Mediocre! Wait… wrong franchise.
Once again we have reached the point of time where another Warhammer game appears. Perhaps in the future, we will use these games to measure the distance of time since the apocalypse has passed.
Warhammer 40,000 Inquisitor – Martyr, which I will call Martyr from now on, takes an isometric-RPG angle to make things interesting. This is a valid attempt by Neocore to develop a new and different angle in the plethora of games. But the attempt falls short of the mark, a passable campaign holds a lot of misshapen parts together and causes a flat OK experience.
As the name suggests you play as an Inquisitor, building from a very robust customisation system. They fit the usual style of Rogue, Mage, or Fighter though there are various differences in place as well as plenty of refinement to really dig out your own playstyle from the pile. There is plenty of this tweaking throughout the game, so if you thought Diablo didn’t have enough for you to screw around with or enough aliens, then you’ll definitely enjoy this feature.
From there you dive into the campaign and various side missions, trawling through numerous dark and dull corridors killing everything around you. But the gameplay becomes flat and repetitive. I find no real fun in repetition until success, there has to be a substance with it and while the campaign does a serviceable job there is really nothing in the side missions to keep you going. It becomes a bit of a slug-fest: You just keep powering on through enemies with very little to spice up the palate. There are some unique features such as being able to take cover but you won’t really need to as you can dispatch most enemies easily and bosses generally require dodging, healing and attacking.
The straightforwardness does provide some benefits, particularly you can go rather stylish because the enemies don’t really pose too much of a threat to you. You can spin the round and throw them about like a 50’s housewife with no bother. This is satisfying enough for a while, especially teaming up in co-op and throwing some sweet combos together with a friend.
Everything around this is just sort of OK, however, graphically the game is OK; it does what it needs to do but the dark and murky corridors don’t really stand out and marvel the senses even when cranked to the max. Enemies fall for the same issue, looking all a bit bland. The gothic architecture and areas of chaos are plentiful but besides a few bosses nothing looks very interesting.
The story also feels like a strange fanfiction performance. It is irrelevant to the gameplay, as it won’t ever really stop you blasting through hordes. But what there is comes full of tropes and really doesn’t involve you enough to make you feel compelled to complete it for anything more than achievements. Neocore does promise future content, possibly with a story, so this may change but for now, it does nothing more than facilitate going forwards.
Which leaves me with a weird aftertaste from this game. Martyr isn’t ostensibly bad and probably is just a bit rushed. But it lacks any feeling of punch and sensation, a key part of good hack-and-slash games. This may grow into a more complete and rounded experience but unless you’re pining for some new Diablo style gameplay or just more Warhammer you could let this one slide.
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