Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr

This latest Warhammer title offers a ton of story for fans of the franchise and plenty of gameplay mechanics for experienced action RPG players. Thankfully, regular gamers can enjoy the Diablo-but-with-guns gameplay too.

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.

An engagingly substantial take on the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, Martyr's litany of technical issues tarnish what should otherwise have been one of the better titles from developer Neocore Games. All the same, Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr will provide many hours of chaos blasting fun for fans of the franchise.

Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr is a fun ARPG with a lot of cool things going for it such as its story and multiplayer features. However, it has a couple of glaring flaws, especially the post-game grind to unlock Warzones.

Martyr succeeds in giving players an action RPG experience that manages to combine the action of a 'Diablo clone' with the Warhammer 40K license. It has a great skills system that's tied to the equipment you use, rather than just the experience level, and that makes playing around with the copious amounts of loot that you'll be earning very enjoyable. If only the execution of the game were as consistent and reliable as the design, and if only the developers had have put more effort into the optimisation for console.

Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr isn’t perfect, but it’s the first enjoyable WH40K action title to grace the consoles since Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine.

The game is not just another Diablo clone either as NeocoreGames has woven enough depth of its own to the well-worn concept. The dark science fiction setting is also a refreshing departure to the sword and sorcery the genre usually sees. Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr is a good game and has makings of a great one too - if only its technical issues are eventually fixed.

A worthy purchase for fans, with a well-crafted campaign deeply invested in the universe's lore. Sadly, the gameplay experience, while functional, is quite derivative, and the few features setting it apart from other action role-playing games are not enough to make it an essential purchase for those who aren't familiar with the Warhammer 40,000 universe or aren't big action role-playing game fans.

Although it excels over others when it comes to story, Martyr is still not good enough in some aspects that are too important to its genre, they cannot be overlooked.

If you're looking for longevity then look no further. The lore is interesting enough to continue playing. The audiovisual design is well done and even though the game is pretty difficult, newcomers won't be scared off by it. Technically there are plenty of issues. Frame rate hiccups, long load times, a copious amount of screen tearing and lacklustre matchmaking are our major gripes.

Not the best “Diabloesque” action-RPG out there. The Warhammer universe is still captivating but gameplay suffers from repetitive mission design and dull storyline.

Martyr has many good ideas, but the execution isn’t that good. It becomes repetitive very quickly, and its poor technical side doesn’t help either.

Inquisitor - Martyr is unfortunately a failed attempt to create a worthy RPG action set in the fascinating world of Warhammer 40,000.

If Martyr was the Warhammer game you’ve been waiting for, it’s likely to disappoint. [Issue#154, p.80]

There’s a clear feeling of Martyr being spread way too thin across all the ideas at play, and pretty much every aspect of the game suffers as a result. If it could’ve trimmed some of the fat and instead focused on a select few features and mechanics, we might well have had a ground-breaking 40K release on our hands. Instead, what we’re left with is a half-baked example of what could’ve been. Buried under its own ambitions to be everything at once is a solid Warhammer 40K story and a slow-burning, serviceable ARPG experience whose shortcomings may be more easily excused by fans of the source material the developers so honorably follow.