Game Review: Space Marine II
Well. This was inevitable. One of the biggest game releases this year and it's Warhammer 40k? Seems ideal for this blog!
I loved the first Space Marine game, it was the first time the Warhammer universe really felt alive in a video game. It had everything you'd expect; giant murder soldiers curb stomping hordes of enemies in huge, beautifully rendered landscapes that really emphasise the oppressive nature of the grim darkness of the far future. But is Titus's second outing any good? Or should it be cast into the warp for it's heretical existence? Well I've played it and completed it so, avoiding spoilers as best I can, read on to discover my thoughts on the latest Warhammer 40k video game offering...
General Gameplay
Unsurprisingly, the gameplay of Space Marine 2 is heavily based upon that of it's predecessor, but has been refined and improved in a number of ways and even the feel of the game is different to the first Space Marine. For starters, the weight of the Space Marines feels heavier and more imposing, the sound of each Marine's power armoured feet thunk against the floor with each step coupled with the broad swaying of shoulder pads as they run really gives you, as the player, a real sense of just how powerful these gods of war are, and enhances immersion into this grim dark game immeasurably, especially when Titus curb stomps his way through carpets of Hormagaunts that literally blanket the horizon with their innumerable swarms. Unlike the tabletop game, you get a real sense of just how much damage an Astartes can actually do and it is fantastic.
As for how the game plays itself, the best way to describe the experience is a healthy mix of Gears of War and Doom Eternal, both excellent games in their own right whose different play styles Space Marine 2 blends together expertly. You will stride amongst swarms of various Tyranid organisms such as Hormagaunts, Termagants and Tyranid Warriors, all of which act exactly as you'd expect; blasting, chopping and parrying your way through them with an sizeable arsenal of weaponry brought to life via the magic of modern gaming consoles (or PC). Picking your weapons becomes a game of tactical choices as you can only have one rifle, one pistol and one melee weapon at a time, all of which act completely differently. The humble Chainsword for example is very quick and great at rapidly chopping up the smaller swarms whilst a Power Sword, which you could argue is similar to the Chainsword in it's usage, has an interchangable "strong" and "quick" mode depending on what you want to chop up and how dead you want it.
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| Being a Space Marine means killing bugs |
Where Space Marine 2 really shines compared to it's predecessor however is not only the online modes themselves (which I'll touch on shortly), but the variety of effects of each different class you can be and the wargear attached to them is incredibly well thought out and implemented. Unlike the first game where you could choose from the basic Tactical, Assault and Devastator classes, Space Marine 2 switches things up by creating classes heavily inspired by the various units the Primaris Marines have access to on the tabletop, all of which have their own quirks and abilities, for example the Vanguard class (based on Phobos armoured Marines) can grapple onto and slam into enemies from afar but have less armour than other classes, whereas the Heavy class (based on the Gravis armoured Marines) are slower and have the ability to reduce damage from ranged attacks with their Iron Halo ability.
As for the online modes themselves, there are two modes - Operations and Eternal War. The former is a cooperative PVE mode that focuses on missions that occur simultaneously with Titus's missions, which is a really cool way to show how the war effort happening elsewhere is faring, and also throws in some new bosses not encountered in the single player, but I don't want to spoil the surprises the game has in store in this review.
Eternal War is your classic Marines vs Chaos affair where several players per side duke it out in a variety of different modes ranging from your typical deathmatch to objective control. Whilst this mode is a lot of fun and playable for literal hours, I do have three issues with it. Firstly, players on the side of Chaos have absolutely zero customisation for their aesthetics with each class representing a different Chaos legion each whilst the loyalist have full customisation over their armour and accessories. The second is the lack of maps for this mode; with only 4 or 5 maps with similar layouts available and as such each game can start to feel very samey very quickly which is a damn shame. Thirdly is the restriction they have put on how many players can choose the same class. I assume this is for game balance reasons, but at the same time it sucks to be lumped with a class you hate because you weren't quick enough off the mark.
Both online modes also introduce a reward system where the better you do the more credits you can accrue. These can then be used in a variety of ways, from unlocking aesthetic options to upgrading your weaponry. When I finally unlocked the Thunder Hammer, you can bet that thing accompanied me on every mission!
User Friendliness
This is kind of where Space Marine 2 falls down a little bit. Whilst the game itself is not hard to understand once you understand it (if that makes sense?), the way the game explains the mechanics is a bit unclear, which is fitting considering how some of Games Workshop's assembly instructions are presented.
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| Titus's Black Shield days were not simple! |
The first time I had issues with the tutorial was during the prologue mission where you play as Titus during his time as a Black Shield, some of the mechanics are briefly explained before the game throws you in the deep end, for example when the game tries to teach the player how to parry an attack very early on, however whilst doing so it decides to just throw an entire swarm of Hormagaunts backed by some Tyranid Warriors at you and, unless you've played a few hours of the game already, you'll end up getting hit before before you ever have a chance to actually party, not to mention they teach perfect parries before this which are arguably easier to perform at this point in the game.
The game also has a habit of not explaining things properly. It states that operations can be played single player but if you're online you'll automatically be thrown in with other players... and some of them don't know how Team Work works. There may be a way to switch this off, but the fact I still don't know how to do this just goes to show how poorly explained this function is.
Controls
For the most part the controls are fairly fluid and overall do what you need them to - they fall under the category of "easy to learn, hard to master". You have a melee attack button, a parry button, aim and shoot buttons, as well as buttons for dodging, reloading and throwing grenades. There's also a special ability button that will activate whatever unique ability your Marine has; Titus for example has an ability where he regenerates health and deals more damage for a limited time, whereas the multiplayer classes have abilities that line up with their class such as using the jump pack for Assault Intercessors and the grappling hook for Vanguards.
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| One wrong button press will turn Titus into Carnifex chow |
My main issue with the controls, and I appreciate this can be changed but I found it mildly inconvenient, is that the control mapping you might be typically used to in other games do not translate to Space Marine 2 at all and I ended up throwing grenades instead of dodging because I'm used to the B button being used for dodging and grenades being assigned to bumper buttons like with Halo, Call of Duty or even Gears of War. It is rather frustrating and I'm not sure why the button mapping couldn't just follow the norm.
Graphics
The graphics for Space Marine 2 are just utterly breath taking, and really puts into perspective the enormity of the Warhammer 40k universe as you fight your way through towering citadels and through dense jungles littered with Tyranid critters. Speaking of Tyranids, whatever magic they worked on to have swarms (and by swarms I mean you can't even see the hills they're running over) that you can actually shoot from a distance is absolutely insane, it doesn't even slow the game down which was the most surprising thing. Not only that but you get a real sense of just how immensely powerful a Space Marine is when you see Titus actually walking past a guardsman and seeing them barely coming up to their torso.
Long time Warhammer 40k fans will also notice the really nice touches where the design team has included official terrain that you can actually go out and buy amongst the ruins and jungles you encounter in amazing detail, from a simple Imperial barricade to the famous Space Marine holding a sword statue. I really felt like I was controlling a character on the table top most of the time, and seeing your favourite characters rendered in glorious 3D is a treat that any avid wargamers would go mad for.
Overall
Despite it's very few short comings, once you get over the steep learning curve from the not-so-clear directions and the initially confusing controls, what you are left with is a fantastic game that is addictive, intense and engaging, not to mention absolutely gorgeous (for a grim dark game) and oozes character from every pore. The multiplayer is very fun, if not without it's flaws, and will easily keep you playing the game well beyond the relatively short single player story mode. An absolute must buy for any gamer, but especially fans of Warhammer 40k.
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