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Review

Sep 18, 2024

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Review

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4 Awesome
Retails for: $59.99
We Recommend: $59.99
  • Developer: Saber Interactive
  • Publisher: Focus Entertainment
  • Genre: Action, Adventure, RPG
  • Released: Sep 09, 2024
  • Platform: Windows, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5
  • Reviewed: Windows

One of the first games I played in my Xbox Series X was “Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter.” An odd choice, wouldn’t you think? Why would I buy a “next gen” console for a game that came out on the Xbox 360? You see, back then, the PC version of Advanced Warfighter was different from the console version. On PC it was “simulation” oriented whereas the console version was a third person shooter — a subgenre that went on to define the Xbox 360 / PS3 generation — which then would become saturated and “evolve” into open world multiplayer games with a heavy social aspect. I had never played the console version of it and it was a pleasant surprise. That was around 2022. Two years later I got the same feeling of being transported back to another time with “Space Marine 2”. If you heard or read somewhere that “Space Marine II” feels like an Xbox 360 era game, it is because it really does. Captain Titus’ journey started also on that console generation (and PC), but even then, it tried to differentiate itself from the crowd. Instead of focusing on cover shooting, like most games, it emphasized non stopping action. Kill Orkz to refill your health, mow down hundreds of units with a boltgun. It was one the rare occasions the Warhammer 40K universe g in so much detail in a video game. Now, 13 years later and with Saber at the helm, it’s like “Space Marine 2” kept in a time capsule all this time.

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Straight to the point” is the best way to describe how “Space Marine 2” plays. You get an objective, you go to the objective, you carry it out, watch a cutscene and move on to the next area. This time, Titus and its small squad goes against the Tyranid instead of the Orkz. With, of course, some couple of Chaos enemies sprinkled on top.

A few years ago, I would be slightly annoyed that “Space Marine 2” went in this direction. “Why wouldn’t they move to a more open-ended campaign?” Or maybe “Why can’t we fight on multiple battlefields or maybe influence the war in some way?” Honestly, I am glad that Saber stuck to its guns, took what made the first game fun and improved upon.

I was playing “Star Wars: Outlaws” around the time “Space Marine 2” came out and it felt like a huge, massive relief. “Oh, thank god, not another open world game.” The industry is flooded with big productions that try to tick all the possible boxes (open world, leveling, ‘RPG’ elements) to a point which, whenever I see a new announcement, I double check if it is not “one of those games” again.

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At the same time, “Space Marine 2” doesn’t fall under the “retro shooter” category. It is not trying to imitate Quake, Doom, not even Half-Life 1/2 like “Phantom Fury” and “Vladik Brutal” did (the less I talk about both games, the better). It’s filling out a space in the shooter genre that no one bothered with. It’s an old formula, “surpassed” or perhaps “outdated” to current standards,” but almost perfect to someone like me who is very tired of seeing the same thing over and over again.

Even the narrative itself, while it does have a good cast and predictable but enjoyable segments, falls under the same category of a game from “a previous era.” It will not win any awards, that’s for sure. But as someone who is deeply into Warhammer 40K, the attention to detail in the Space Marines Battle Barge — an operation base of sorts — and how the 40K universe works is staggering. If the first game set the bar, both “Space Marine 2” and the CRPG “Rogue Trader” put it even higher. Details like the Ultramarines armor, the whole gothic look of its chapels and even the silly rituals for the machine spirit, “Space Marine 2” has it all.

That’s not to say “Space Marine 2” doesn’t have a few new tricks under its “previous console generation” sleeve; not only it does, but it pulls most of them really well. The Tyranids could’ve been your typical “alien hive mind race” — which, of course, would anger Warhammer 40K fans — but fighting them feels extremely satisfying. Although Saber might boast how it can fill the screen with units, it’s how fights go down that makes the game unique. Unique, but a bit confusing at first.

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Bringing it to 2024 standards, “Space Marine 2” features a new parry mechanic — because every game must be like Sekiro, I guess — and it took me a while to get used to. mainly because of bad tutorialization. Certain attacks flash on screen, others do not, and the game does a bad job at explaining the reason why. Playing through the first chapter almost felt like going through a mall in Brazil during the Christmas season.

