Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is an interesting game for a lot of reasons, because in most games, you’re just another soldier in the endless wars that the Imperium finds itself in. But that’s not the case when it comes to Rogue Trader. One of the main lures is that players control a Rogue Trader who’s in uncharted parts of space, and because of certain privileges, they’re given free rein to do whatever they want in the name of the Imperium. Throughout the game, no one really challenges you or your methods because, by all accounts, you’re acting within the law. But what happens when the Imperium of Man sends the Adeptus Arbites (Warhammer 40,000’s version of space cops) to keep the peace and maintain law and order? That’s one of the many themes that are explored in the Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader Lex Imperialis DLC, which makes the expansion well worth your time.
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader – Lex Imperialis
Developer: Owlcat Games
Price: $17.99
Platform: PC (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5
MonsterVine was supplied with a Steam code for review
The tone of the Lex Imperialis DLC is set almost immediately. Once it’s officially started, players are greeted by high officials of the Adeptus Arbites inside your palace. From there, they introduce themselves and let you know that they’re here to help maintain the peace and require your help in doing so. The opening level, in a lot of ways, sets the foundation for what you can expect within this 15-hour run. Without skipping a beat, we’re shown firsthand how swift the Adeptus Arbites can be in enacting justice and peace. Once the opening act is complete, players unlock Solomorne Anthar, a member of the Adeptus Arbites, as a new companion.
Even though the latest DLC is built around the Arbites, a significant portion of the expansion focuses on Solomorne and his Cyber Mastiff Glaito. Rogue Trader does a fantastic job of intertwining both the main story and Solomorne’s personal journey. Throughout my gameplay, there wasn’t a single moment when I didn’t have him with me. It wasn’t because of how tied he was to the expansion, either. One of the main reasons why I loved taking him on the field was his play style. Solomorne, in a lot of ways, served as a tank for me. He was always on the front lines, taking all sorts of beatings while dishing out an equal amount of damage. This was mainly thanks to his ability to wear heavy armor and use a shield and shotgun at the same time. The ideal strategy for me was to put him front and center with his shotgun because of its ability to handle large crowds and send in Glaito to clean up whatever was left.
When I wasn’t in combat, I found myself spending a lot of time just getting to know him. Even though this is entirely optional, not taking the time to talk to Solomorne feels wrong. Getting to know him on a personal level and understanding why he joined the force made him more relatable. Especially so because a lot of the time, he’s a by-the-books cop. This made him feel less like a cog in a machine and more human, even more so when you get him to open up about how he truly feels about Glaito and what they like to do for fun. Not to mention all the terrific one-liners he seems to drop daily. It’s hard to imagine that there was a version of Rogue Trader where Solomorne wasn’t in it.
As for the main story, the DLC has you traveling throughout the Koronus Expanse, ensuring that people are following the Emperor’s will. One thing that caught me off guard while playing this was the number of times I found myself roleplaying as a detective and trying to figure out if someone was telling me the truth or not. This was a common theme I kept finding myself in. What was interesting was the series of moral conundrums I kept getting into. On the one hand, I had Solomorne in my ear, who was ready to kill anyone who stepped out of line, while on the other, I was trying to walk a fine line between being someone who cares but not wanting to be walked over. This created some unique situations because I often found myself at odds with the Adeptus Arbites, who tended to be more intense than I would have liked.
When I wasn’t solving crimes or being put in life-or-death situations because of the Arbites, I often played the role of judge, jury, and executioner. In just about all of the main levels, I was judging someone across the Koronus Expanse because of some kind of crime they committed. Some of these ranged from people trying to ensure someone else got murdered to someone trying to make a name for themselves. What made these trials even more fun was how dramatic they could be. I often found myself gasping at some of the things the NPCs were saying to prove someone was either guilty or innocent.
The final act of Lex Imperialis is when the DLC starts to pick up and sink its claws into you. As someone who has spent a lot of time getting into the 40k lore, I appreciated how Lex Imperialis shows how ugly the Imperium can be to its own people (even though you don’t have to look hard to find examples). Towards the end of the DLC, I often found myself questioning if the Imperium was doing the best thing for the folks in the Koronus Expanse and if the Adeptus Arbites were the answer to this complicated question. As I questioned this and performed tasks for them, I uncovered mysteries that shed new light on significant characters.
In typical Rogue Trader fashion, you’ll be tasked with making some hard decisions. More often than not, these can vary based on your personal feelings about the situation. One thing I did appreciate about these is how every single one mattered. After I decided to do X thing, it always had some kind of outcome. Sometimes, these would be small, while other times, they would have huge ramifications. Even as I write this review, I find myself asking if I made the right call in certain situations.
You know Warhammer content is good when you find yourself getting lost in countless lore videos and looking into how much a small box set of minis costs. That’s precisely what I found myself doing, and I’m almost confident now that I’ll be purchasing a Lex Imperialis box and pretending that Solomorne Anthar and Glaito are a part of that squad. The DLC has inspired me to start a new run with the Adeptus Arbites origin, just to see how it changes certain situations.
The Final Word
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader Lex Imperialis is the DLC I never knew I needed. From the very start, players are thrown into intense situations and are forced to make even harder decisions. The Adeptus Arbites fit the world of Rogue Trader perfectly, and it’s hard to imagine a version of this game without them.
MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great