For Titan! For the Emperor!
All right, after finnishing the game after over 85 hours, I can safely say: this game is a great addition to the 40k videogames collections. And I want to explain why:

Sound: music is absolutely glorious, many many sound effects that really make you feel that crushing of bone, steel, stone or maggoty shroom. Voice acting is top notch. And I dont mean just that the Gollum was involved. Everyone delivered spectacularely. The little details like after being hit by some of the worst weapons the Death Guard can equip, your knight just says: "Weak". Or "Pain is beneath me". Fluffy stuff like that to enhance the mood and believe me, the game is filled with this. More on this later.

Visuals: i liked it. It takes a slightly stylized approach which was despised by some. I on the other hand can see that its only more like the tabletop. Exagerated proportions, faces. I had no problem with that. It added its own flavour and character. Graphics are decent, lots of colourful effects and subtle details. Levels are diverse and intriquete. Something a similliar game Mechanicus realy lacked with its own style I think. But lets now talk about UI. Where many little windows and menus have beautifely realised graphic depictions, ornaments and so on. Many games just go with sterile scifi geometric two coloured shapes for their UI. And its just so unappealing in my honest oppinion.

Now lets go to the mechanics. Ou my, what a fantastic twist on xcom style gameplay loop. First of all: NO hit chance. You are either indicated that you will or wont hit. Fantastic. No more ruined missions because of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 90% chance. You can make tactical decisions and realy plan ahead with confidence of a true Astartes. The critical strikes mechanics, where you can choose where or what to strike on your target works really well and the game manages to incorporate it to its core gameplay loop with disabled enemy abilities, executions which add action points and so on. Its not just a gimmick and that is good. I realy like how you can and should interact with the environment. For cover or for destroying various things like collums or exploding generators that can really impact your chances. And this is only amplified in various boss fights which are creative, rich and everyone is its own challenge with different tactics and flavours. Next up is the whole ship and your crew + knights management. I think that the idea of your own ship to manage and upgrade is genious for xcom like game. In 40k its not easy to make a game where you could just hire and build your "faction". But this works really well and adds lore friendly details and twists. Somebody really done his homework. Furthermore, RPG mechanics let you customise abilities fo your knights that realy deside what will win your missions. I wont say some are good or bad. It really depends on your style. But in any case, you will feel like commanding a squad of elite psycher astartes knights. its all in there.

The story is very fitting for the setting. Not very complicated, just the right amount of drama for a Grey knight. Interesting characters are included, very nice immersive cutscenes are included, lore friendly dialog is included and even a few characters from the setting of 40k are included, which is not common for GW videogames.

So to make it clear: presentation and gameplay is superb. But I would like to adress a few complaints that I have red about online about the game and I wish to clarify:
1) Knights are weak and even traitor guardsmen can harm them.
Well, there must be some sense of progression when you begin. The game teaches you quite early on, that you are mighty, but not invincible. What you do have from the biggining however, is your tactics. The sooner you learn how to really act as an astartes strike force, the sooner you will see how destructive you realy can be. And it wont take long, and you will see that your four knights can wreck dozens of freakin enemy terminators, deamons and engines in a matter of a few turns. All mainly by exploiting enemy weaknesses and utilizing your abilities. Ignore that and it will be you who will perish in a few hits. And that is why its so satisfying to obliterate strong enemy groups, positions and so on. Because it was your doing, your thinking and your decisions. Not the game, your level or scripts Emperor forbid.
And just a little nitpick about that thing that even some lasguns can harm you. Yeah, that only adds to being faithfull to the tabletop. Where a few lucky dice rolls from guardsmen can take down much more than a Grey knight. Trust me, in this game you are much more powerful. Just remember to use your shields and position yourself smartly. Again, let the game show you its you who can make the knights realy formidable. Not just the boring "invincible to attacks form this enemy" stat.
2) overwatch range is too short.
I can once again mention the tabletop here. But I like to thing about it in this game like a quick commitment to aim at "something" which would greatly limit your effective range. Remember that the turn based system lets you forget that all the action takes place in the matter of seconds. Like this the overwatch lets you cover a very specific spot or at least weaken the enemy approach or charge which can be really useful.
3) The game is too hard and nothing warns you that if you pick up the "wrong" talents for your knights, you would be forced to restart.
I honestly dont undersand where this came from. I am no master tactisian, five head or anything like that. But I managed to win the game on standard difficulty first try. And I could see how some abilities that I picked were not very useful for me later... and even those that I deemed extremely useful were almost redundant later. There were many instances where I could say "all right, I would definitely do it like this next time and not like this what I am doing now." But I had still won that mission though it wasnt optimal. If someone plays this first time and picks hardest difficulty right from the get go, well, that is his own undoing. The game does not force it upon you.

Sou thats its. Thats my honest review after a very long time. But I just had to defend this gem that managed to entertain me for the whole ride. And I generaly dont enjoy turn based games. But here the system, the mechanics and gameplay loop absolutely grew on me (not to mention the setting). As a 40k game, let this be a beautiful example how to do it. In my oppinion it even bestes the praised Mechanicus, which is too sterile for me. Be it in gameplay or UI/UX. And I am looking forward to do another playthrough, this time with a dreadnought and assassins, which are all very welcome additions.
If you ever wanted a tactical turn based game where you manage your squad of Grey knights with more than a decent depth at some places, this game is definitely for you and it is absolutely a blessing from the Emperor and hopefuly a harbringer of a great new era for GW videogames, coming with Boltgun, SM2, Blood, Gore and Teef and if the Emperor wills it, many more....

