Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr will be a monumental, brutal and grim experience, undeniably true to the spirit of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Building on the experience gained from The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Action-RPG trilogy, NeocoreGames aims to expand the boundaries of the genre itself by taking the in-game mechanics and visual solutions to a brand new level and also by opening up a persistent sandboxed Action-RPG.

The single player campaign pitches players into a grim and secret war among the stars as the agents of the ever-vigilant Inquisition. After the end of the campaign the story continues in a colossal sandboxed game set in the same secluded sector of this vast universe. This persistent setting grants years of constant entertainment, gradual development and a continuous flow of content that enriches the Action-RPG gameplay.

During its E3 presentation NeocoreGames shared more details about the Inquisitorial Campaign that sets the players free in a persistent sandboxed world where thousands of randomly generated planets, moons and ships are waiting for them to explore. Moreover the pre-alpha build showcased some of the brand new gameplay features and mechanics that make Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr the true next step in the Action RPG genre.

Inquisitor – Martyr uses very standard ARPG maps, but one map is always just one of the countless missions available in the game. When we say open world sandbox ARPG, we are talking about a game that will provide diversity and hundreds of hours of gameplay without the boredom of repetition. To achieve this goal, we set out to create missions as randomly generated ARPG maps, using prefabricated segments put together like giant puzzle pieces, each provided with different objectives and scattered all over the Star Map.

The Star Map represents our own sandboxed Sector. The Caligari Sector is a special region: it is part of the Imperium of Man, while on the other hand it is a secluded and vast section of the space, encompassing hundreds of star systems, countless planets, which all have been cut off from the rest of the galaxy for a very long time. It contains everything that a WH40K sector should, but it is entirely our own.

In the open world game mode, which we call the Inquisitorial Campaign, we gradually open up the Star Map of the whole Sector to create a persistent world with its ongoing storyline.

As an Inquisitor with your own ship, you are free to wander the Caligari Sector and access various missions. You’ll see all available missions on the Star Map. Sometimes these are stand-alone assignment, sometimes a mission gives you clues that could lead to a new assignment. There will be specifically tailored missions, written separately and tied together with the help of special clues and they form the so-called Grand Investigations. And there is of course the most special investigation of all, the single player campaign. This is a very personal investigation set on an abandoned fortress-monastery “Martyr”, which hides a terrible secret from the past of the Inquisition. Note that apart from the maps of the single player campaign, you’ll have the opportunity to play a co-op game up to four players.

The Sector also has its ongoing storyline, which is a composition of many factors. It is influenced by the results of the investigations, the balance between the various factions and of course the special events that have an effect on the entire Sector. These events generate missions, and the outcome of these missions influence what the next event will be. We only introduce the conflict, and let the players decide which side they will take in this conflict on a meta-level. The entirety of the players, the community as a whole will influence the outcome through their personal decisions, turning the Sector into a dynamically changing world.

The Inquisitorial Campaign always poses new challenges for the players. We didn’t want to build a sandbox game where the setting progresses in unison with the characters and all you get is the constant grinding on your own level. Sometimes you’ll learn the hard way that there are system or sub-sectors where you simply don’t go until you are ready.

The Inquisitorial Campaign gives you the opportunity to build your own Inquisitorial Fortress. This will be your safe haven that you can improve and customize and it will also serve as the way to introduce an indirect PvP mode. You won’t fight other players directly, but the Inquisition has many factions and their quarrels sometimes lead to clashes, which means that other players can attack your Fortress and you can do the same. The reward is, obviously, valuable loot from others.

We included everything in the gameplay that makes an ARPG work – like levelling up, loot system, and so on – and at the same time we also introduced some fundamental improvements as well. First of all, we chose a more tactical approach that fits the atmosphere of the grim 41st millennium. We wanted to create the impression that you are participating in a war. We reworked the enemy AI, so the groups have leaders who coordinate their attacks, the snipers will shoot at you from behind covers and the flankers will do whatever it takes to keep you from getting closer to your target. However, one of the truly fundamental improvements over other ARPGs is the cover system. Both you and your enemies can use certain objects as covers, which can also be destroyed.

When you deal out massive amounts of damage, you can demolish the environment around you, which is both a tactical element and a spectacular display of destruction that recalls the sense of constant warfare. We also wanted to squeeze as much blood and gore into the gameplay as possible. This is a Warhammer 40K game, after all. Not to mention that you can have aimed attacks at giant creatures and bosses, getting rid of their limbs and special abilities. Or you can finish off the boss creatures with the various execution moves.

There is still plenty more to talk about, of course. We’ll have a lot more exciting things to share with you during the coming months and I hope you’ll have just as much fun playing our game as we have making it.