Warhammer 40K Inquisitor Martyr is one hell of a mouthful. But what’s new when it comes to Games Workshop’s games? While already released for PC earlier this year, this is a Warhammer 40K Inquisitor Martyr Review for PS4 and Xbox One.
I’ve spent the better part of the last week fighting the evils of Chaos across the Caligari sector. I’ve destroyed hundreds, if not thousands of heretics. Stepping into the shoes of a burly Crusader, nimble Assassin and mystical Psyker.
And it’s been a decent time. The top-down, isometric Diabloesque gameplay wholly suits the Warhammer 40K universe. There are tonnes of weapons, skills, missions and levelling up to do too.
However, developer Neocore Games has packed Warhammer 40K Inquisitor Martyr so full that it’s overwhelming. Nothing truly gets to shine as a stand out feature when there’s so much noise. Luckily, the core experience is enjoyable and the narrative reverent to the source.
Fans of 40K will get a huge kick out of Warhammer 40K Inquisitor Martyr, but it’s going to take some time to get there.
Warhammer 40K Inquisitor Martyr Review PS4
Right off the bat, Warhammer 40K Inquisitor Martyr seems like a much simpler game than it really is. After selecting your Inquisitor, you board the Martyr, a derelict monastery dreadnaught seemingly abandoned.
It quickly becomes apparent that the Martyr is anything but abandoned and is instead overrun by the forces of Chaos.
As an Inquisitor, a member of the Imperium’s secret police, it’s your duty to discover what’s happened and to destroy any traces of Chaos. Which is what you do for the first five or so missions of the game. Until these missions are completed, the game proper remains hidden to you.
I was somewhat confused as I played this opening chapter. The mission select screen refused to allow me to select any mission other than the current one and all of the other options were greyed out. When I’d completed the prologue and was back safely aboard my own ship, Warhammer 40K Inquisitor Martyr really started to open up.
For the Emperor
I now had access to the entire Caligari Sector, a shop, multiplayer and co-op and eventually crafting, weekly and seasonal events, randomly generated missions, multi-staged side quests, challenge modes and more.
It seemed a little much. Sure, a lot of content in a game isn’t a bad thing, but in Warhammer 40K Inquisitor Martyr I was totally overwhelmed. I did discover that I could simply follow the campaign’s main quests, but even doing that I eventually came up against a block to my progress.
Like Destiny, your Inquisitor has a Power Stat which is governed by the Power of the equipment and weapons you have. Each mission has a suggested Power level and if you’re underpowered you’ll suffer penalties.
Before you head into the mission, the game will tell you your penalties too. So, if you’re only 10 or so Power levels below, you might deal 1% less damage and take 1% more. However, if you’re too far underlevelled, you’ll end up taking much, much more damage and dealing almost none.
This means you’ll need to go grind out the other content to get the loot that will put you over the top. Not that that’s a problem for an RPG, but it does grate somewhat that you’ll struggle to finish the story without grinding.
Powering Up
The other, more serious issue I found with grinding in Warhammer 40K Inquisitor Martyr is that the gameplay can’t really stand the test of time. It’s not varied enough, not engaging enough and not challenging enough.
Depending on your equipped items and weapons, you’ll have four standard attacks, a support ability and a special ability. The four attacks are mapped to the X, R2, Triangle and Circle buttons. The support ability is L2 and your special is L2+R2. Your Inquisitor can also have two loadouts, so you have the option of having both a ranged and close quarters weapon.
When you perform an attack, it goes into a cooldown, some of which are short while others are longer. Switching loadouts also reset your cooldowns, so if you change in the midst of battle, you’ll be vulnerable for a few seconds until you’re able to attack.
The support ability includes grenades, a personal shield and the like while your special is governed by your armour. In the opening missions, my Inquisitor could perform a massive dive bomb onto enemies. Once I’d upgraded my armour, I had an incredible rocket barrage AOE attack, which I never did away with again.
The same can’t be said of the weapons though. I found that the Autogun gave me all I needed as far as ranged attacks were concerned and a Great Axe did the same for close quarters. After a few missions, I became hesitant to change my loadouts for a couple of reasons.
Choose Your Weapons Carefully
Firstly, once you set your loadout you’re unable to change it mid-mission. Thereby potentially leaving you with dud weapons for an entire mission. Secondly, the nature of Warhammer 40K Inquisitor Martyr’s gameplay means that the best way forward is to spray your enemies with bullets.
You are able to equip and use a host of weapons, but when each mission is so packed with Chaos minions, the Autogun is the way to go. And that’s sadly where Warhammer 40K Inquisitor Martyr starts to come apart at the seams a little. It never really asks you to change up your playstyle and if you do, you’re punished for it.
I initially opted to play as the Crusader class, which roughly equates to the warrior in standard RPG terms. After giving both the Assassin (Rogue) and Psyker (Wizard) a run, I realised my first instinct was the correct one.
Crusader For the Win
For me anyway. Both the Assassin and Psyker felt too squishy for the way I played. I also had much less fun when I wasn’t able to stroll into a crowd of enemies and turn them into mush with a few swings of a chainsword. Which class you choose will largely depend on your playstyle.
Warhammer 40K Inquisitor Martyr is by no means a bad game, it’s just a little misguided in its execution. There’s just a bit too much noise for the best bits if the game to truly stand out. That being said, I still think 40K fans will absolutely love it.
There’s lots to do, it’s totally accurate when it comes to Warhammer 40K and the story is as grimdark as you can get.
Warhammer 40K Inquisitor Martyr was reviewed on PS4 using a digital code provided by the publisher.
PowerUp! Reviews
Game Title: Warhammer 40K Inquisitor Martyr
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The Grimmest of Dark - 8.3/108.3/10
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Incredibly detailed, deep RPG systems - 8/108/10
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Not a great port from PC - 5/105/10
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Little variety - 5.2/105.2/10
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Not ugly, but not pretty - 6/106/10
