Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

The Warhammer gaming universe has been going over a bumpy road over the last 30 years, but when the hits came along, they hit harder than a two-ton marine foot on your face. With the likes of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, Necromunda: Hired Gun, and Space Hulk 93. And in 2011 Space Marine graced our Xbox 360s and PCs as a heavy hitting, Gears clone that was entertaining, captured the 40K universe in all its gritty detail, and gave us the most lovable cockney orcs since The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

So I guess 13 years later is the best time for a sequel! Here’s Space Marine 2!


What is Warhammer 40K Space Marine 2?

Quick recap, the future is bleak and there is only war! Suppose you’re not at all familiar with the 40K universe. In that case, it’s a crazy dystopian, war-riddled future with big dudes with power armour, massive guns with chainsaws, and lots of positive talk of the emperor (he’s not a great guy honestly).

40K has a rich, compelling lore, that has inspired the likes of Gears of War, and in return, Gears inspired Space Marine back in 2011. A hefty, hearty, and violent 3rd person action game, that had you killing orcs, beasts, and chaos! Now in 2024, we have Space Marine 2, a hefty, hearty, and violent 3rd person action game, that has you killing Tyranids, beasts, and even more chaos! But just lots, and lots of them!

Returning as Lieutenant Demetrian Titus (sadly not voiced by Mark Strong, but with a good performance by Clive Standen), players will be the ultimate Space Marine, proving their loyalty to the Ultramarines, the Emperor, and the Imperium of Man. And you’ll be doing this by fending off hordes of the galaxy’s darkest and most disturbing horrors. Fight and crush the Tyranid swarms into the bloody matter. And all with the cool Swarm engine that brought us hundreds of zombies in World War Z.


In the far future, there will be only war!

Another venture into the 40K universe reveals troubles at the heart of the Imperium of Man, with planets falling to the overwhelming blood thirst of the Tyranid legions (and things far worse). Returning into the power armour of Lieutenant Demetrian Titus, it’s time to fight for the Imperium of Man again and expect plenty of Shakespearian quotes on death and destruction.

We see the return of Roboute Guilliman, who is now the Lord Commander of the Imperium and he has started the Indomitus Crusade to reclaim the lost worlds. However, while rebuilding the fractured Imperium those pesky Tyranids have decided to invade several planets and it’s up to Titus to do what needs to be done. But things aren’t all as they seem, and things are about to get a little more chaotic …  

There’s deception, bickering, and treachery as the Space Marines deal with the forces of darkness on the battlefield and in their organisation. And plenty of weird romanticising monologues like “There is only the Emperor, and he is our Shield and Protector”. These dudes have such love for their emperor!

It’s all engaging stuff, filled with compelling lore, world-building, and simple, yet lovable characters that any hardened Warhammer fan will love. And those who aren’t much into the Warhammer stuff will certainly like a lot of the gravitas, the intriguing mystery, and the immense world-building. It helps that the presentation, voice acting, and cutscenes are so grand! I will admit that the seriousness nature can get a little dry, as there is no comedy, or light moments to break up the tension, and that’s all fine.

But when the character development is just “Gotta make the Emperor happy”, and prove their undying loyalty, then I don’t blame you for maybe getting a little bored in the narrative here and there. After replaying the original game, I did find more of a sense that Titus and others were battling their humanity, and cold love for Imperium in interesting, and subtle ways.

It also doesn’t help that (some spoilers ahead) Space Marine 2’s plot does what pretty much every other 40K story has done, including the first Space Marine. And if you’ve played the first game, and Fire Warrior, then you know what I mean.

But otherwise, the story is fine, having a lot of gritty drama, hard-hitting world-building and all that juicy fan service that makes everything better. Like when you see a Dreadnought slash the ever-living gore out of another Dreadnought, it’s amazing!

… and the presentation.


The beauty of War, will forever haunt me

Oh, man! I have to say that Space Marine 2, looks phenomenally awesome!

Yeah, the graphical fidelity is mind-blowing, with an excellent eye for detail, a wide range of environments all expertly crafted, and a loving sense of fandom for the source material to recreate the 40K world in gripping precision. There is no fault I can tell in the character design, monster design, or the world itself and all the action that takes part in it.

It’s incredible, as most Warhammer games are in their visual representation, Space Marine 2 takes the gold medal for all. Surpassing even that of the original game, which looked great, but suffered from that 7th gen issue of plenty of grey, brown graphics and landscapes. Space Marine 2 is so vivid in its range of environments, colour, and biodomes, that it’s staggering and always compelling going from level to level, seeing what new hauntingly beautiful place you are going to.

But what stands above all the pretty graphics, the amazing power armour, the grit, and the lore-accurate world-building, is the sense of destructive scale, and the intensity of battles happening all around you. It might be quite a claim, but Space Marine 2 nails the feeling of being stuck within a live battlefield and being in the middle of an all-out war. From the get-go, looking upon the horizon, there is war, with endless bloodshed, death, and decay, only to the stopped by a barrage of cluster bombs, bringing forth a wall of fire to burn every living thing in its path.

Simply amazing. More than that, it’s bloody brilliant! I loved being in this universe of war, as every sight and sound made me a nervous wreck, but also gleeful at the incredible craftsmanship Space Marine 2 has had in every aspect of its visual design and aesthetics.


There is only War

If you’ve played the first game, then you know what to expect with Space Marine 2! It’s all about serving the emperor in the bloodiest way possible. By slicing and dicing all Tyranid pests that stand in your way.

Titus and the gang will be dropped onto one of three planets, where they are required to assist the marines on the planet, provide support, perform rescue missions, and kill as many Tyranids as possible along the way. You’ll be armed with powerful weaponry, from the classic Bolt Gun, Plasma Incinerator, Chainsword, and Power Fist (oh my!).

