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What is the best way to best capture the aesthetic/atmosphere of the 40k universe in a videogame?
What kind of game suits 40k the best?
Would a Mass Effect style (in terms of narrative) work?
Would a game where you play as the necrons work?
How about the horror genre?
What about a grand strategy game?

I still think the orginal DOW and it's first two expansions are the best games in the sense of capturing the atmosphere and themes of 40k. Game play wise Space Marine was also another game that I loved because it let me play similar to how marines are described in the background, an elite killing machine that still needs to use his head especially latter in the game.

the 40k universe is so big that any game type could work. As for a game from the Necron point of view, under the new background it could work, but necrons as a whole would need a bit more fleshing out in order to be main characters.

I would love an XCOM style squad based game that merges turn-based tile combat with the RPG elements and theme of Inquisitor. You control an Inquisitor, Chaos Cult Leader, Assassin, Genestealer Broodlord, Rogue IG Commander, etc. Your character and force get special units and abilities as you track down your objective: STC, planetary governor, demon, etc.

In general, I think the atmosphere is much more translatable than the mechanics.

I'd agree with the above. I'm more ok with a developer changing the mechanics of the game, such as DOWs units not being perfect mirror to the table top, if they get feel and atmosphere right.

Perhaps a sandbox style game where you play as a genestealer, and you have to make as large a presence as possible on the victim planet before the hive fleet arrives.

An XCOM style game with Deathwatch would basically be XCOM but better. Because it would have Deathwatch.

Lets look at what's worked well. Generally everything pre-2008 is for the most part excellent. The original DoW series (barring Soulstorm and a couple random hiccups) were pretty great, the old Chaos Gate, Final Liberation, and similar games were all pretty solid in capturing the 40k vibe, though Fire Warrior was awful.

Most of the newer stuff since then suffers from much the same problems as GW's fluff in general, it's increasingly thin in terms of substance and fictional depth and increasingly heavy on flashy effects and bolter porn and being "Heroic" while missing what makes the 40k universe really dark and atmospheric. The recent Armageddon turn based game was pretty good though and a good recreation of some of the more classic stuff.

Now, 40k encompasses a pretty broad spectrum of stuff, one *could* make a Mass Effect style game work (provided you actually did a functional ending and not a rip-off of DeusEx again), something along the lines of the old Inquisition War books. RTS & Turn based strategy games obviously work. Shooters can work, etc. It all depends on what viewpoint you take.

That said, I think the best representation of the 40k universe, both in game and in atmosphere, was the original Dawn of War series.

The original DOW wasn't perfect but it hit the main points, all four factions felt right and it was nice to see IG get a solid guest spot. The voice acting was solid, it was nice to every faction treated as competent in their own way. The guard where determined and brave even in the face of overwhelming danger. The marines were strong warriors who had flaws. Orks were Orks, and Chaos was subtle, corrupting and in a way won by losing. The eldar where also portrayed favorably, paranoid arrogant but ultimately willing to work with the IOM, which reflected the background nicely

Indeed, that's a great way of putting it, the original DoW was very well done.

 TheSilo wrote:
I would love an XCOM style squad based game that merges turn-based tile combat with the RPG elements and theme of Inquisitor. You control an Inquisitor, Chaos Cult Leader, Assassin, Genestealer Broodlord, Rogue IG Commander, etc. Your character and force get special units and abilities as you track down your objective: STC, planetary governor, demon, etc.

In general, I think the atmosphere is much more translatable than the mechanics.

This. They tried something similar on the DS called Squad Command, but it was clunky, short sighted, and just bad. If they had the team behind XCOM design the mechanics, then I think it would be a smash hit.

I have always envisioned an online sandbox RPG based on Dark Heresy that would include a tileset/mission builder to allow players to make customer scenarios. Not an MMO, mind you, but a co-op RPG more akin to Neverwinter Nights.

HoundsofDemos wrote:
The original DOW wasn't perfect but it hit the main points, all four factions felt right and it was nice to see IG get a solid guest spot. The voice acting was solid, it was nice to every faction treated as competent in their own way. The guard where determined and brave even in the face of overwhelming danger. The marines were strong warriors who had flaws. Orks were Orks, and Chaos was subtle, corrupting and in a way won by losing. The eldar where also portrayed favorably, paranoid arrogant but ultimately willing to work with the IOM, which reflected the background nicely

Well, no. In gameplay terms, the difference betweeen Chaos Space Marines, Guardsmen and Guardians was basically cosmetic. It was a disaster.

DoW 1 is pretty good. Better then DoW2 that got a little too spacemariney (but still half way decedent SMs).

I want to see more big turn based games. Like armageddon only bigger and with all the fractions, or maybe a game that is just the table top game ported.

