Dark Heresy Is Owlcat’s “Ambitious as f**k” 40K CRPG — And Maybe BG3’s First Real Rival

The first 40K CRPG that actually feels Inquisitorial

This caught my attention because Owlcat finally looks ready to lean into what makes Warhammer 40K singular: no heroes, only heretics and those ruthless enough to purge them. Dark Heresy reframes Rogue Trader’s sprawling space opera into something meaner and more surgical-you’re not a merchant prince anymore, you’re an Inquisitor with a mandate and a bolt pistol. And in a post-Baldur’s Gate 3 landscape where every CRPG claims “cinematic choices,” Dark Heresy instead doubles down on investigation, brutal turn-based tactics, and moral ambiguity you can’t spreadsheet your way out of.

Executive producer Anatoly Shestov laid it out plainly: in 40K, “nobody actually understands what’s good and what’s bad.” You won’t be nudged toward Paragon or Renegade-sometimes the correct move is executing innocents because the ledger of the Imperium demands it. That’s the 40K I’ve wanted a CRPG to embrace.

Key takeaways

• Detective-lite investigations add a new gameplay pillar-more Arnold than Sherlock, but with real clue-chasing and report-building.
• Combat meaningfully evolves Rogue Trader’s turn-based core with Fallout-style limb targeting and destructible cover.
• Encounter design pushes BG3-like flexibility (stealth, social setup, environmental debuffs) without losing Owlcat’s crunchy buildcraft.
• Hype check: Owlcat’s ambition is clear—so are historical launch-day bugs. If this is BG3’s rival, polish must be non-negotiable.

Breaking down the new systems

Two things jumped out in the hands-on: investigations and targeted mayhem. The detective layer borrows the vibe of LA Noire and Nobody Wants to Die, but threads it through 40K’s fist-first ethos. You scour scenes, piece together dossiers for your superiors, and—crucially—smash through scenery to uncover what’s hidden. Shestov even said they wanted you to feel more “Arnold Schwarzenegger than Sherlock Holmes,” which fits the tone. As someone who still replays LA Noire for its methodical tension, I’m here for an investigative loop that isn’t just flavor text.

Then there’s combat. Owlcat already pivoted to turn-based with Rogue Trader, but Dark Heresy adds a Fallout-esque targeting system where you can aim at arms, legs, head, torso, neck, even eyes—each with its own hit chance and wound outcome. Crippling a gunner’s arm to tank their accuracy or blowing out a leg to lock down flanks is the kind of tactical clarity turn-based systems thrive on. Combine that with fully destructible geometry and you’ve got legit positioning puzzles: create sightlines with a grenade, deny cover with heavy weapons, or collapse a walkway to choke the map.

Encounter scripting seems smarter, too. In the preview, an overstuffed dive bar full of heretics offered multiple approaches: stealth, full send, or a spiteful middle ground—get them drunk first, stack debuffs, then purge. That reads like a lesson learned from BG3’s encounter prep while keeping Owlcat’s emphasis on party synergies and build expression. If the late-game boss fights scale that creativity with meaningful environmental hazards, Dark Heresy could deliver the most strategic battles Owlcat has shipped.

Why this matters in the post-BG3 era

Since BG3, CRPGs face a new bar: reactivity, encounter dynamism, and production values that make choices feel expensive. Owlcat isn’t chasing Larian’s fully cinematic dialogues—historically their games favor text-forward writing with partial VO and massive systemic depth. That’s fine, as long as the tradeoff is substance. Dark Heresy’s pitch of “bigger maps, nastier tools, and genuine investigations” is a smart way to compete without imitating.

More importantly, the fantasy is different. Being an Inquisitor isn’t about saving the world—it’s about deciding who gets crushed under the Imperium’s boot and writing a report explaining why it was necessary. If Owlcat nails the consequences (factions remembering your purges, civilians fearing your rosette, allies balking at your excess), Dark Heresy could scratch a role-play itch BG3 doesn’t: authoritarian power wielded with dreadful certainty.

Hype check: the questions Owlcat still has to answer

Ambition isn’t the issue—Shestov calls the game “the fruit of Owlcat’s passion and labor” and says the team is “still ambitious as f**k and crazy people.” The concern is execution. Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Wrath of the Righteous, and Rogue Trader all launched with serious bugs and uneven performance before months of strong patching. If Dark Heresy wants to sit at BG3’s table, stability, UI clarity, and camera/pathing polish can’t be post-launch stretch goals.

I’m also watching the detective system closely. If “investigation” boils down to glowing objects and a skill check, it’ll feel like busywork between firefights. Give us branching deductions, false leads, and report outcomes that meaningfully change missions—that’s the difference between a gimmick and a pillar. Finally, tone management matters. 40K’s moral murk is the point, but the writing needs to sell the gravity of Inquisitorial cruelty without slipping into edge-lord shock value.

The gamer’s perspective

As a long-time Owlcat enjoyer who also remembers Kingmaker’s haunted save files, I’m cautiously hyped. The limb-targeting is exactly the kind of crunchy, readable depth I want; destructible arenas and encounter prep promise actual playstyle variety; the investigative layer fits the Inquisitor fantasy instead of fighting it. If the studio ships this with a cleaner launch and leans into consequence-heavy writing, Dark Heresy isn’t just “Rogue Trader, but grimdark”—it’s Owlcat growing up in the best way.

TL;DR

Dark Heresy looks like Owlcat’s sharpest CRPG yet: Inquisitor-led investigations, VATS-style targeting, and smarter, more destructible encounters. The pitch is strong—now it needs BG3-level polish and meaningful investigative payoffs to seal the deal.