There are two types of people in this world. Those who live and breathe Warhammer, and those who have never delved into the vast fictional world. My good friend and fellow Gamereactor UK writer Alex Hopley falls into the former category, while I’ve always been more of the latter. At this year’s Gamescom fair, I still spent a good deal of time at Focus Entertainment’s stand, and during that time I got to try Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II.
Even though I’m not a huge Warhammer fan, that doesn’t mean I don’t have experience of this world. I’ve played Vermintide 2, Darktide, Chaosbane and a few other titles, but that’s about as far as my Warhammer interest goes. Still, I will say that of all the times and places that exist in the Warhammer world, it is the futuristic and sci-fi era that has always piqued my interest. There’s something about being put in the shoes of a ten-foot-tall, one-ton man and being told to hack your way through hordes of aliens on your own that has always resonated with me, and probably with a large portion of the other guys out there. So even though I’m not a huge Warhammer fan, Space Marine 2 seemed like a perfect game for me.
Space Marine 2 comes from Saber Interactive, the same developer that gave us World War Z and the fantastic horde mechanic (which was clearly useful in this game), and continues several years after the previous Space Marine title, which arguably few got the chance to play because of his age. In this sequel, the player once again plays Space Marine Titus, who returns to the battlefield to help humanity fend off the onslaught of the vicious and seemingly endless Tyranid horde that is about to overtake the galaxy.
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There is a very important and clear story behind this game, and that was evident throughout the demo I got to experience. Titus travels around helping humanity where it’s needed, alongside his two Ultramarine brothers Chairon and Gadriel, and while the demo didn’t do much to emphasize the narrative, it was clear that some of the key elements of the story will include Titus’ origin and how it sets him apart from his brothers in arms.
Truth be told, it wasn’t the narrative I was excited to experience when I sat down to play the demo. I was more interested in checking out the gameplay, and how Saber seemed to manage to balance difficulty with being a biological tank built and bred to kill. From what I tested, it seems that Saber has chosen to make this game a serious challenge. Even on the lowest difficulty, I was often overwhelmed by Tyranids and was desperate for healing items. Although Titus is protected by bulky and tough armor and has a chainsaw sword and ranged weapon to protect himself, the Tyranids are tough opponents and will put you on the back foot if you get too trigger happy or succumb to bloodlust and throw jump into it without thinking twice.
The action is intense and relentless. As soon as the opening cutscene finishes, you’re locked into combat until you reach the end of a level, and the only moments of respite from sawing and shooting through thousands of Tyranids come in the form of short areas where you can refill ammo or switch weapons . Then it’s back to the action to kill, or more likely, fight for life.
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As I mentioned earlier, Saber’s experience creating hordes of enemies in World War Z is immediately apparent. Your screen will be overwhelmed by tyranids flowing like a stream of body parts and the process of cutting them down is less about skill and accuracy and more about dealing with their attacks and strategically defeating the horde by blasting them as they climb walls and so further. Considering how many enemies can be on screen at once, it wouldn’t surprise me to hear that Space Marine 2 will end up being a very performance demanding game, especially since the graphics are quite impressive.
But just because Saber has nailed the feel of being a Space Marine, and apparently also managed to make the action relentless and a little stressful, doesn’t mean I thought Space Marine 2 was a home run. To me, it actually seemed like the game lives and dies by its Space Marine fantasy. If you get tired of just swiping and gunning down the same enemy types, Space Marine 2 suddenly loses a lot of its charm. I’m hoping that the full version will be different, but the demo was severely lacking in weapon options, featured a level that was virtually entirely linear, and showed that the control system and available mechanics are a bit of a one-trick pony. If you strip away the graphics and the horde system that allows hundreds of enemies to be rendered on screen at once, which screams modern technology, Space Marine 2 often felt like a game stuck in the mid-2010s.
I really hope that the demo I experienced was a scaled down version of the game, because there is a lot of potential between Saber’s horde feature and the exciting Warhammer Space Marine era. The appeal of stepping into the combat boots of a Space Marine is unlike almost anything else out there, and that alone will undoubtedly bring many fans to this game, but for it to really land and stand out in the action genre, I feel that Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II needs something extra to lift it up. Let’s hope that Saber has prepared just that.
2023-09-02 10:10:24
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