Space Marine did it for me. But I am biased.

 jreilly89 wrote:

 TheSilo wrote:
I would love an XCOM style squad based game that merges turn-based tile combat with the RPG elements and theme of Inquisitor. You control an Inquisitor, Chaos Cult Leader, Assassin, Genestealer Broodlord, Rogue IG Commander, etc. Your character and force get special units and abilities as you track down your objective: STC, planetary governor, demon, etc.

In general, I think the atmosphere is much more translatable than the mechanics.

This. They tried something similar on the DS called Squad Command, but it was clunky, short sighted, and just bad. If they had the team behind XCOM design the mechanics, then I think it would be a smash hit.

The exciting thing is that based on the ridiculous amount of mod support with XCOM 2, I would not be surprised to see 40k style skins and weapons, with the potential for a modified campaign and specialized skill trees.

DoW was the best they ever did in terms of conversion.

Certainly miles ahead of the shovel ware being made with the IP now.

GW used to care about the quality of games based on their IP, now it's just about getting every penny they can no matter how bad a game is.

 Ashiraya wrote:

HoundsofDemos wrote:
The original DOW wasn't perfect but it hit the main points, all four factions felt right and it was nice to see IG get a solid guest spot. The voice acting was solid, it was nice to every faction treated as competent in their own way. The guard where determined and brave even in the face of overwhelming danger. The marines were strong warriors who had flaws. Orks were Orks, and Chaos was subtle, corrupting and in a way won by losing. The eldar where also portrayed favorably, paranoid arrogant but ultimately willing to work with the IOM, which reflected the background nicely

Well, no. In gameplay terms, the difference betweeen Chaos Space Marines, Guardsmen and Guardians was basically cosmetic. It was a disaster.

You could upgrade guardsmen to be very poweful with attached leaders and whatnot, but they were much more fiddly and micromanagey. CSMs had a better armor type, long ranged weapons without upgrades (particularly heavy bolters), and required less micro and reliance on activated abilities, plus they could Infiltrate and become Invisible without detectors nearby. Guardians were never as good as either, at least from my recollection.

These were all very different units, and without extensive use of activated abilities and micromanagement, a unit of CSM's would defeat a unit of guardsmen of Guardians, and their resistance to damage was very different.

DoW was the best they ever did in terms of conversion.

Certainly miles ahead of the shovel ware being made with the IP now.

GW used to care about the quality of games based on their IP, now it's just about getting every penny they can no matter how bad a game is.

I'd dispute that.
Space Marine was very solid (if not mind blowing), Mordheim was good fun, both Bloodbowls were good (if a big buggy early on) upcoming TWW and BFG look to be very much on course for good things.
Warhammer Quest on mobile I thoroughly enjoyed, Space Hulk and Ascension were solid (if again not mind blowing).

I dont think quality has gone downhill since DoW, (yes there have been some tacky and useless games) but overall the standard has been above average to very good.

GW hasnt found a studio to do a AAA game yet (whatever AAA means these days). However they have shipped the IP out to several companies who have released quite enjoyable games. Will you remember them as all time classics? Probably not. But name me an all time classic of late anyways in gaming.....

Dawn of War was alright when it was released, the rest were just very low and mediocre quality. Imho those GW titles suffer from the same issue as, for instance, Star Trek video games or most video game film adaptions: They're just freely handing out the licence, to anyone that can code 3 lines or hold a camera, without seemingly having any quality control over what's being produced. Most of the licensed GW mobile games are even worse than their PC/console counterparts, though.

DoW I liked.

DoW 2 was ok ( at best)

I loved Space Marine as it let me smash through horde of Orks and be all glorious for the emprah and all. But it wasn't terribly replayable.

I'm waiting on Eternal Crusade and liking it so far.

I want to see a FPS but with Skitarii or something, I don't want a Space Marine but I don't want a guardsmen either. A Guardsmen FPS (or even a Stormtrooper/Tempestus) would be a little too much like that Verdun game (throwing yourself into the grinder), except you are gonna get gutted by a 9 foot tall green monster, eldritch abomination, etc and are preety much going to lose and only DON"T die because you are the "player character". That and to be honest I fear most of all it being just CoD *shudders* with a 40k coat of paint and weapons).
I think Skitarii like a Ranger, Vanguard or something would be just tough, well armed, and strong enough to have a fighting chance but not be so strong as it would face roll everything like a SM would.

I'd love a guard game like the old school Ghost recon. When you die you just jump to another body, rather than getting reset. Going through 100s of bodies to take a hill is quick accurate to the background.

I don't know about DoW. It was a good game and all.... I don't know how well it captured the 40k feel and atmosphere though. The Space Marines in DoW always felt a bit soft to me.

