As a longtime fan of RPGs and Warhammer 40,000 games, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is one of the best I've played in the past couple of years.
Its story was compelling and a perfect introduction for non-Warhammer 40k fans; its combat system was gory and rich with playstyle diversity, and it had infinite amounts of replay value through its branching dialogue options and character-build theory crafting.
Not to mention Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader has two epic DLC expansions, The Void Shadows and The Lex Imperialis, that go out of their way not just to add new content here and there, but completely transform the entire game with new mechanics, companions, and stories.
Its latest DLC expansion, The Infinite Museion, is no exception. This expansion brings a rich cybernetic augmentation system, an intriguing new companion, various gameplay changes, and additions to make Heretic playthroughs more fun, and a thrilling storyline starring one of Warhammer 40,000's more popular lore characters, Trazyn the Infinite.
How do I know this? Well, I managed to get my hands on the DLC early through a preview code provided by Owlcat Games. I have to say, this might be Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader's best expansion yet, and I can't wait to start another 100+ playthrough to uncover the rest of its secrets.
This article was made possible thanks to a code provided by Owlcat Games. The company did not see the contents of this article before it was published.
The Infinite Museion: Story
Image 1 of 2
The new questlines introduced by The Infinite Museion DLC begin in Act 2 and continue in Acts 4 and 5 of the base game. While exploring the Koronus Expanse one day, you stumble upon some undiscovered planets and decide to investigate them if they hold anything of value, like treasure or resources.
The expedition goes south in a hurry as you get pulled into an insane adventure where you will discover secrets regarding the Von Valancious Dynasty and explore ancient vaults belonging to Trazyn the Infinite.
Trazyn is an ancient Necron Overlord devoted to collecting or, most of the time, stealing artifacts and kidnapping creatures and people to be used as exhibits for one of his intergalactic museums as part of his goal to preserve history, no matter the cost.
Along the way, you will recruit a new Tech-Priest party member called Eogunn Februs and unlock a compartment for your ship where you surgically upgrade your crew with cybernetic limbs and augments to help you survive exploring Trazyn's vaults, teeming with deadly Necrons.
I don't want to go into too much spoiler territory, but I will say that the new storylines in this expansion were a joy to sit through.
It has interesting commentary about the potential dangers and loss of humanity that can occur when augmenting yourself with too many cybernetic prosthetics; the new locales you explore were packed with so much intriguing lore, and Trazyn is such a cool, charismatic, diabolical villain that he puts all the other antagonists in the game to shame.
What's even cooler about The Infinite Museion DLC's new storylines is that they introduce a ton of new scenes and consequences to the base game's main storyline, depending on the dialogue choices you make. What those changes are, you will have to find out for yourself because they're too awesome to spoil.
As for the new companion Eogunn Februs, he's an interesting addition to the cast who acted in ways I wasn't expecting. Unlike most Tech-Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus faction you meet in the game who are cold and mostly logic-driven, Eogunn is more jovial, passionate, and human by comparison.
However, beneath Eogunn's optimism and pleasant demeanor lies a darker side that's obsessed with conducting horrific, unethical experiments that border on heresy in the pursuit of knowledge. Whether or not you wish to curtail Eogunn's obsession or enable it is up to you.
Eogunn Februs is also a great party member to use in battle. He's a support specialist who provides shields, buffs, and extra turns to allies while shocking enemies with long-range lightning gun attacks, which are perfect for taking the more annoying mechanical enemies in the game.
The Infinite Museion: Gameplay
The gameplay of The Infinite Museion DLC follows the gameplay structure of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. As a Rogue Trader working the Imperium of Man, your goal is to explore the Koronus Expanse and its worlds for riches, resources, and glory.
You will converse with NPCs to advance the plot or buy new gear, and engage in tactical turn-based battles against heretics, mutants, and aliens who dare defy humanity's will.
So what new gameplay additions does The Infinite Museion DLC bring to the table? For starters, it brings a new augmentation system that completely revamps how you build most of your party members, and it's my favorite new feature of the whole game.
This system allows you to replace your normal human limbs with robot ones and even your organs and eyes with cybernetic implants that can drastically boost your combat effectiveness or grant you completely new abilities.
Image 1 of 2
For example, I surgically grafted one of my party members, Abelard, with a robot hook hand to drag enemies closer out into melee range, and then beat them to death with lightning-elemental enhanced attacks granted by a new mechanical nervous system I placed in him.
That's just one of hundreds of ways you customize your characters, as there are over a hundred augment parts to collect throughout the whole game, thanks to this DLC.
I absolutely love this system because not only does it make you look like a horrific cyborg abomination akin to Adam Smasher from Cyberpunk 2077, but it also makes certain playstyles from the base game more viable now.
For example, certain augmentations can negate the negative side effects of combat stimulants, which I never used before because their drawbacks were too severe to be useful.
However, don't take this to mean that this system is overpowered, because the more robot bits you shove inside a character, the more damage they'll take from lightning and EMP attacks, so you will need to plan for this drawback accordingly. Plus, certain party members can't be augmented because they're too disgusted by it or they're physically incapable, so keep that in mind.
One last thing I liked about The Infinite Museion DLC is that it includes several other hidden gameplay changes throughout the whole game that will make roleplaying as a Heretical character more rewarding and fun.
While I won't go into the specifics due to spoilers, I will say that a certain secret party member you can recruit on a Heretical playthrough has received some highly requested reworks to make them more deadly and enjoyable to use in battle.
The Infinite Museion: Final thoughts
Overall, I had a blast with The Infinite Museion DLC. The new storylines and companions were compelling; new areas were fun to explore; there were some crazy and creative puzzles to solve that rewarded satisfying gear; and the new augmentation system has me addicted.
Not to mention that The Infinite Museion DLC has made playing as a Heretic-aligned player more entertaining thanks to its new additions to the main storyline and reworks to the base game's gameplay.
If you're a fan of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, do not miss out on this DLC because it was every penny and the hundreds of hours you will spend uncovering all its new gameplay additions.
If you've never played Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader before and are a fan of CRPGs like Baldur's Gate 3, I highly recommend picking it up now, along with all its DLC, as it's in the best state it's ever been in.
If you want to learn more about the base game, check out our review of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (do note that most of the bugs my former colleague Samuel encountered in this review have long since been fixed as of this writing).
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation 5, and PC via Windows and Steam.
Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.