A true Space Marine knows no fear
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. Through the fog of battle, heroes are forged. No pity. No remorse. No fear. It’s been 13 years since the original Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine game, which is crazy because Warhammer has a new game drop like every six months, so waiting to make a sequel to one of their biggest video games is crazy. But as the saying goes, “Good things come to those who wait” and I am here to tell you that we have an extremely good thing in Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2.
In Space Marine 2 players will once again become the Adeptus Astartes or space marine for those that aren’t as nerdy as me; Lt. Titus who is back fresh from his centuries long stint serving in the Deathwatch. Detailed in the opening moments of the game Titus undergoes the Rubicon Primaris a process which transforms marines into Primaris Marines, who are taller, stronger and faster. It’s explained that he is needed to assist a tech-priest on a planet who is under attack by a Tyranid splinter fleet, and Titus is given command of a new team which includes brothers Gadriel and Chairon.
Epic pose achieved!
MSRP: $69.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $69.99
Believe me when I say that this is just the beginning, throughout the campaign the swarms of Tyranid enemies will give way to the Chaos as the heretical Chaos Marines will challenge Titus and his squad. I don’t want to say anything else to spoil the story but fans of the original game will get a big reveal in the final cutscene. As a huge fan of the original this story delivered for me and I cannot wait to step into Titus’ armor again.
The campaign is merely the start of this grimdark epic as there is also Operations that players can partake. Just like the main campaign these modes are also 3-person co-op but instead of playing as Titus and the main squad players will instead create their own space marine by choosing one of six classes. What’s neat about this mode is these missions tie into the main story, these allow to players to control the support team in essence who aids Titus and his squad throughout the main story. This was really cool to be able to see various battles from a different perspective with different objectives.
That guy stole my lunch!
These operations are repeatable, which allows the players to level up their classes. And with the dynamic horde mode that the team at Saber mastered with its World War Z game, the terrifying Tyranids work very similarly. Just like the zombies these monsters will create piles of themselves into order to reach our heroes on the high ground. There was never a time where I wasn’t in awe of seeing an oncoming swarm, it was as beautiful as it was terrifying.
Speaking of beauty, the developers at Saber Interactive have created a stunningly gorgeous game with Space Marine 2. The level of detail in Titus’ armor is insane, fabric moves realistically on his armor, and like Batman as the game progress the scars of the battles will stay with Titus. Seeing how pristine and shiny the armor is at the beginning for the game compared to how beaten it is by the end, that alone is a testament to the hell of a journey that Titus goes on during the campaign. But the graphic fidelity doesn’t just stop with Titus, no every Tyranid is modeled in hi definition. As players mow through the hordes and leave a trail of blood and bodies all of this makes the grimdark game feel so much more visceral and let’s be honest, its freaking beautiful to behold.
For players of the original game, combat is going to feel familiar. Space Marine 2 is a third person shooter with melee combat. Of course, you can’t have a 40K game without having the iconic chainsword, and worry not because it’s here. Combos are very simple with melee combat but it’s extremely effective. And honestly because the majority of the time players will be overwhelmed with enemies so the goal won’t be to pull off 60 hit combos. There is also a combat knife, a power sword and a war hammer that players can choose from, each over plusses and minuses over range and power and there will be something for everyone here. When it comes to guns there is everything from your standard hard-hitting bolter to energy sniper rifles. All of the weapons felt great to weld and more importantly all of them fired with the punch audibly. The only gripe I really had with the weapons is that a few of the heavy weapons (which can be carried until you run out of ammo) felt really underpowered. Especially the Melter gun, I mean I am frying I large explosion and I felt like it only just was a nuisance to the large enemies.
The battles are epic.
I loved Space Marine 2, but its not a perfect experience. For starters, there is a parry system that players can use but it feels forced. It never felt like it opened up enemies for great damage other than the quick shots and instakills of the smaller animals. Its not really needed here but I think the developers thought it would add some depth to the melee combat. One of the things I didn’t talk about was how competent the AI space marines that accompany Titus are in combat, well that is until they aren’t. There are instances during the campaign where the team will have to assemble to progress; well more than a few times my guess just refused to come to the point. This was resolved by reloading the game, which isn’t a huge issue but more of a pain in the rear thing. Lastly while this isn’t necessarily an issue, I find it odd enough that I wanted to point out I wasn’t able to test any of the online co-op or multiplayer modes. The servers were not turned on for the review period and the game explains that offline progress isn’t saved. As a long time, player of World War Z, I trust Saber with the multiplayer and looking at the classes and various builds and unlocks for armor and colors I have no doubt there is a wealth of content for players to chase.
I said it before and I will say it again, I loved Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. Saber Interactive just went full-on Super Saiyan (that’s a Dragonball Z reference for the uninitiated, it means they leveled up) with this release. Honing the skills that they studio already had on display with World War Z and the incredible Swarm engine; Space Marine 2 offers a stunningly, beautiful, walk through the grimdark universe. This is hands down thee (you know it’s serious when you use old world speak) best Warhammer game to date. But beauty, as they say is only skin deep and believe me this game is a beauty through and through. While I am bummed I wasn’t able to test the online portion of the game, I can assure you that between the amazing campaign where the production values are absolutely breathtaking at times; to the operations that allows replayability and rewards players with cosmetics to customize their marines, Space Marine 2 is a sure-fire Game of the Year contender.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
