Vox communication with the Battle Barge high above them in low Kadaku orbit was clear, but there was no one coming to help them; they were on their own. Only the mission remained: annihilate the swarm. The Space Marines had found a small respite on the metal walkway just above where the edge of the factorium grounds met the blasted plain. A few hundred square meters of the surface lay open to the sky, treelees, blasted open from a combination of orbital bombardment and Xenos enemy firepower. Steaming craters blighted the field amidst scorched and fallen trees. Bodies from both sides of the battle lay rotting in the muck. Across it all, mindless of the devastation, the Tyranid swarm boiled and seethed. Disgusting, filthy Xenos.
They reloaded weapons and checked their equipment kits before heading down the ruined stairs. Their power armor was dented, spattered with blood, weapons still hot, chainsword grips slick from gutting and crushing. A vast amount of stored promethium still lay underneath the plain, waiting to be detonated into a conflagration would be easily observed from space.
It was time to remind the Xenos of whom they fought.
Reinforced steel doors hissed open as the Marines, the Adeptus Astartes, marched through; silent, lethal, implacable. Combat positions were taken, heads up displays inside their helmets scanned the field to analyze possible approaches. A rising roar split the air. An arm of the Tyranid swarm seemed to shiver and then branched off, reached out from the main host to spear in their direction. Thousands of Xenos flooded toward the marines in a chaotic tide of snapping jaws and clawed limbs. It hungered. The marines waited, weapons at the ready, their iron will prepared for the enemy to crash against it. The Emperor protects.
And then battle was upon them.
I remember first hearing about the Warhammer universe back in high school. A table top game with hand painted figurines assembled into armies to “war” in a battle decided by unit strengths, types, and the roll of the dice. Painting the miniature soldiers was a fun hobby but I never actually got enough of them to play the game. Despite that, I learned a lot and have been unsurprised to see that it continues to be a universe with literal reams of lore. There’s also an episode on the show Secret Level on Amazon Prime which is a really fun watch (season 1 episode 5).
Consult the all-knowing Google to find out more if you’re into sci-fi stuff like the distant future of humankind, and enjoy the ride down the rabbit hole. The Emperor protects.
The first iteration of Space Marine first person shooter came out back in 2011. I made sure to play my way through that just to make sure I could follow what happens in the sequel, and it was fun! Even with somewhat dated graphics, the mechanics and the story and the voice acting pulled it all together. You play as a decorated Ultra Marine named Titus, voiced by the venerable Mark Strong in the first game. But, Titus appeared to have a resistance to the warp (which is bad) and he was accused of being a heretic. Titus was punished and sent to serve in the Death Watch for a measly 150 years, even though he (you) definitely saved the day at the end of SM1. Titus’ return to the regular combat ranks is where Space Marine 2 picks up his story. Playing through the original one before heading into the sequel was fun but not necessary to in order to understand the story or appreciate the sequel.
WHAT MAKES IT FUN?
If you’re a fan of the modern DOOM iterations, I think you’ll be a big fan of Space Marine 2. The Space Marines are giant, super human, super soldiers that wear massive suits of power armor with an excellent variety of guns and melee weapons, all of which are employed to maximize the amount of violence visited upon the enemies of the human empire. In the game there are also six different classes you can play, each with their own kit and play style. Want to be a tank and mow down enemies with a giant mini gun? Play Heavy. Looking for more mobility and a focus on painting the walls with enemy blood from your chainsword or giant two-handed hammer? Play Assault. There’s a class that everyone should like depending on how you want to murder alien hordes. Each class also has a great perk tree you can tailor to your play style, weapon combination, or group composition.
One thing I found really cool was the weaving together of the campaign and the PVE Operations. As you play through the campaign there are NPCs that go off on side missions to support the main story. Once you’ve finished the campaign (or not if you don’t mind spoilers) you get to go do those side missions! Most notably, while the map for each of these operations is the same each time through (no procedural world building like Deadcells or Valheim), the conflict, pace of combat, and placement of enemies, timing of enemy waves are completely different each time you go through a mission. This pairs really well with leveling up your weapons to keep things interesting and fresh for each and every run. There are also spots on each map where you can swap load outs if you think the plasma incinerator would better annihilate the enemies of the Human Empire instead of the multi-melta (pew pew!). The best part is that you get to spend the game wading through waves of filthy Xenos and also the traitorous Chaos marines and their ilk while feeling like a power armored god of destruction. Space Marine 2 has some similar mechanics with DOOM Eternal, with gory executions and tons of enemies to kill, but without the ever-present stress and press from DOOM until you get the higher level difficulties.
How’s it look?
This is a top-notch, AAA game. Not only are the graphics excellent, they seem to be well optimized, even for slightly aging graphics cards like my RTX 2070. Toying with the settings a little bit easily yields consistently smooth game play and the environment itself in the game is fantastic. The details are so thorough that I still find myself noticing little details during each mission. If you really look around it actually feels like you’re slogging through the jungle as you fight; you can almost feel the biting insects. The semi-demolished urban landscapes, gloomy tombs, and shattered landscapes make it feel like you’re really moving within the history of the Warhammer universe. For the “city” like levels, the themes and motifs that match the Human Empire of the far future are everywhere and it raises the immersion in a big way. Skulls. Lots of skulls. Which, I think, is a fitting metaphor for the history of human conquest both fictional and historical.
And who doesn’t love a buffet of aesthetics? Your soldiers start out with a stock cosmetic look (boring!) that you can then modify and upgrade as you play and unlock more gear. The choices of colors, more elaborate armor pieces, etc. has been really fun to play around with and though the DLC cosmetics have decidedly mixed reviews on Steam…I might still go that route at some point (you have to buy the DLC stuff then also unlock the gear with in game currency).
how hard is it?
Space Marine 2 can be hard if you want it to be. There are six different difficulty levels that you can choose from. However, after 89 hours in the game as of writing this blog I’ve been pretty content with maxing out doing level 3- Substantial; it’s tough but very doable as long as your teammates aren’t muppets. I have yet to venture beyond this until my gear is higher level…but I imagine it gets really nuts as you go into 4-6. Health stims are less effective, you have less ammo to find, and more and more higher level bad guys spawn more often. Threat level Absolute is a recent edition because I guess Lethal just wasn’t hard enough for some people? Masochists!
Casual gaming up to face melting insanity. You choose.
final thoughts
This games kicks ass. It feels more and more rare these days to have a big title game come out feels complete and makes me say: Yes, this is totally worth the money I spent. Space Marine 2 gets more fun the more you play it and you feel absolutely unstoppable once you get a handle on the combat mechanics. A personal favorite of mine is the blue reticle that appears when an enemy is about to attack you. This is a warning that you can parry the attack, which often means catching a filthy hormagaunt in air before crushing its skull or smashing it on the concrete; each creature has it’s own special little way to wrecked.
The replayability of the Operations mode has been the biggest draw for me, with each run feeling different enough from the last one as far as enemy encounters and overall experience. This gets even more fun as you level up weapons and become even more powerful. There’s also PVP capability, but I don’t play it much as I’ve found doing a 3 stack against in PVE to be much more satisfying.
So, if you’re looking for a good combat shooter with fun mechanics, an immersive story and environment, lots of cool weapons and cosmetics to unlock, then give this game a go.