Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Review (PS5) – The Emperor’s New Gears
This review is dedicated to the memory of Jonathan Brown aka Yogdog. Our resident Warhammer nerd, he was more hyped for Space Marine than any of us. Rest in peace, our fallen brother, I hope this review does you proud.
Warhammer and me, we have an odd friendship. As a kid, I was all on board with the 40K aesthetic, painting Space Marines, Eldar and Sisters of Battle (I liked them). Never interested in the board game though, nor a lot of the video games. But [the 2011 third-person action shooter] Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, I was all over that.
Now, thirteen years and some studio changes later, players are once again thrust into the beefy power armour of the Space Marines. A story-driven experience, with optional co-op and PvP multiplayer elements, Space Marine 2 continues the story of Captain Titus and what happened after the events of his last grand adventure.
Is it worth the wait, or should Titus and company be relegated to the far ends of forgotten universes? Let’s load up those Bolters, grease up those chainswords, and fight at the frontline for the Emperor to get some answers.
Bit Chaotic
This section is a recap of Space Marine, and thus will contain retrospective spoilers. To avoid if you are going to play it, skip on a few sections to the gameplay bits.
In his first outing, Captain Titus (voiced by veteran actor Mark Strong) and his squad are sent to the planet Graia to take it back from invading Orks. For the first act of the campaign, we see how Titus stops the green meanies from getting their grubby hands on the Forge planet, stopping them building more war machines and the like.
Shortly after the threat is moderately repelled, things start spicing up. Led by Inquisitor Drogan, Titus and company are soon duped into using Warp energy to bring forth Chaos, and with that, the Daemon Prince Nemeroth.
Despite saving the day for both the Emperor and humankind, things go awry for Titus in an unusual way. After because exposed to Warp energy, which usually corrupts victims to turn to Chaos (in generalised terms), Titus is immune to such corruption. Which would be alright, if one of his more… devout Marines didn’t rat him out to the Inquisition. Led away as the credits begin, we’re unaware of what happened to the erstwhile captain… until now.
To Hell And Back
For his penance, despite not being affected by the taint of evil, Captain Titus is given a place in the Deathwatch. The Deathwatch are (again in broader terms) the Space Marine equivalent of mining canaries. Albeit genetically enhanced, eight-foot tall, and heavily armed, but you get the gist.
Having proved himself yet again, Titus (this time voiced by Clive Standen, of Taken TV series fame) is reinstated as an Ultramarine. But this time, he’s been beefed up as a Primaris Marine. Faster, better, stronger and whatnot, yet demoted to Lieutenant. Win some, lose some.
After a failed mission on the planet Kadaku (not Klendathu, that’s Starship Troopers) to dispel the hive-mind alien hordes of Tyranids, Titus is sent back again. This time, it’s to retrieve valuable data, vitally important to the Omnissiah-worshipping Mechanicus and worth risking Space Marines for.
However, all is not that simple, and soon Titus is embroiled in something bigger. Something that threatens the stability of his squad, his faith in the Emperor and the Astartes as a whole. I won’t say what, but it gets a bit Chaotic…
Lore and Order(s)
Before I get into how it plays, I do just want to make a little disclaimer: you don’t have to have played the first one to make sense of Space Marine 2. Of course it helps, but there’s no punishment for not. Nor does one have to have read The Horus Heresy to know what the difference between chapters is.
For its credit, White Dwarf has put a lot into the Warhammer 40K universe in its near-forty years. For my part, I know a little. I painted a few different chapter colours as a kid, used to think the Eldar were cool and such. But even I had to search for Lord Calgar, and even then his history reads like a novel in itself.
My point is, players shouldn’t be put off by the sequential number on the title. I played Suikoden II before the first one, and all that did was make me hunt down the first one to find out what I’d missed. In regards to Space Marine, it’s not vitally important. Titus does eventually bring his squad (and us) up to speed.
So yes, don’t worry about not playing a game that came out thirteen years ago. Or, if you’re deeply concerned, you’ve got a few days (at the time of this being published) to blast through the first and catch up.
To Battle!
So, as you may have gleaned from the title, I made a subtle nod to Gears of War. Now, it would be extremely lazy to say “Space Marine 2 plays like Gears of War”, so I won’t. However, it’s easy enough to make some comparisons. Anyone not familiar with the lineage would think this ripped off Gears’ armour stylings, but don’t trust anyone who thinks that way. No, whilst aesthetically similar, there are differences. For one, there’s no cover system.
