The studio Owlcat from Cyprus is currently working on Dark Heresy, a new role-playing game set in the dark world of Warhammer 40,000. You can start playing the beta today, on May 21st. MyMMO editor and Warhammer expert Benedict Grothaus had an early look and is outraged by so many details that keep him from playing.
At the moment, I’m not following any game as actively as Dark Heresy – one of the reasons why I spent an hour and a half discussing the lore with the boss. With Owlcat, real experts are at work, both for Warhammer and for role-playing games.
When the alpha was released in December 2025, I already played it and found out that you can’t just play Dark Heresy on autopilot; the game requires a good deal of thinking and deduction.
No wonder, since the core of the game is something like a detective mechanic. As a member of the Inquisition, you need to solve cases, find culprits, and pass judgment – even when the facts are not clear. This is simply expected of your character.
Now the game’s beta is starting and everyone who has purchased one of the founders’ packs (available on the official website) can participate. The beta will run until the release of the game, which is yet to come. I have already looked at the content and spent more time on details than I want to admit – as much as I love this game and the Warhammer universe, I can get lost in details. And Dark Heresy has damn many of them.
Dark Heresy now has a character editor that consumes my time
The biggest difference from the alpha is that you can now create your own character. Gender, appearance, origin, class – all of that is now customizable, even though I can’t say for sure if this is already the final state.
I’m not worried though, as Owlcat is known for quite… extensive selection options when it comes to building a character. Dark Heresy is a bit more “straightforward” than the studio’s previous games, especially Rogue Trader.
Regarding classes and skills, there is now a sort of toolkit provided. Abilities are divided into different categories, which you can either follow more or less blindly or, alternatively, build your own more complex class. The archetypes available are:
- Fighter – specialists in close combat and “tanks”
- Soldier – experts in handling bolters and other firearms
- Officer – support characters with strong buffs
- Agent – roughly: snipers
- Psionic – the mages of the world
Although the number of classes is very manageable, just the choice took me almost 2 hours – and not because they are so complex, but because the subsequent customization options left me totally torn as a fan.
Who am I and why is this taking so long?!
After selecting the class, the selection of origin comes next, which – except for the psionic, who must always be a “sanctioned psionic” – offers different options that split further.
To summarize my dilemma briefly: I actually wanted to play a commissar, but I last played that in Rogue Trader. So I decided on a psionic, but then saw that one of the origin options is Astra Militarum.
One of the sub-options here are the Tempestus Scions. Just reading the name made me cheer. For the uninitiated: Tempestus Scions are something like the elite of the elite of the already best soldiers of the Empire. Unlike the average soldier, they go into battle with special laser rifles, significantly better armor, and good training.
Then there are also nobles to choose from different dynasties, and playing a noble commissar is simply wonderful in Warhammer games. Few things capture the arrogance of the world so well.
Catachan, Schola Progenium, and Tempestus Scions – details I fell in love with
Later in the game, I noticed even more of these short mentions that probably mean nothing to anyone who doesn’t know and love the world. For all fans like me, here are a few goodies from my nearly 10 hours in the game:
- The home worlds of the character influence their abilities – unfortunately without names. Maybe that will come, after all there are enough important planets in Warhammer 40,000.
- However, one named planet is the harsh death world Catachan, which serves as the home of one of the companions and is also mentioned in the game.
- One of the companions is chosen from the Schola Progenium, something like an elite boarding school for orphans. The famous Adepta Sororitas recruit their soldiers from there.
And while we’re on the subject of Sororitas: In the new content, a whole story revolves around these fanatical warrior priestesses, which is why I… might have stayed up until 4 AM again. But Sororitas are indeed my favorite faction and the best representation of what makes Warhammer 40,000.
The beta offers a new chapter and three new companions
That Sororitas play a certain role, I already knew beforehand, only the extent is new. As mentioned, there are new contents, including a little “prologue” and a complete chapter that was not playable in the alpha.
You can now choose whether to let yourself be entangled in the intrigues of the nobility in the “Lucid Palace” or travel directly to the slums of the city. The choice has consequences, as time in either area naturally continues while you solve riddles elsewhere.
I probably haven’t discovered all the new content yet, but I can already say: there are at least three more companions that I have already recruited. I don’t want to reveal too much here, just that:
- one of them belongs to an extremely powerful faction of the Empire
- another is very tech-savvy and according to previous statements is likely to become a romance option
- and the third is actually a rival, or seems to be one, who enters into a temporary alliance with you
All companions come with unique abilities based on their origins, which hasn’t exactly helped ease my detail-surfing hyperventilation. In addition, some of the content is now voiced, and a story is already told at the main menu – something I know from Baldur’s Gate 3, but did not expect in Dark Heresy.
What do you think so far about what you know about Dark Heresy? Will you play the beta or are you waiting for the release? What detail excites you the most? Feel free to leave a comment.
That the beta of Dark Heresy starts today was revealed by Owlcat during the Warhammer Skulls, the biggest event of the year dedicated to video games specifically about the Warhammer universe. What else was shown there and what was announced can be found here: Today is Christmas and Easter at the same time for Warhammer fans – All info on Warhammer Skulls
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