Warhammer 40K has spread so far and wide from its humble tabletop origins that I would almost consider the fantasy of being one of the Adeptus Astartes – a Space Marine – as being on-par with being Batman or a Jedi Knight at this point. And Space Marine 2 brings me closer to that fantasy than any previous game has. At its best, it’s practically 40K nirvana, mowing down disorienting numbers of Tyranids with a heavy bolter or cutting a path through them with a chainsword. At times, the controls can get a little clunky – especially on a controller. But I suppose some of that comes with being an eight-foot-tall juggernaut coated in ceramite.
I had access to the first little bit of the campaign, which has Clive Standen (aka Rollo from Vikings) giving an inspired, gravely performance as Captain Titus from the first game, who is immediately embroiled in some interesting drama with his new squadmates due to his checkered service record. They ultimately set that aside, though, to do battle with the Tyranid hive fleet threatening the soaring gothic spires of the imperial world of Avarax.
What’s immediately striking is how detailed and well-animated everything on the ground is, from the humble Cadians who will often kneel and talk in a whisper as the Emperor’s Angels approach, to the smallest gilded details on the architecture. I don’t think I’ve ever had the feeling of standing on the ground in the Warhammer 40K universe to this level of satisfaction before. The graphics are gorgeous, the chaotic soundscape is spot-on, and no expense has been spared filling every square inch with the kinds of small touches that delighted me as a long-time fan.
As far as nailing the experience of playing as one of the Emperor’s Finest, Space Marine 2 generally does a respectable job there as well. Titus and his buddies’ Primaris armor is rendered in gleaming fidelity, with lots of moving parts, managing to feel imposing and maneuverable at the same time. Any time I got to remove an obstacle through pure super strength was a highlight. And most of the guns feel great to use, from the classic bolter to a plasma gun that makes enemy armor seem like a joke.
I wasn’t totally sold on the melee stuff, unfortunately. Carving through gaunts with a chainsword is just as exhilarating as it should be, but Space Marine 2 has also tried to implement a Sekiro-esque system of telegraphed dodges and parries to counter enemy special attacks, and I’m not sure it works here. Maybe six hours just wasn’t long enough to get the hang of it yet, but I got the sense that it really slowed close combat down with canned animations, breaking up the flow a bit too much.
You really can’t argue with how awe-inspiring it is to see Titus rip a traitor marine’s head off and discard it like trash Likewise with the Doom 2016-style finishing animations, though they are gloriously brutal in their spectacle. You really can’t argue with how awe-inspiring it is to see Titus rip a traitor marine’s head off and discard it like trash. Maybe they’re just a bit too long, or they lock the camera in place too much. But they feel like breaks in the action, rather than part of it.
The main enemies in the missions I played were primarily Tyranids, though the forces of Chaos are definitely up to something behind the scenes, as they often are. And the variety of chitinous baddies is pretty impressive, from hordes of regular gaunts who mainly serve to show off your godlike power, to slippery lictors who require a bit more finesse to take down. These guys, likewise, have never looked better in a video game, with some of the more complex model updates from the tabletop shown off in all their creepy splendor.
The mode I spent the most time with, though, is the new three-player co-op, which seems to be where the meat of Space Marine 2 lies. There are tons of perks and weapon upgrades to unlock and – much to my delight, as someone who rolls their eyes at playing boring Ultramarines – character customization includes the ability to unlock armor colors and liveries from dozens of chapters, including both my beloved Space Wolves, and some fairly obscure ones. On top of this, you have six different classes to choose from, each of which has at least three primary weapons to level up, allowing for a huge amount of build diversity.
I probably had the most fun with the standard Tactical marine. I know, I know, right after I said Ultramarines are boring. The Assault Marine can be exciting, too, but as I never fully got comfortable with the melee combat, and I found the jump pack to also be a little bit fiddly to work with, it ended up being the build I wish I was good at but never quite got there. The heavy is also great fun when you can fire hose away with a heavy bolter and watch an entire swarm evaporate, but they don’t have much to do when they’re out of ammo, which isn’t as big a problem for the other classes. I feel like some levels could use a bit of re-balancing in terms of ammo drops, at least if you have a Heavy on the squad. It can be a long time between resupplies.
The bot teammates just aren’t very good. Since I was playing on a pre-release build, I was often paired with bots. And they’re… really not very good, even on the lowest difficulty. The aforementioned Heavy marine just isn’t that viable because you can’t count on your AI teammates to keep strong melee enemies off of you. But when I did match with other humans, I was having a great time, so I imagine this issue will be resolved when the servers are open to everyone. The more linear levels and somewhat clunkier movement is definitely an adjustment when I’ve played hundreds of hours of Helldivers 2 already this year, but there’s no mistaking that I could definitely see myself spending an obsessive amount of time unlocking all the cool visual and mechanical kit for my favorite classes.
Space Marine 2 has a real shot at being the quintessential third-person action game set in the 40K universe. It’s exactly what it says on the cargo canister. You get to be an enormous, super strong, nearly invincible battering ram of post-human destruction, slinging retribution at uncountable hordes of xenos across beautiful and detailed battle spaces that bring this universe to life in a way it never has been before. Ideally, with a couple friends. You’ll be able to check it out yourself on September 9.