No, Lieutenant Titus is a straight-up fighting man. Played solely in third-person, Space Marine relies heavily on a mix of gunplay and savage melee combat in equal measure. Both are easy enough to get the hang of: think any over-the-shoulder shooter for the blasting, and a little God of War for the melee. The latter is multi-directional, meaning Titus moves in full 3D rather than human-tank mode to swing his chainsword/power sword/thunder hammer at anything sneaking up on him.
This time around, and borrowing from the likes of Sekiro and other action games, there’s a parry mechanic. Whereas the first one was more “trial by resilience”, this new offering allows players a reprieve to counter attacks. Pouncing Tyranids can be grabbed out of the air for instant kills, or if more formidable, opened up for a swift counterattack.
These counters have their benefits: cracking off a stunned shot (indicated by a small reticle over the enemy) will restore armour. This is invaluable, as armour isn’t the most sturdy of defences, so it’s worth getting stuck in to replenish-deplete-repeat. Weaken enemies enough and you’ll be able to execute them, often in Kratos-esque brutal ways. Lovely stuff.
My Aim Is True
The gunplay is no slouch either, mind. Throughout the campaign, and progressively through the multiplayer, there’s a whole host of weapons courtesy of the Forge. The standard loadout for a Space Marine is a bolter (a chunky machine gun, essentially), a bolt pistol and a chainsword. Each has its merits, but it’s certainly not limiting. Fancy switching to charge-favouring plasma weapons instead? Feel free.
Any combination can be equipped, either scavenged from battle or swapped out at Forge pods at checkpoints. There are some moments when the game almost says “We’d prefer if you used this weapon”, such as a flamethrower for clearing swarms. However, you don’t have to, if you relish a challenge or really don’t want to give up your scoped rifle. There’s the occasional heavy weapon too, for moments that require a bit of crowd control.
There are even a few jumppack sections, making their return from the original. These are scripted, and again linear in terms of mission progress, but they break up the monotony somewhat. Paired with a thunder hammer, soaring into the air to drop thumpy justice on a xeno-mosh pit is ridiculously satisfying.
Again, it’s all down to personal preference. I play like a man told there’s only one copy of a Sleep Token record left: get stuck in, swinging at everything and emerge covered in blood. Some may prefer hanging back, which is also possible. Not to the extent of a Sniper Ghost Warrior game, but helpful in providing overwatch to your friends.
Battle Brothers Unite
Speaking of friends, Space Marine 2 has improved on its multiplayer functionality over the original. For one, the entire campaign can be played in co-op with up to two friends. It’s also entirely drop-in/drop-out so one doesn’t have to faff about with mission resets or whatnot. The AI themselves aren’t awful, thankfully, so it’s not a slog to play solo if that’s your preference.
Then there’s the Operations mode, which adds longevity to the game. Throughout certain campaign missions, Titus will instruct other squads to do something ancillary off-screen. Operations mode is players acting out those objectives counterpart to the story, which I thought was really well thought out. It’s Resident Evil 2’s Scenario B, it’s Abby’s story whilst Ellie’s undoing everything we loved from the first The Last of Us.
They’re also not necessary to finish the campaign, but you’d only be doing yourself a disservice if you at least didn’t try them. Despite playing pre-release, Toby and I have made our way through half of them. There are only six (so far), but they’re pretty lengthy missions. Like the campaign, objectives range from wave-like horde moments, to capture the flag-holding areas, right up to boss fights. Which makes a change from corridor shooting like the first game fell into the cycle of.
A Touch Of Class
The other enjoyable part of the multiplayer is the classes available. Whilst the campaign is fixed on Titus and his “standard” form, Operations and PvP have a handful of differing playstyles. I went with Assault, that of the jumppack-and-hammer variety because, as mentioned, I have violent tendencies. Toby opted for the Sniper, because he’s more methodical than I am, even if he burns through ammo at a staggering rate.
There’s the melee-favouring Bulwark class, that favours a sword and shield build, or even just vanilla Tactical class for the milquetoast player. Each of these classes have their strengths and weaknesses, and all are fully customisable in regard to armour. Bear in mind that this is largely cosmetic, but it’s always nice to have some skulls on your pauldrons or a few extra medals to show that you’ve played this longer than someone else has.
Players aren’t just limited to Ultramarines, either. Over time, players can switch to Blood Angels or Space Wolves charters, to name but two. There’s a whole unlockable hierarchy system, opening up specific armours and liveries to compliment any of the Emperor’s most devout sects. Just don’t ask me how to unlock them, because I couldn’t (again, due to it not being available to me at the time of writing).
And of course, there’s experience and levelling. These go hand-in-hand with weapon mastery, which then leads to higher weapon classes and perks. I could go into the specifics, but honestly, it’s more fun to witness these progressions yourself. Fortunately, experience and equipment carry across all multiplayer modes, which is needed for when players tackle higher difficulties.
