Space Marine 2 planted its blood-splattered boot on the backs of the Tyranid in a glorious year for 40k. Getting to live my Plague Marine dreams as a puke-patterned member of the 14th was a highlight of the year, but Saber Interactive’s FPS wasn’t the only excellent game to fall from the Black Library’s shelves. Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, the exceptional CRPG from Owlcat Games, just got some major improvements thanks to the 1.3 update. From new items and cutscenes to a Conviction Point rework, it’s a new Golden Age in the Imperium of Man.
Rogue Trader’s 1.3 Update Improves on Greatness
The year’s been a blockbuster for 40k fans. When we weren’t exploring the Koronus Expanse with Uralon, we were gunning down waves of Termagants in the jungles of Kadaku. Overall, Space Marine 2‘s cinematic campaign delivered some of the best PvE co-op action since Left 4 Dead. Even better, its excellent class, perk, and heraldry systems gave squads a reason to stay in the trenches. Whether you’re a grognard who mastered your first 2,000-point army a decade ago or you just learned about the God-Emperor yesterday, SM2 is perfection. Improving another great 40k game in the same year feels decadent, and I love it.
Update 1.3 brings over 1,000 changes to Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, including console co-op, added and improved cutscenes, and a rebalanced Conviction Point system. Add in new voiceover work, improved colony events, and dozens of new items, and the scope of these improvements becomes obvious. Owlcat’s Grimdark CRPG has a Very Positive rating on Steam in large part thanks to its depth and polish. Franchises don’t get much more sprawling than 40k, with new games tumbling out of the Warp all the time, but their quality is often lacking. Rogue Trader just became an even bigger exception.