 Vaktathi wrote:

 Ashiraya wrote:

HoundsofDemos wrote:
The original DOW wasn't perfect but it hit the main points, all four factions felt right and it was nice to see IG get a solid guest spot. The voice acting was solid, it was nice to every faction treated as competent in their own way. The guard where determined and brave even in the face of overwhelming danger. The marines were strong warriors who had flaws. Orks were Orks, and Chaos was subtle, corrupting and in a way won by losing. The eldar where also portrayed favorably, paranoid arrogant but ultimately willing to work with the IOM, which reflected the background nicely

Well, no. In gameplay terms, the difference betweeen Chaos Space Marines, Guardsmen and Guardians was basically cosmetic. It was a disaster.

You could upgrade guardsmen to be very poweful with attached leaders and whatnot, but they were much more fiddly and micromanagey. CSMs had a better armor type, long ranged weapons without upgrades (particularly heavy bolters), and required less micro and reliance on activated abilities, plus they could Infiltrate and become Invisible without detectors nearby. Guardians were never as good as either, at least from my recollection.

These were all very different units, and without extensive use of activated abilities and micromanagement, a unit of CSM's would defeat a unit of guardsmen of Guardians, and their resistance to damage was very different.

I am aware of the different racial mechanics, but I was talking more in the, well, equivalent of statlines. Tactically speaking, Space Marines fought like Guardsmen, as DoW was entirely about wars of attrition. It felt horridly unfluffy.

SMs felt best in DoW because there wasn't any bull plot shielding. They had their weapons, they had their armor, they could die just like any other unit.

nomotog wrote:
SMs felt best in DoW because there wasn't any bull plot shielding. They had their weapons, they had their armor, they could die just like any other unit.

As opposed to?

DoW2 when the Marine characters were knocked out instead of dying (but the same applied to the characters of all other races)?

DoW was horrible because everything was too similar.

The grim darkness of the far future is not a fair battleground.

 Ashiraya wrote:

nomotog wrote:
SMs felt best in DoW because there wasn't any bull plot shielding. They had their weapons, they had their armor, they could die just like any other unit.

As opposed to?

DoW2 when the Marine characters were knocked out instead of dying (but the same applied to the characters of all other races)?

DoW was horrible because everything was too similar.

The grim darkness of the far future is not a fair battleground.

DoW 2 they died. Not the ones with names, they had plot armor, but the others they died.

DoW things were rather samey, but a lot of the fractions in 40k are samey at least on the scale the game played at.

In the sense of giving a good portrayal of the 40k universe, the older games like Final Liberation were mostly great.
DoW was meh. It hit a lot of sweet spots just right, but it greatly messed up in other things. My biggest issue with it is that it did not do a right job of portraying the unique fighting styles of the different factions. Every faction felt the same but with different unit skins. Not that I cared about that as a kid. DoW is what introduced me to the 40k universe, and it did a damn good job of getting the grimdark feel of 40k across.
DoW 2 was slightly better in that units were more diversified, but the smaller scale made it impossible to correctly portray the Orks, IG and Nids.
Space Marine was great. It felt just like an interactive BL novel, complete with gratuitous amounts of bolter porn (or maybe more lascannon/melta gun/thunder hammer porn).
Armageddon was also great, if a bit simple.
Kill Team was meh. It felt just like a generic third person shooter with a 40k layer pasted on.

Narratively the only time the 40k universe gets really interesting is when it focuses on Inquisitors, the shady politics of the Imperium and its agents, and the little-known influence of daemons.

So basically I'd want to see a RPG which at some point might force you into declaring an entire inhabited planet Exterminatus. Really drill into the moral choices that are forced on people within 40k's reality.

Or maybe play a mid-level Commissar, dealing with both frontline warfare and the political and military hierarchy? That has potential too.

I love XCOM, but I don't need a reworked XCOM with bolters.

 Ratius wrote:

DoW was the best they ever did in terms of conversion.

Certainly miles ahead of the shovel ware being made with the IP now.

GW used to care about the quality of games based on their IP, now it's just about getting every penny they can no matter how bad a game is.

I'd dispute that.
Space Marine was very solid (if not mind blowing), Mordheim was good fun, both Bloodbowls were good (if a big buggy early on) upcoming TWW and BFG look to be very much on course for good things.
Warhammer Quest on mobile I thoroughly enjoyed, Space Hulk and Ascension were solid (if again not mind blowing).

I dont think quality has gone downhill since DoW, (yes there have been some tacky and useless games) but overall the standard has been above average to very good.

GW hasnt found a studio to do a AAA game yet (whatever AAA means these days). However they have shipped the IP out to several companies who have released quite enjoyable games. Will you remember them as all time classics? Probably not. But name me an all time classic of late anyways in gaming.....

You are aware that there's been like 47 games for various platforms (mostly mobile/Facebook) under the 40k IP released in the past two years, right? GW has been handing the IP out like candy. It's not just triple-A studios buying it anymore.

I find Space Hulk ascension to be incredibly enjoyable despite the bugs. Incredibly brutal (more-so than XCOM in fact), but fun both in spite/despite the difficulty.