Developer Owlcat Games shared a new deep dive for the upcoming turn-based RPG Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy. The new article is focused on a brand-new Investigation system.
“Passing judgement is never easy, for every Inquisitorial case is unique. It always begins with a suspicion — a vague rumour, a fragment of data, a strange report, or simply a name repeated one too many times not to raise questions. Not all suspicions can be easily confirmed; that is why they must be investigated.”
As an acolyte of the Holy Inquisition, you will have to seek out the nascent or already-spreading corruption and eliminate it before it flowers into full-blown blasphemy. Prepare to hunt down, accuse, and doubt – simple in word, and impossible in deed. To properly convey this atmosphere, the developers will be introducing an entirely new gameplay mechanic, the detective-style Investigation system, that will be seamlessly integrated into the story.
The developers promise that throughout the game, players will be confronted with numerous cases that must be solved, ranging from the minor to the critical, with repercussions for the entire sector. Inquiry and deduction will become their art, as they find themselves engulfed ever more in the filth and fear of unholy deviance.
Taking part in this mechanic can be split into several steps:
- Find clues! Collect evidence by examining everything, no matter how insignificant, but remember that, just like people, some leads will lie to you. Be careful, and keep an eye out for any inconsistencies in the evidence or in the testimonies of those you are questioning.
- Use special tools. Servo-skull swarms are back again, updated and better than ever, ready to serve you on the orders of the Inquisition. Each of them is different and comes with its own unique abilities, from lighting your way with lumens to conducting Auspex scans, speech synthesis, or pict recordings, and so much more.
- Draw conclusions. Using the special Detective Journal, analyze evidence and draw conclusions! Here you can gain an overview of open cases, review evidence and clues, and generally progress in your investigations. Your companions may weight in with their own comments as well.
- Pass judgement. Once the trail has brought them to this final point, it is time for the acolyte to prepare their report to the Inquisitor.
