Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy shows off equal helpings of sleuthing and smashing in its new trailer, as its first playable alpha test goes live

I'd somehow completely forgotten that Owlcat Games is making another Warhammer 40,000 RPG, assuming that the developer was all-in on Mass Effect style action-roleplayer The Expanse: Osiris Reborn. But not only does the studio have another string to its bow in Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy, its follow-up to 2023's Rogue Trader is already heavily into development, with Owlcat dropping a brand new trailer and a playable alpha test this week.

The trailer gives us the first proper look at Dark Heresy in motion, with Owlcat's next trip through the 40k universe aiming to be a slicker affair than Rogue Trader. The video shows us the RPG's investigation system in action, which lets players pick up and analyse clues as their Imperial Inquisitor attempts to sniff out heretics in the Calixis Sector. In a similar manner to Pentiment, it will be entirely down to you to deem whether your suspects are guilty or not, and you won't ever be told whether the terrible fate you do or don't consign them to is justified.

The video also shows us plenty of Dark Heresy's combat system, for which Owlcat promise a reworked cover system, overhauled line of sight, and the replacement of Rogue Trader's momentum system with a morale mechanic where your companions can panic, flee the battlefield, or even start blasting at other members of your party. It also seems to feature contextual animations, as shown when your Ogryn party members catches an opponent leaping off a ledge, before pinning them against a wall and kissing them passionately socking them across the jaw.

Despite the shared universe and genre, Dark Heresy does look very different from Rogue Trader, supporting Owlcat's claims that it's rebuilt its roleplaying fundamentals from the ground up. "We will be redoing everything from scratch," executive producer Anatoly Shestov said back in July. "Even the design things, mechanical things, abilities, options, role-playing systems. There will be changes even in the basic stats."

Dark Heresy also has a playable alpha test currently underway, giving a small number of players the chance to test out its investigation system and get to know its characters. You need to have pre-ordered the Developers Digital Pack or the Collector's Edition to take part in the alpha. But if you want to do that, there are instructions on how to do so in this Steam post.