Space Marine 2 plays out like any beloved 3rd person shooter, and if like me, a fan of Gears, you’ll feel right at home here. You’ll traverse massive levels, completing various objectives from killing enemies, protecting points of interest, killing enemies, escorting allies to safe spots, killing enemies, and yes, killing more enemies.

The gunplay and melee combat are impactful, and meaty, with a lot of crunch, bang, and explosive gore to make you feel like a total badass. The guns handle incredibly well, and the variety of weapons will ensure you and your friends can mix up playstyles and keep combat feeling fresh and brutal after so many hours. Overall, fighting feels and plays out great, having that weight needed for a tight, brutal action game, without feeling monotonous.

The action is quite relentless, and you will be fighting off hordes of enemies while tackling bigger foes in crushing circumstances. And the pressure is applied even more so, with mechanics such as the armour and chipping health system. These are a great way to keep you on your toes, to keep moving, and always think fast and fight hard.

It’s similar to the original game, but more so brutal in a sense, as you will lose a chunk of your health bar if you don’t recover HP quickly enough through the “Glory Kill” system. By performing a spectacular execution, you can regain health and be protected once your shield is back up and running. It’s intense stuff, and like recent action games like DOOM Eternal, it gets you to keep moving and engage in fights for a thrilling risk/reward venture.

I will admit that I’m a little split on mechanics such as “perform animated violent kill for health and ammo”, as too many of these can kill the pacing, and slow down the action too often. I did find on harder difficulties where you have to gain health quite often (well, I did. Sorry I am rubbish), that having to do a Glory Kill or execution often and seeing that execution play out over and over did get a little tedious from time to time. Especially when you just want to kill stuff and not perform an endless row of executions to get some HP back. The original game did have a similar system mind you, and there are HP pickups (though rare-ish), they are there.

Thankfully, Space Marine 2’s counter system isn’t imposing or necessary for lower difficulty, unlike so many other games where countering is 100% forced upon you. Here it’s a nice balance, and countering is swift and easy to pull off, even to the clumsiest people with bad reflexes and timing (i.e. me).

But what kept me going was the action, sheer level of brutality and the epic scale, as like World War Z, the enemies are quite keen on rushing you and making the odd flesh pyramid or two to get to you (don’t Google Flesh Pyramid for the love of the God). These sieges, and battles are grand in design, and offer some of the most thrilling and enthralling combat I’ve played since DOOM Eternal. And while you will be fighting a lot of small Tyranids, there is a great roster of enemies to even the playing field and make each encounter visceral and different.

And while objectives and set pieces do become familiar throughout the campaign, there is the odd moment which gets the Dopamine running. Such as the aforementioned Dreadnought hookup, where you make friends with it and fight together in bloody battle. Or a bit near the end which sees Titus flying through space, almost like a homage to the free fall bit in Dead Space 2. It’s great stuff.


Brother, you will not go into battle alone

Now the format is a little different here, as instead of a straight down-the-path, linear experience, Space Marine 2 is broken up more like a traditional co-op venture. Think Left 4 Dead, or more World War Z. It isn’t a straight-up, linear affair like the original game, and I’m fine with this overall for a couple of reasons. The quality of the game is excellent, and while I wish there were a few more interesting set-pieces and objectives, what we have is still plenty fine (and the original game didn’t break the bank for mission objectives really). And, there is a separate mode where you can co-op with a buddy and tackle whole new missions which are 100% focused. These were excellent!

And I get that Space Marine 2 is designed for multiplayer ideally but can be done solo. Although I don’t recommend that at all unless you play one of the less challenging difficulties. Even then I tried, and certain missions just ruined me in single-player.

The scale of the fights is fantastic, but it is accustomed to having you play with other people ideally. Certain mission objectives do rely on you having support with actual brains and not just humdrum AI. Even in Story mode, there are missions which will certainly kick your balls if you’re not careful enough or make one slip up.

I get it, there is a balance of wanting to make a game heavily for both single and multiplayer… but that’s a tall order. The mission structures and objectives are fine for both, but the difficulty can teeter Space Marine 2 into being more for multiplayer. I mean, each mission has a load-out and lobby-style loading screen … even in single-player.

Gears and Halo are mainly single-player but are robust enough to incorporate co-op without comprising the greater aspects of the single-player mode. Space Marine 2 can be played both ways, but the multiplayer takes the lead here for me, so if you do play this, then get some friends to make the most of it. But there is plenty to see and play here, with multiple modes, progression and unlocks that will keep you invested for the long run!


Overall?

Space Marine 2 is certainly a champion for gaming this year, whether it’s down to the staggering great presentation, the world-building, the sense of destruction and epic warfare, the excellent action gameplay, and perfectly executed multiplayer components, it truly is an outstanding game for 2024.

And while I do feel this is catered more towards multiplayer and co-op, it certainly is still bloody brilliant fun in solo, but you will get more from this (and not feel the strain of difficulty) by playing with your mates. Even if you’re not a Warhammer 40K fan, I can still highly recommend this beast of a game, to prove yourself with some awesome action gameplay, and to prove your loyalty to the Emperor.

+++ The presentation is freaking amazing!
++ The world-building and scale of warfare is incredible
++ Great action gameplay, and fun for solo or co-op
+ Great co-op gameplay and lots of replay value 

- Not entirely balanced for solo play on harder difficulties
- Could have used a couple more compelling objectives in the main campaign
- The story is a little predictable and dry at times 

A review copy of Space Marine 2 was kindly provided by the publisher.