REVIEW – Rain of titles from Games Workshop licenses has hit the video game market for a decade. The publishers, aware of the potential of Warhammer and its futuristic counterpart, exploit them enormously and adapt them to many kinds of video games. Neocore, a studio located in Budapest, Hungary, merges Hack’n Slash and Warhammer 40K during an imperial inquisition with the evocative name: Warhammer 40.000: Inquisitor – Martyr. The Inquisitor’s Bolter screams his impatience.

The forces of the Imperium carry the holy word of the Emperor to the confines of the universe with only shield their unshakeable faith in the Emperor and drive their self-denial. And yet the area of Caligari falls into the hands of heretics and the efforts of the inquisition seem vain against the unholy hordes of Chaos. The troops having pledged allegiance to the god Nurgle as well as the other races having succumbed to the “dark side” break on these systems and pervert them. An inquisitor is sent to the martyrship to investigate and incidentally clean up. The purge will begin.

What’s the story?

Hack’n slash is not known and recognized for its scriptural prowess. This genre favours the universe more to the detriment of the pen and tales his stories by keys without often making crates. Moreover, the studio Neocore follows the instructions for the perfect Hack’n Slash with the comma. Friendly on many points starting with his loyalty Warhammer 40K lore, the scenario is primarily a pretext and crosses the flower Bolter. Yet Inquisitor – Martyr does not make fun of the forces of the Imperium … far from it … with its cutscenes that punctuate a simple scripted campaign. Special mention all the same to the soundtrack of the game that skillfully highlights the acts of bravery of the inquisitors with tracks inspired among others peplum.

Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor Martyr is an invitation to travel, a brutal journey offering a unique vision of the universe. The area of ​​Caligari contains several systems themselves composed of planets, vessels and stations to be purified. Change of scenery, this Action RPG is a safe bet … at least during the first hours of play. Environments vary from one destination to another but end up resembling each other for lack of renewal. And the few technical errors encountered do not do justice to the work of the artists.

Nevertheless, the decorations are based on tortured Gothic architecture and a disenchanted apocalyptic atmosphere, and that will please the fans. The loyalty to the license is such that this adaptation transpires Warhammer 40K by all pixels. Admittedly, this Hack’n Slash is undeniably late visually speaking, but brighten the adventure by illuminating visual effects and sheaves of blood for a satisfactory overall rendering if not striking.

To vanquish without peril …

… we triumph without glory. Hack’n Slash is a genre codified to the extreme. Its main representatives – starting with the Diablo saga, Grim Dawn and Path of Exile – are articulated around a common framework. Warhammer 40.000: Inquisitor Martyr does not pretend to reinvent the wheel and follows the instructions in good little soldier of the Inquisition with his suite of missions with very few objectives, and the unfolding cannot be more classic. The game of Neocore is still allowed to break the rank on several occasions to stick to the Games Workshop franchise. The multiplication of solar systems and the addition of procedurally generated missions reflect the breadth of the front and its evolution in real time. Chaos never abdicates, and this title testifies to this strength of character.

“The enemies of the Emperor die!”

Under heavy fire from the forces of the Imperium and Inquisitor – Martyr manages to retranscribe all this brutality during the clashes. The Inquisitor rid the world of corruption and defeat his wrath on mutants, traitors and enemies of the Imperium without an ounce of pity, but must listen to his senses. The physical and mental stress is translated into combat by a gauge of repression to watch closely under penalty of suffering penalties (slowdown, recoil, KO, hindrance …). This futuristic Diablo-like is also characterized by the almost systematic use of weapons at a distance, and the developers rely on this peculiarity in order to refresh the formula by integrating an efficient and vital coverage system.

Unfortunately, the bestiary ends up going round in circles and lacks depth. Demons of Chaos, rebels and various monstrosities impaled on the faith of inquisitors without conviction. This lack of variety in the enemies is only the tip of the iceberg. Warhammer 40.000: Inquisitor – Martyr suffers from an ancestral evil particularly affecting Hack’n Slash … repetitiveness. Neocore‘s title is limited to a redundant ritual of corridors, halls and arenas to be purged from Chaos during missions modelled on each other. Good point, however, the difficulty is at-go and challenges fans of the genre, despite a learning curve sometimes twisted

Endgame

A Hack’n Slash is judged on the duration and thus its “End game”, this race to the loot for the sole purpose of finding the ultimate item. Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr does not achieve the mastery of a Diablo III, but gets away with honours. Uther’s tarot and the procedural generation of missions thus open the doors to controlled farming and “theorycraft”, an inevitable side effect of the genre. As for the online features, they spice up the adventure. However, this Action RPG stands out from the competition by its cooperative online and local mode (on consoles only) inviting players to explore the Caligari sector together. Locally, the second player then embodies an avatar randomly generated according to the chosen class. Not being able to load his build via a Neocore account will taint this initiative somewhat without ruining it.

The Holy Trinity of the Inquisitors

Action RPG is distinguished from the competition by the extreme management of the hero or heroes. Moreover, at this little game, Warhammer 40.000: Inquisitor – Martyr unrolls the red carpet in front of the amateurs of customization without never harming from near or far to the franchise. It all starts with the creation of an inquisitor and the choice of one of the three available classes and expertise (three respective subclasses). Unsurprisingly, Neocore draws these on the big archetypes of the genre with his Crusader (Tank), his Assassin (Rogue) and his Psyker (Mage) without ever chaining the player to a build poorly thought upstream.

To do this, designers have attached skills to weapons and equipment, not to the avatar itself. Also, the Inquisitor carries with him two sets of weapons and alternate on the fly according to the situations … a mechanism rare enough to be noted and which authorizes the experiments. This results in a flexible and accessible rise of the hero. Moreover, if the weapons are central, improving the inquisitors also means gaining experience unlocking new skills and attributes via several skill trees. A classic of the genre, not innovative in this case, but mastered.

Three classes, three gameplay, a common destiny.

Warhammer 40.000: Inquisitor – Martyr is content with a limited number of classes in favour of a less archetypal evolution of the avatar and a very different in-game experience depending on the type of hero chosen. Neocore puts the accent on the mastery of the Crusader, the Assassin and the Psyker and the imagination of the players to design inquisitors always more powerful and devastating. The lack of varieties in weapons and powers leaves a slight taste of unfinished business when it comes to counting.

The generosity of Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor Martyr is not questioned. Hundreds of items ranked by rarity level and thousands of combinations would stun the most stubborn Hack’n Slash players. And yet, the management of the inventory proves of a disconcerting facility. Indeed, Neocore has integrated several features to empty the coffers of the Martyr ship. A Forge to recycle and make, a merchant to buy and sell … the Imperium does not skimp on the means to repel Chaos and provides players with these modules aboard your ship.

-BadSector-

Publisher: NeocoreGames

Developer: NeocoreGames

Genre: top-down action-RPG

Release date: August 23, 2018