Review: Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader

destructoid.com:

It’s been a while since I’ve felt as genuinely mixed over a game as I have for Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. Coincidentally, the last game I felt this conflicted over was Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, but for dramatically different reasons, as the only things they have in common are the IP and unstable performance.

While the 2022 title was a horde shooter, Owlcat’s take on the 40,000 universe is the first CRPG entry. It shares a lot in common with the developer’s previous Pathfinder games but stands out in the library. Again, that’s in positive and negative ways.

Rogue Trader is a brilliant game, but it could’ve been fantastic, and that’s what’s frustrating about it. For every shining quality, there’s usually something tacked on detrimental to the overall experience. It’s a grim, haunting journey for all of the right reasons given the universe, but a few tedious encounters and bugs made for some extraneous misery along the way.

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (PC [reviewed], PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S)
Developer: Owlcat Games
Publisher: Owlcat Games
Released: December 7, 2023
MSRP: $49.99

Rogue Trader‘s premise sees players take on the titular title after inheriting it from a distant relative, Theodora. While the story initially has you tracking down Theodora’s supposed killer, this deviates into a tale of life as a Rogue Trader.

Much of the plot after the first chapter revolves around humanity’s conflicts with various Xenos species and the protagonist protecting their colonies. Rogue Trader‘s writing is by far its strongest trait, but it feels oddly paced as the story shifts from its initial premise for dozens of hours.

And while some of that drags, Rogue Trader does excel in its moment-to-moment writing, like in your interactions with Kronos Exapanse’s inhabitants and other characters. Humans, like Argenta and Hendrix, who zealously serve the Imperium, do so with different approaches. While the former is gleefully devout, the other is coldly brutal, but what’s