Technical Chaos
Speaking of difficulties, I didn’t really experience many technical ones during my time with Space Marine 2. There were a couple of server downtime moments, but that’s understandable for a big game leading to release. Fortunately, there were no Star Wars Outlaws levels of “Oh yeah, we’ve patched it and your prior saves are redundant” malarkey. Which is good, because the campaign is pretty chunky and I would be pissed.
No, the only wee glitches I had were during gameplay. On occasion, my AI teammates Gadriel and Charion got very close to each other, as you can see above. At other times, I’d be Black Friday swinging into a horde and those two would be shouting verbose encouragement… whilst showing me how well they can stand still with their arms out.
There were a few other instances, but none were game-breaking. Little things like waiting to regroup at an objective, and Gadriel’s getting his cardio by running into a wall. Minor things like performing an execution on a Tyranid Lictor, only for it to disappear and clip me through a wall. Again, more funny than frustrating, but momentarily stemming the flow.
On the whole, it ran pretty smoothly for a game kindly given to us two weeks before launch. One would expect it to be smoother upon and after release. My only other gripe is the currency side of multiplayer, but from what I can gather everything is unlockable through realistic grind. I really hope Focus/Saber doesn’t pull out some reverse SW: Battlefront on it.
Prettier Than The Emperor (Which Isn’t Hard)
It has occurred to me that I’ve come this far in a review without mentioning graphics. Normally that’s quite early on, but this game is different. For one, it looks so good up to release that I didn’t think I needed to point it out. And secondly, all the pictures in this review are in-game screenshots. Yes, it really does look that good. Bar the pic of the helmet lineup, the rest are paused and taken in photo mode (the helmet one is a cutscene).
Honestly, and as I’m biased, I’ve been loving the literal look of this since the announcement. But once you actually start playing, it’s staggering how much detail is in Space Marine 2. Watching hordes of Tyranids breach defences gives a Starship Troopers Battle of Outpost 29 vibe, or Days Gone in terms of games. There were moments of me stood watching the scale of the wall-scaling and forgetting, “Oh yeah, I’m meant to be shooting these buggers”.
The sound design’s pretty engaging too. Hearing a chainsword struggle its way through some tougher alien hide is impressive, as is a thunderous hammer slam. Hearing melta rifle shots ignite the air as fireballs scream is delicious, as is the resonance of a bolter barrage.
I hate to be corny and say “visual/audio masterpiece” like I’m reviewing the opera. But Space Marine is a colourful trip indeed. Staring into space before charging into a scrum is satisfying on both counts. Even my brother, a staunch PC player, was impressed when he saw me playing it on PlayStation. See, that’s how good it looks by console default.
We Fight, Once More!
To conclude, and not surprising any of you, I absolutely love Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. Of course, it’s mostly bias as I was a big fan of the first one, but sequels can be misleading. But time and circumstance have been kind to Titus (in the real world, at least) and Saber has taken up the mantle from Relic well.
As mentioned, players don’t have to have played the first, as everything here is welcoming. The campaign is about twelve to fifteen hours, depending on difficulty, with collectables to hunt if desired. Stunning biomes break up the linearity of the first game, even if the shooting can fall into repetition on occasion. Whilst I did it solo, the option to play with friends is very welcome.
I am all for the Operations mode, and will be offering up my Death From Above services to any friends that need a hand. PvP multiplayer isn’t usually my bag, but I can see myself dabbling if my squad fancies it. The desire for shinier armour or better firearm damage will always be that drive. With season pass content, let’s hope Focus don’t fall to Chaotic corruption and ruin what could potentially be a good live-service component.
To summarise, Space Marine 2 is a time capsule of the late noughties. If you enjoyed that then, you’ll enjoy it now with the all-new bells and whistles. For those that didn’t experience it then, but want a break or to see how good we had it, now’s your chance. I won’t lie and say it’s a game for everyone, and admittedly Warhammer lore is a bloat at times. But if you want something new, something violently cathartic, and damn pretty to look at, Titus is your eight foot man-mountain.
After a long, long hiatus, it’s amazing to see Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 come to life. A great campaign for new and returning fans, bolstered by adjacent multiplayer modes, there’s enough here to get stuck into. Paired with some gorgeous visuals and chunky action, this is as cathartic an action-shooter-brawler as one can hope to enjoy. For the Emperor!
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is available from 9th September on PlayStation 5 (review platform), Xbox Series S|X and PC via Steam. Early access is available from 5th September if you preorder the game.
Developer: Saber Interactive
Publisher: Focus Entertainment
Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.
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