Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader Review in Progress

ign.com:

Sitting at right around 65 hours into developer Owlcat's impressively deep and expansive Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, there are a few things I can proclaim with confidence: One is that this game is absolutely huge – I might only be crossing the halfway mark, based on where I am in its intricate but not too difficult-to-follow story. Another is that this is a glorious glimpse into the 40K universe, highlighting elements of it that often go underexplored and showcasing some of my personal favorite races and organizations. It's not without faults, and I have a lot more to see before I slap a final score on it, but Rogue Trader is already easily becoming my favorite of this studio's ambitious CRPGs so far.

Unfortunately, it’s also worth mentioning upfront that there I ran into a lot of bugs – enough to stuff a Space Hulk with. Missing tooltips, abilities that don't work correctly, invincible enemies, T-posing servitors, and even one case where my progress was blocked on a crucial quest. Like my grandiose, gothic voidship the Fortunatrix, it's not exactly polished to a mirror sheen. I've been playing on a pre-release build up to this point though, and we were promised a lot of fixes coming in the Day 1 patch that will be out by the time you're reading this. I made some test saves at a couple of vexing moments so I can go back and check if they're mended in the release version, and I'll update this review accordingly.

Now then: Rogue Trader puts you into the shiny, step-on-me boots of a titular Rogue Trader, the heir to the von Valancius dynasty and a very powerful person in the Imperium. No matter how you envision them – with satisfying dialogue options that range from a snarky pirate to a sanctimonious servant of the Golden