As a longtime D&D player, I admittedly looked down on the Warhammer 40K RPG. Hand-painting a horde of space marine miniatures? DUMB, especially compared to theorycrafting a half-orc ranger I will never actually play. Grimdark, never-ending intergalactic war setting? How about something more grown-up, like the post-WWI, steampunk world of Eberron?

I’m here to admit that Warhammer 40K is actually kind of sick. Specifically, the computer roleplaying game Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader.

The Setting

Warhammer 40K is a cynical setting where, “in the grimdarkness of the far future, there is only war”. This appeals to the horror-movie fan in me. It’s fascinating to explore a world that absolutely sucks. As one of the extremely privileged Rogue Traders, you are sometimes a victim of this universe. More often, you are the beneficiary and agent of its suffering.

The main thing that Rogue Trader does well is draw interesting stories from a deep lore The writing oozes with respect for the 40ish years of lore built up (oozes respectfully). There is a faction to fill very niche of the lore: technology worshipping priests who replace their humanly body parts with machines, genetically engineered super soldiers, a whole faction dedicated to administration and record keeping. I’m sort of convinced that the plot of Rogue Trader is an excuse to give you a glimpse into the maximalist lore of 40k. I mean that in a good way. One early side mission gives you the Seinfeld-esque task of waiting in line for paperwork, a universally painful task that not even an almighty rogue trader can sidestep.

40k is also just an enormous setting and, I appreciate that the lore is represented through a litany of companion characters with great writing. Each side character represents a unique faction and their unique story unfolds over the course of this very long game. The dense lore is dispensed through characters that you actually grow to care about.

But Is the Game Fun?

Okay you got me here. Yes the game is fun for a certain kind of player. Rogue Trader is the kind of media I love but would have a hard time recommending. First, you’re gonna have to be the type who enjoys a lot of reading. There’s almost no voice acting and the animations are sort of low-res. The different planets, art direction and music are great but you can tell it’s not a AAA budget game. But good writing »> good graphics and excellent story, characters and dialogue are abundant.

Did I mention there is a lot of reading? Because there is. Every time you level up, you choose between roughly 50 skills, each with completely different effects and interactions with other skills. It’s a crunchy leveling system, and you level up often. Oh, and if you like reading item descriptions, there are a lot of those too. Honestly, I love it. Building a character with crazy builds and weird items is extremely satisfying.

Rogue Trader is an ambitious game that’s deep on lore, character building and mechanics. I didn’t even mention the space battles, the two DLC and the two DLC that is planned to release this year. Oh and with 80 hours into the game I’m not even halfway finished. It’s not a perfect game by any means but it succeeds where it really matters. If you need to find me in 2026 I’ll probably be busy controlling my Rogue Trader’s voidship.