Great atmosphere and a killer soundtrack really elevate this game. It feels respectful to the source material, the combat is fun and the huge number of different ways you can customise your squad of techpriests for different missions gives you an enormous tactical variety.

Making the extra movements and more potent weapons and abilities dependent upon cognition points was a fantastic idea, as these cognition points can only be harvested from obelisks and defeated opponents (or stolen from living opponents), forcing the combat to be more aggressive and fast-paced, rather than relying on hiding behind cover.

It isn't without flaws, however. The difficulty scale needs a bit of rebalancing, as the early game can be punishingly difficult (thought a lot of fun) while the later game is incredibly easy. The latter half/third of the game becomes less about winning the battle than about winning it in the fastest and most efficient way possible (which, to be fair, is very appropriate for the Mechanicus). One of the upgrade paths for your priests is pretty much useless; the Secutor line is too weak for the early game when compared to the other paths, and wholly superfluous in the later missions when a fully kitted out squad can clear a battlefield in a single turn.

Definitely get the Heretek DLC, as it adds some new weapons and troops, five extra missions and some variety in opponents, as you crush a rebellion of Xenarite Hereteks onboard the Caestus Metallican. The Xenarite tech path is also pretty useful, giving some powerful abilities, thought at a rather steep cost.

I'm certainly hoping for a sequel, hopefully with more factions and an improved difficulty curve.

Great atmosphere and a killer soundtrack really elevate this game. It feels respectful to the source material, the combat is fun and the huge number of different ways you can customise your squad of techpriests for different missions gives you an enormous tactical variety. Making the extra movements and more potent weapons and abilities dependent upon cognition points was a fantastic idea, as these cognition points can only be harvested from obelisks and defeated opponents (or stolen from living opponents), forcing the combat to be more aggressive and fast-paced, rather than relying on hiding behind cover. It isn't without flaws, however. The difficulty scale needs a bit of rebalancing, as the early game can be punishingly difficult (thought a lot of fun) while the later game is incredibly easy. The latter half/third of the game becomes less about winning the battle than about winning it in the fastest and most efficient way possible (which, to be fair, is very appropriate for the Mechanicus). One of the upgrade paths for your priests is pretty much useless; the Secutor line is too weak for the early game when compared to the other paths, and wholly superfluous in the later missions when a fully kitted out squad can clear a battlefield in a single turn. Definitely get the Heretek DLC, as it adds some new weapons and troops, five extra missions and some variety in opponents, as you crush a rebellion of Xenarite Hereteks onboard the Caestus Metallican. The Xenarite tech path is also pretty useful, giving some powerful abilities, thought at a rather steep cost. I'm certainly hoping for a sequel, hopefully with more factions and an improved difficulty curve.