The satire of Warhammer 40K shines in Rogue Trader

Games Workshop’s retail employees have a tough job, from low pay to constantly unreasonable demands from upper management. So it is with all the love and respect that I tell you about the animated boy my 14-year-old friends and I used to make fun of for his liberal use of the phrase “If a Space Marine came in here now…” He always went wild accompanied by enthusiastic gestures intended to express the absolute unity of these Space Marines (8 feet tall in Warhammer 40,000 history). . I bring this up because it perfectly encapsulates the thorny issue behind the marketing of these yoked stormtroopers: Space Marines are very expensive for something so small, forcing Games Workshop to elevate the legend of these tiny plastic soldiers over reality.

And what a legend it is. The Horus Heresy book series currently consists of over 60 thick paperbacks full of lore. There are far too many nuances to unpack here, but it’s fair to say that when authors spend so much time researching something, they have to take it very seriously, especially if they want to captivate their readers. To put it bluntly: 40K is a fascinating, entertaining, creative, expansive and often extremely clever setting. But it is also – At least not until 2021, according to the parent company – explicitly and intentionally satirizes the very faction that the vast majority of lore seems so fascinated by. “Satire is man as he is; Romance, people as they want to be,” wrote writer Dawn Powell. As 40K continues to grow in size, it becomes increasingly difficult to deny that its depiction of the Empire is at least somewhat ambitious.

A brief introduction: Humanity’s overwhelming presence in the 40K environment takes the form of the Imperium of Man, where determined xenophobia, thoughtless zealotry, and outright hostility to social or technological progress are among the highest virtues – in the truest sense of the word “Cult of tradition“. Ordinary people live in cramped “hives” and toil until death. They are then converted into tasty, nutritious “corpse starch.” The Imperial Guard, humanity’s most numerous military force, is best known for its mission Zapp Brannigan Maneuver, that is, throwing endless bodies at a problem until it solves itself. Therefore, the life of a single human being is anything but worthless. Terra’s more elite military are the Space Marines. As 2000 ADJudge Dredd represents law enforcement, just as the Space Marines represent the concept of the superhuman – a grim, satirical warning against the pursuit of supposed physical perfection and ultimate strength.

Of 36 playable factions In 40K, about half (17) are part of the Empire in some capacity, with another nine being their direct counterparts in Chaos, leaving just 10, spread across the numerous non-human species that populate this overwhelmingly large universe. Tastes in science fiction can vary widely, but one thing that unites them is the fact that great science fiction is almost insatiably curious. 40K absolutely shines when it lampoons the unwavering anti-curiosity of its human protagonists. But as the company gradually values ​​sales over artistic intent, this lack of curiosity all too often seems to be adopted by Games Workshop itself.

This fantastic look on 40K’s timeline and how it evolved from satire to something almost resembling a celebration, he puts it this way: “As the setting became more mainstream, the story of the Space Marines became more and more popular.” [portrayal] As noble warrior monks became more and more prominent, a world arose in which these abused, intolerant, mass-murdering child soldiers are only ever depicted from the perspective of the Empire” and are portrayed in the vast majority of official artwork “as real heroes.” Even the official one Website categorizes non-human armies as a “xenos threat.” If you look a little closer, it’s easy to see the inherent satire in Primarch Roboute Guilliman’s images, with a Christ-like glow shining from the background. But if you don’t know what you’re looking for, this stuff looks suspiciously like the very propaganda it’s mocking.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that today’s Games Workshop has lost its sense of satire, and certainly not its sense of humor. As we’ve seen time and time again in the games industry, shareholder misunderstanding or lack of appreciation for the creative process is a depressingly prevalent theme – it’s easy for nuance to get lost in the pursuit of easy profitability. The Rule of Cool sells vivid, not difficult topics. Also, 40K is a war game. In an environment that requires constant conflict, factions that think in absolute terms become necessary. But these are video games like the current, excellent CRPG Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader Come in. It would be a massive highlight to end a 40K game with a conversation before it even begins, but when the setting is allowed to spread its wings in a new genre, some of that classic satire begins to blossom again.

40K is especially ridiculous and Rogue traders has Fun with it without sacrificing any of the cheesy grindhouse stuff that grimdark excels at. The characters speak in rich, baroque prose that is simultaneously superbly written and almost indecipherable to anyone not already indoctrinated into their bizarre religious neo-feudalism. You don’t even have to leave your own ship to encounter a dehumanizing class structure, and each of your former co-workers is comically nefarious enough to be the main villain in any other setting. In Baldur’s Gate 3For example, the evil path requires a conscious, long attempt to move into monstrous territory. Here you can have several crew members executed in the first few hours without destroying the character.

Rogue traders isn’t even the first game to do this recently. Warhammer 40,000: DarktideDespite a rocky start, it develops into an excellent successor to the Vermintide series, masterfully portraying the horrific satire of existence in the horrific hive cities of 40K. Loading screen quotes are such pointed satire that you’d have to accidentally have your eyes glued shut while building models to miss them, with lines like “A small mind is a tidy mind,” “Blessed are the intolerant,” and “Duty is important, understanding is not.” Just a few years ago it seemed as if the flood of Warhammer games seemed like a punch line. Meanwhile, the scope and breadth of these games seems like a better medium to represent the most complete version of 40K than tabletop gaming itself.