Warhammer 40K: How Is There Not An Imperial Assassin Video Game Already
Of all the 40k video games, why isn’t there an Imperial Assassin video game by now?
There are a LOT of video games set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe now. It seems like there is a new one popping up all the time and there have been some real gems as well as some not-so great offerings, too. But looking at all these games and a GW’s list of a trio of important executions by Imperial Assassins has me wondering why isn’t this a video game yet?
Here’s the pitch, directly from GW themselves:
“In the early years of the 41st Millennium, it was discovered that the Orks of the Roxanzand sector were rallying behind a powerful Warboss called Urgak the Unstoppable, who had set about gathering together Boyz and war machines from a vast area. Worse still, their Meks had begun construction of a colossal Gargant, which the Imperium couldn’t afford to ignore.
After it was determined that a full-scale military response wouldn’t arrive before the Gargant was complete, an operative from the Vindicare Temple was dispatched to the planet on a high-speed vessel.
The assassin successfully infiltrated the Ork camp, dissolving the bodies of slain sentries with a vicious quick-burning compound, and planted high-explosive charges at key points around the giant war machine’s armoured bulk.
After sneaking back out of the encampment and waiting patiently for several hours on a nearby overlook, the Vindicare Assassin caught sight of the Warboss inspecting his beloved Gargant and ended Urgak’s life with a single bullet through the head.
The bullet then continued onwards, striking the explosives and detonating the walker in a catastrophic chain reaction that killed hundreds of surrounding Orks.”
There are dozens of games that would fit an “Imperial Assassin” style game. The Hitman franchise come to mind if you wanted a more “urban assassin” style game. Although 47 has ventured into the Jungle occasionally. The slow and methodical planning, tracking, hunting, and eventual execution of your target would fit the the quite well.
Or what about Assassin’s Creed. Hell, just call it Imperial Assassin’s Creed and you’ve got the perfect mash-up already.
Looking for a more supernatural bent to accommodate for some of the Imperial Assassin’s more “out there” abilities? What about a Dishonored style game? All the special abilities would provide you with a multitude of ways to take out your target. Go quiet and stealthy. Or go loud and violent. The open play style really would fit whatever assassination path you want.
The Sniper Elite franchise also seems like a no-brainer mash-up as well. If you want to drop your assassin in the middle of warzone and have them figure out how to best eliminate their target. Plus, the gorey “x-ray” kills seem like it would fit well in a Grimdark setting…also imagine if the Game Dev went ham on showcasing Xeno physiology. That would be a whole new twist!
Or hey, if you wanted to go in a more traditional squad-based assassin twist – something like Execution Force, maybe the X-COM style would work better. Most X-COM games have small, squad based missions. Just swap out soldiers for Imperial Assassins (each with their own class abilities and such) and give it grid based movement/combat.
Then again, maybe you don’t want turn-based combat and want something a bit more realtime. What about Commandos or Shadow Tactics? Both of these games have that top-down isometric vibe where you control a squad of specialised characters who take out enemies on the way to completing their missions and eliminating a target. Gee…does that sound like it would fit or what? Or maybe Syndicate is more your jam. Whichever one you choose, this could totally work.
The point is that Imperial Assassins tick a lot of the boxes that would make for a great video game. It’s just surprising that none of the Game Developers that work with GW have opted to go that route before.
I would play any and all of these games if they were reskinned for Imperial Assassins and set in the 40k universe.