Everything was happening everywhere all at once. At one point there might be a couple of Hormagaunts (melee Tyranid units) attacking you, blink and you will be facing two Tyranid Warriors with melee weapons and another two in the back with bioweapons. I didn’t know where to shoot and who to shoot first. Mind you, we don’t shoot each other at malls in Brazil during the Christmas season, just clearing that up if there was any doubt.

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It will take a while if you’re not a Warhammer 40k aficionado to discern what units to dispatch first, but once you get past that learning curve, “Space Marine 2” gets even better. It doesn’t take long until you’re mowing down Tyranids with Boltguns, heavy Boltguns, Plasma pistols, rifles, swords and of course the “loved by everyone” chainsword. Each mission feels like a “fight for your life” scenario, a spectacle of blood, explosions and war cries that are usually restricted to the final acts of a game of this scope. And just when I thought things couldn’t get more intense, they do.

The only very minor downside of the campaign is how it does feel a bit too tailored for coop. Saber did an incredible job with its bots to a point which I’d say they’re one of the best I’ve seen since “Left 4 Dead 2”, but some objectives become a bit too much of multitasking. “Defend this point, now move to that one other.” Playing with friends is an absolute must if you plan on tackling higher difficulties.

After clocking a bit over 12 hours on the main campaign and getting floored by the ending for reasons I won’t get into here. My time with “Space Marine 2” was far from over. I only ate the main dish, it was now time to dive into the Operations mode, a “side” campaign that it’s even harder and more coop oriented than the main one. I put quotes on side because, honestly, it’s just as essential as the main one.

You see, playing the main campaign is like hearing half the story of “Space Marine 2”. An odd decision and one with which I don’t fully agree. To get the most of it, you will have to play Operations, which has its own custom classes and some slight perks. What bothers me deeply is the complete disconnect between the two.

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At one point during the main campaign, the game actively incentivizes you to go to the operations mode. Sure, I would love to, but due to its coop nature, I had no one to play with and the bots sadly aren’t cut for the type of actions and coordination needed to finish them. I’m still trying to figure out why Saber went with this choice instead of going with a short but alternate route in the main campaign and then expanding it in Operations. Heck, one of the best boss fights in the entire game is during an operation!

But, if I’m going to be honest, I’m almost grasping at straws here about the Operations mode. If you do have a group of friends to play with, you’ll have an amazing time in the mode. Unlock new outfits, and if the roadmap published by Saber is any sign, more maps and even more guns will be coming to the mode. It will give “Space Marine 2” legs, a lot of heavy armored legs.

And even if it won’t, there’s always the lovely multiplayer mode. I am a bit ashamed to say that I spent way more time in it than I thought I would. Like the rest of the game, it has that “old school” feel that I missed so much. No special ranking outside leveling, no confusing menus.

Jump into a match, throw some grenades, use a couple of special abilities, kill your enemies, dominate points. Simple as. It’s weird to think that it’s easier to get into a “Space Marine 2” match than it is to figure out how to get into a “Call of Duty” match, but that’s the state of gaming in 2024. It might be lacking in map variety, but that’s another area that Saber will tackle in upcoming updates.

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While I’m not the kind of person to believe in destiny or feeling nostalgic for certain aspects of gaming, I do believe there’s a time and place for everything. If we lived in an alternate reality in which the industry went hard into third person shooters during the PlayStation 4 era instead of the open world craze, “Space Marine 2” would be just another game in my library. As of 2024, it’s fresh, it’s a great comeback to an era that I didn’t know I sorely missed. You don’t see games like these, with this kind of polish and attention to detail and packing so much stuff in its launch. I don’t want it to become the norm, quite the contrary, I want the industry to innovate more as the years go by. But, much like “Advanced Warfighter” — a game that pleasantly surprised me on how it played out on consoles and how much I missed it its style — sometimes it’s good to go back to the drawing board, pick a subgenre that was a big hit during a certain period and improve upon. Saber did that masterfully.

Steam code was provided in advance by the publisher for review purposes