On December 7, 2023, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader will be released on Steam. The role-playing game in the vast Warhammer universe comes from developers who have already made a name for themselves in the field. If you’re looking for a replacement for Baldur’s Gate 3, you’re in the right place.
What kind of game is this?
- Rogue Trader takes place in the grim world of Warhammer 40, a future in the 41st millennium, where the Imperium of Man fights against chaos demons, orks, and malevolent tyranids.
- The game is a tactical role-playing game, or CRPG, just like Baldur’s Gate 3. The game is developed by Owlcat Games, who have already created the Pathfinder games – some of the best role-playing games on Steam.
- Rogue Trader will be released on December 7 for PC on Steam, GOG, and in the Epic Games Store. You can pre-order the game on the official website starting at $39.99. For PS5 and Xbox, the game will also be released on December 7. (A store page for Xbox is currently missing).
What makes Rogue Trader special: Most RPGs take place in a fantasy world and are at least loosely based on the well-known Dungeons & Dragons or are inspired by it. In Rogue Trader you face a dystopian, grim sci-fi world.
The Warhammer world is characterized by – as the name suggests – constant war. You are a rogue trader and captain of your own ship, with which you travel the galaxy and navigate through dangerous territories in search of profit.
Owlcat Games are known for embedding various and secret endings in their deep stories as well as introducing meta-systems into the game. Therefore, managing your journey will be as important as driving the story forward.
You will be accompanied by a fighting Eldar (a “Space Elf”), a fanatical Adepta Sororitas, and a colossal Space Marine from the order of the wild Space Wolves. Interaction with your companions is an important part of the game.
Rogue Trader – A Role-Playing Game Without Classes
I pre-ordered Rogue Trader a long time ago and had access to all the tests, but purposely played very little. Actually, not at all, because I want to wait until the game really comes out.
A major feature is already revealed right at the beginning of the game: There is no classic character creation with races and classes, as you might know from Baldur’s Gate 3. Instead, you select various points from your past:
- your homeworld essentially decides your “race” and provides you with attribute bonuses and feats. However, you are always human
- the origin is essentially the “class” and determines which skills you are particularly good at and what you start with
- doctrines specialize you in what you do – such as adept, leader, shooter, etc.
- your “triumphs” and the “darkest hour” further shape your character, but there is still missing information on what exactly they are supposed to do
Rogue Trader thus dispenses with some of the most well-known features of the RPG genre and replaces them with new systems. However, they also fit well into the universe, because: Humans (and actually all races in 40k) are absolute racists and want to erase everything else anyway. What is more important is where you come from and what you can do – and how loyal you are to the Emperor.
You can also customize your ship, which serves as a mobile base for your missions. Otherwise, character customization is kept quite simple: a few templates for face, body, and hair, by far not as detailed as in Baldur’s Gate 3. However, there are no spoilers for the story and the goal of the game yet.
I am still a bit skeptical about how well Warhammer 40k will work as a CRPG, but I still supported the game early on because I have great trust in Owlcat. The Pathfinder games are among the best games I have ever played with well over 200 hours per game. And Warhammer excites me too, although more the fantasy universe:
In a perfect world, the largest MMORPG today would be World of Warhammer
