanied by a tight storyline. Not all of the gameplay ideas were implemented successfully (i.e. the cover system), but genuinely tries to gust fresh air in an already over-saturated genre.

All in all, I think that Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr should provide more than a satisfactory experience. Just don’t look too much under the hood or try to find the reasons behind some of the developer’s decisions. It’s a decent exploration of the Warhammer universe, and it’s more than capable of gobbling up your hours, if you’re not careful.

Engaging campaign, deep character development and nice addictions to the action RPG genre are enough to make us happy, although Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr is far from perfect and has still to face the endgame chaos god.

Perhaps the greatest challenge of every Warhammer 40,000 game is to capture the scope of a massive universe with fidelity to its rich content which has influenced countless sci-fi titles while adapting to the high expectations of modern gamers. In this regard, Warhammer 40,000 Inquisitor - Martyr fights a bloody battle, emerging victorious, but not unscarred. It is flawed and imperfect, but I adore it for what it is: a solid Warhammer 40,000 game which draws game mechanics from its source material and brings the grim darkness of the 41st millennium into a different medium.

Even though Inquisition-Martyr does a lot of things right, the surprising technical issues and the combat gameplay, which is more superficial than it actual looks like, do not do it any favors. However, and despite the issues, it remains the best representation of the W40K universe lore in videogames.

What does it do well? It does a number of things right. Necore nailed the look and feel of 40K. The many weapons and gear pieces are accurate in name, description, and functionality. The enemies, factions, and lore details is immaculate. If any game deserves a “10” in this area, Inquisitor does.

Held back by bugs and boredom, Martyr can still sometimes be fun - especially with three others. [Aug 2018, p.74]

NeocoreGames masterfully channels the grimdark atmosphere of Warhammer, but the actual gameplay is very barebones. There are three different classes, but they play pretty much the same, and most of the perks only add 1% to this or 1,5% to that. Oh, and that "open-world sandbox" you see on Martyr’s Steam page? It actually means "procedurally generated missions with simplistic objectives." [Issue#231, p.60]

Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr is mostly a good title that comes with some innovative ideas, but falls short in other areas regarding its performance and level design. Warhammer 40k fans will get a kick out of it, and its long life through random missions means content is in hundreds of hours for people who enjoy working towards the highest achievements. Others will eventually grow bored of the repetition, but will easily have gained enough hours out of the title to not be short changed.

NeoCore noticeably put a lot of effort into Inquisitor – Martyr, but sadly that does not change the fact that the game lags two divisions behind the genre’s greatest. [08/2018, p.66]

Warhammer 40.000: Inquisitor - Martyr is a nice attempt to create an immersive adventure in its universe. Although beautiful in its craft it fails to create a smooth ARPG game. Some ideas, and some classes, just feel a bad design choice since the beginning of pre-production.

Neocore offers a fascinating story based on the universe of Warhammer 40,000, but wastes his chance with a heavily imperfect technical system.

For all its strengths, Martyr fails to impress. While the meaningless loot system and slow progression are clearly an issue, it is the uninspired control system that never really comes together that drags the game down to limbo.

A game full of potential, which will be probably appreciated only by the WH40K universe fans. A decent Diablo game with a number of shortcomings which provokes the desire to play it for a longer time only because of its world. [Issue#287]

The ever-increasing level requirements force players to grind. These side missions are all too similar in their look and design. Varied, exciting combat could have been the game’s saving grace, but, alas, it leaves a lot to be desired.

Martyr catches the original theme stylistically well, but fails due to generic gameplay and the weak story.

The NeocoreGames studio tried to refresh the functional concept we were used to by making it less fun and less interesting. The playgrounds are great, and the Warhammer world can pull you in, but the gameplay is quickly depleted due to "innovations" and the Martyr turns into a boring grind.

A gorgeous game in looks, but repetitive and miserly in its gameplay. And that voice acting - UGH!

Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr gets a lot of things right, but drops the ball where it matters most for an action RPG. We’re left with a repetitive, not very tactically exciting combat system and itemization that arbitrarily forces you to gear for item level rather than better stats. Everything else is just a nice house built on a shaky foundation at that point. Even the Emperor can’t protect this clumsy shoot-em-up from its own sins.

Martyr isn’t bad, but it feels like it’s missing that spark to be really enjoyable. When playing with hack-and-slash action you want to feel involved, but the fights in Martyr feel like someone else is playing the game. Sure there are some fun moments and maybe it will grow into a more enjoyable experience post-launch, but for the here and now, it probably isn’t worth your time.

Too much games-as-a-service cruft gets in the way of a potentially decent action-RPG.