For Titan! For the Emperor! All right, after finnishing the game after over 85 hours, I can safely say: this game is a great addition to the 40k videogames collections. And I want to explain why: Sound: music is absolutely glorious, many many sound effects that really make you feel that crushing of bone, steel, stone or maggoty shroom. Voice acting is top notch. And I dont mean just that the Gollum was involved. Everyone delivered spectacularely. The little details like after being hit by some of the worst weapons the Death Guard can equip, your knight just says: "Weak". Or "Pain is beneath me". Fluffy stuff like that to enhance the mood and believe me, the game is filled with this. More on this later. Visuals: i liked it. It takes a slightly stylized approach which was despised by some. I on the other hand can see that its only more like the tabletop. Exagerated proportions, faces. I had no problem with that. It added its own flavour and character. Graphics are decent, lots of colourful effects and subtle details. Levels are diverse and intriquete. Something a similliar game Mechanicus realy lacked with its own style I think. But lets now talk about UI. Where many little windows and menus have beautifely realised graphic depictions, ornaments and so on. Many games just go with sterile scifi geometric two coloured shapes for their UI. And its just so unappealing in my honest oppinion. Now lets go to the mechanics. Ou my, what a fantastic twist on xcom style gameplay loop. First of all: NO hit chance. You are either indicated that you will or wont hit. Fantastic. No more ruined missions because of bullshit 90% chance. You can make tactical decisions and realy plan ahead with confidence of a true Astartes. The critical strikes mechanics, where you can choose where or what to strike on your target works really well and the game manages to incorporate it to its core gameplay loop with disabled enemy abilities, executions which add action points and so on. Its not just a gimmick and that is good. I realy like how you can and should interact with the environment. For cover or for destroying various things like collums or exploding generators that can really impact your chances. And this is only amplified in various boss fights which are creative, rich and everyone is its own challenge with different tactics and flavours. Next up is the whole ship and your crew + knights management. I think that the idea of your own ship to manage and upgrade is genious for xcom like game. In 40k its not easy to make a game where you could just hire and build your "faction". But this works really well and adds lore friendly details and twists. Somebody really done his homework. Furthermore, RPG mechanics let you customise abilities fo your knights that realy deside what will win your missions. I wont say some are good or bad. It really depends on your style. But in any case, you will feel like commanding a squad of elite psycher astartes knights. its all in there. The story is very fitting for the setting. Not very complicated, just the right amount of drama for a Grey knight. Interesting characters are included, very nice immersive cutscenes are included, lore friendly dialog is included and even a few characters from the setting of 40k are included, which is not common for GW videogames. So to make it clear: presentation and gameplay is superb. But I would like to adress a few complaints that I have red about online about the game and I wish to clarify: 1) Knights are weak and even traitor guardsmen can harm them. Well, there must be some sense of progression when you begin. The game teaches you quite early on, that you are mighty, but not invincible. What you do have from the biggining however, is your tactics. The sooner you learn how to really act as an astartes strike force, the sooner you will see how destructive you realy can be. And it wont take long, and you will see that your four knights can wreck dozens of freakin enemy terminators, deamons and engines in a matter of a few turns. All mainly by exploiting enemy weaknesses and utilizing your abilities. Ignore that and it will be you who will perish in a few hits. And that is why its so satisfying to obliterate strong enemy groups, positions and so on. Because it was your doing, your thinking and your decisions. Not the game, your level or scripts Emperor forbid. And just a little nitpick about that thing that even some lasguns can harm you. Yeah, that only adds to being faithfull to the tabletop. Where a few lucky dice rolls from guardsmen can take down much more than a Grey knight. Trust me, in this game you are much more powerful. Just remember to use your shields and position yourself smartly. Again, let the game show you its you who can make the knights realy formidable. Not just the boring "invincible to attacks form this enemy" stat. 2) overwatch range is too short. I can once again mention the tabletop here. But I like to thing about it in this game like a quick commitment to aim at "something" which would greatly limit your effective range. Remember that the turn based system lets you forget that all the action takes place in the matter of seconds. Like this the overwatch lets you cover a very specific spot or at least weaken the enemy approach or charge which can be really useful. 3) The game is too hard and nothing warns you that if you pick up the "wrong" talents for your knights, you would be forced to restart. I honestly dont undersand where this came from. I am no master tactisian, five head or anything like that. But I managed to win the game on standard difficulty first try. And I could see how some abilities that I picked were not very useful for me later... and even those that I deemed extremely useful were almost redundant later. There were many instances where I could say "all right, I would definitely do it like this next time and not like this what I am doing now." But I had still won that mission though it wasnt optimal. If someone plays this first time and picks hardest difficulty right from the get go, well, that is his own undoing. The game does not force it upon you. Sou thats its. Thats my honest review after a very long time. But I just had to defend this gem that managed to entertain me for the whole ride. And I generaly dont enjoy turn based games. But here the system, the mechanics and gameplay loop absolutely grew on me (not to mention the setting). As a 40k game, let this be a beautiful example how to do it. In my oppinion it even bestes the praised Mechanicus, which is too sterile for me. Be it in gameplay or UI/UX. And I am looking forward to do another playthrough, this time with a dreadnought and assassins, which are all very welcome additions. If you ever wanted a tactical turn based game where you manage your squad of Grey knights with more than a decent depth at some places, this game is definitely for you and it is absolutely a blessing from the Emperor and hopefuly a harbringer of a great new era for GW videogames, coming with Boltgun, SM2, Blood, Gore and Teef and if the Emperor wills it, many more....