If you have read any of my Warhammer reviews you will know how much of a huge fan I am. I have waited fourteen years for a sequel to 2011’s, Space Marine. Here we are with Saber Interactive’s, Space Marine 2. I have played many Warhammer games, Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters, Shootas, Blood & Teef, and Dawn of War but nothing hit me like Space Marine. So let’s see if the sequel got my Chainsword revving.
FOR ULTRAMAR
Just like our wait for Space Marine 2, it’s been a long time for Captain Titus. After being accused of heresy at the end of the previous game, Titus has probably spent a few decades in the Inquisition torture cells and we pick things up with him on his last mission with the Deathwatch.
Titus, now demoted to Lieutenant is brought back into the Ultramarine fold to take on the meanest Space bugs of them all, the Tyranids under the new leadership of grumpy and overworked Captain Acharon. Titus also takes on a small squad…when I say small it’s just the three of them and if you’ve seen the Acharon memes online, he could have pared more. This new squad consists of Sergeant Gadriel and Chaos hater, Chairon. The dynamics between the three shift a lot throughout the story. Most is due to Titus not trusting his new squad and who could blame him after that dick Leandros. The story isn’t perfect but it’s the first game I’ve played in a long time at times made my heart pump faster and downright stand up and cheer.
Take up your Bolters Brothers
The gameplay is very straightforward. Here is your mission, get to this objective, swarms of terrifying Tyranids, oh now there’s a big or special one, and back to the Battlebarge. Maybe I’m being too simplistic here. The levels themselves look great even though after a while a bit samey, well until the Arch-enemy, Chaos shows up. There are some great backgrounds and interactions along the way though, especially when dealing with the Cadian troops (firing squad, big tanks, kneeling in front of the Space Marines).
After a while, the fighting becomes second nature. You are thinning out swarms of Tyranids with your various Boltguns, big, bigger, or even bigger ones. When the shells dry up it’s hack-and-slash time with your Chainsword, Thunder hammer, or my fav, the Power Sword. I felt the melee was a bit unreactive at times, especially the new parry system. Don’t get me wrong it is fun seeing the blue flash icon warning you something is going to happen. Then trying to hit the parry button just right to catch a leaping Hormagaunt mid-air and smash them into the dirt. Well in theory anyway, sometimes the button just doesn’t react in time or at all. It is a shame but when the swarms are coming you need all the help you can get.
Join me in the fight Brothers
Space Marine 2 has given us what the first promised, an online mode. There are three modes, Operations, Campaign, and Eternal War. The campaign is self-explanatory, you and two friends play through the main story Titus, Gadriel, and Chairon. Operations ties in with the main story as you and your friends do the missions Titus sets the other squads. This a better co-op as you can pick the different classes that feature in Eternal War, Speaking of Eternal War this was my favourite of the three. It is straight-up PVP, six Space Marines vs six Chaos Marines in the usual modes, Capture the Flag, Team Deathmatch, and Hold the Objective. The different classes and customization are what make this fun.
With the Season pass you get nice new armor, some in-game currency to spend on your favorite Chapter colours and icons, and DLC content which unlocks new successor chapters for you to choose from. While the customization is fun the fact that everything needs to be unlocked with the game’s currency down to the colour was a bit strange to me. I can see that they did not want to go down the payment route and I commend them for it but on the flipside, this makes online very grindy. You need that coin and I need that Abaddon Black.
All roads lead to Terra
If you are a fan of Warhammer 40k, then you will want to play Space Marine 2. Saber has released a road map of all the new content that will be released over the next year through different Season Passes. I for one can’t wait to see where the games go in the future.
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