Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 review – grimdark co-op

Star Wars Outlaws is by no means a perfect game but its portrayal of a galaxy far, far away is authentic enough that it forgives a number of minor sins, if you’re a fan. Both Star Wars and Warhammer 40,000 have had plenty of video game tie-ins in the past but for both these news games their worlds are recreated in a level of detail – in terms of the quality and scale of the graphics – that has never been seen before.

Exploring the seedy side of the Star Wars universe has been a real pleasure but Space Marine 2 is arguably even more exciting for its fans, as the grim darkness of the far future has never looked as impressive as it does here. With hordes of bloodthirsty aliens filling the screen at every moment and the Imperium of Man pictured in fascinating detail, in terms of its technology and society, this is the most immersive the franchise has ever been.

As an adaptation of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, Space Marine 2 is essentially perfect and if you’re a fan then nothing we say subsequently is going to put you off wanting to play it. For everyone else though it’s a frustrating game, that comes perilously close to being something truly special but just doesn’t quite get there in terms of either storytelling or gameplay.

If you’re wondering why you’ve never heard of Space Marine 1, it was a quickly forgotten third person shooter from 2011, by Homeworld creator Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. The sequel is published by Focus Entertainment and made by World War Z developer Saber Interactive. We guess maybe they thought the name was too good to give up, but for whatever reason this is a direct sequel to the original – although with a 200 year time jump that means you don’t really need to know anything that happened before.

The original Space Marine was also very good at maintaining an authentic Warhammer 40,000 vibe but it was let down by simplistic and repetitive combat, with too little variety in enemies and set pieces. And despite a great central performance by Mark Strong, the story and characters proved disappointingly unengaging.

Space Marine 2 has exactly the same problems, only less so. The plot picks up with Titus (now voiced by Taken’s Clive Standen) being reinstated as an Ultramarine, after being suspected of heresy at the end of the last game. In the original, the primary enemies were Orks but here it’s Tyranids, a cross between dinosaurs and the xenomorphs from Alien (and very clearly the ‘inspiration’ for the Zerg in Starcraft).

The Tyranids are invading a number of Imperium planets and so you’re called in to delay them long enough to evacuate important assets, although you soon realise there’s more to what’s going on than it first seems. However, unless you’ve got a PhD in Warhammer 40,000 lore none of it is terribly gripping. The most interesting element is that Titus’ squad-mates don’t really trust him at first and the game would’ve done better to play that human element up more than it does.

Given Warhammer 40,000’s rise in mainstream visibility over the last few years, in large part thanks to lockdown, most people probably have at least a vague idea of what a Space Marine is: an eight foot tall super soldier who wields a variety of ranged weapons but is most at home with a sword, ideally one that’s also a chainsaw.

The basics of the third person combat are as you’d imagine, but while you use a combination of light and heavy attacks they work differently than in most similar games, as they’re both triggered by the same button and the more light attacks you do the more powerful the heavy move is when you finally activate it.

There are also regular combos, as well as a neat ability where you can automatically target an enemy with your gun while melee fighting and use that attack to end your combo instead. Saber has clearly been playing a lot of From games, as the parry system is inspired by Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, of all things, with a blue flash during an enemy attack indicating you can parry and counter it, while a red symbol means all you can do is dodge.

Space Marine 2 screenshot — Space Marine 2 – the game’s visuals are super impressive (Focus Entertainment)

Since you’re constantly being swarmed by dozens of enemies at once, area of effect attacks are vital, as is a good sense of situational awareness, as larger enemies can quite easily sneak up on you when you’re otherwise engaged. All of this is portrayed via some wonderfully over-the-top gore and violence, with Titus soaked in blood from the opening moments of the game – and that’s before he starts performing some suitably outrageous finishing moves.

On paper it’s all perfect, but the problem is the combat just isn’t as much fun as it should be. Watch a video and it looks amazing but playing it there’s a distinct lack of feedback in terms of sound, rumble, and gameplay. Cutting a swathe through armies of Tyranids feels strangely weightless and since the game is often a visual mess of blood and bodies (in a good way) it’s actually quite hard to tell whether you’re hitting anything or if what you were originally aiming at is already dead.

Maybe it’s just because we’ve been playing Astro Bot recently, with its GOAT force feedback, but by comparison the DualSense barely twitches when you do anything in Space Marine 2 and it’s a real shame, because the combat system otherwise shows a lot of promise.

The other problem is that the mission design and scenarios get very repetitive. There’s more variety in the Tyranid armies than there was with the Orks, and as before there is a third faction, but progression is very linear, with little in the way of exploration. Instead, you’re constantly faced with new excuses for why you have to go somewhere and press another button, on another piece of gothic machinery, or fight off endless hordes of enemies until a timer decides you’ve had enough.

On its own, Space Marine 2 is a very flawed action game but there are two important mitigating factors. The first is the quality of its visuals and the clear amount of effort that’s gone into recreating the Warhammer 40,000 universe. We’re sure this isn’t a particularly big budget game, not compared to some, but the game looks like a moving Heavy Metal album at times, with skies full of flying gargoyles and fountains of blood erupting from every enemy encounter.

The other great positive is that the game features three-player campaign co-op, so if you can get that running with two friends that’s definitely going to take the edge off the disappointing action. If you all happen to be Warhammer fans then, at that point, it’s probably going to seem like the best game ever.

There’s also a separate co-op mode named Operations, which can also be played solo, with several scenarios based on sections from the main campaign where you’re playing a different set of Ultramarines. Since the campaign is only around eight hours long it’s a welcome feature, with six character classes and an AI director that will add at least some element of unpredictability to the enemy line-up each time you play.

On top of this is a 6v6 competitive option, with a variety of traditional game modes, which we haven’t had a chance to play properly yet but saw briefly at Gamescom. There was a similar mode in the first game and while welcome it’s clear that Operations is much better suited to the style of gameplay. In fact, the use of classes means it offers more variety than the campaign itself, where you only occasionally get to use specialist equipment, like a jetpack, at specific story moments.

We hope it’s not going to be another 13 years till Space Marine 3 because this is right on the cusp of being something truly great. Tweaked combat and better campaign design is all that’s needed, as the basics are already there. But as with everything in life, the presence of friends can help smooth over most problems.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 review summary

In Short: It comes frustratingly close to being the perfect Warhammer 40,000 action game but repetitive set pieces and a lack of crunch to the combat means that’ll have to wait for Space Marine 3.

Pros: A perfect adaptation of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, with impressive visuals and relatively complex action. Operations mode is great, especially with the promise of future DLC expansions.

Cons: The combat just isn’t good enough to justify a game in which you do almost nothing else, especially given the lack of visceral feedback. Unengaging story and repetitive campaign design.

Score: 7/10

Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PC
Price: £59.99
Publisher: Focus Entertainment
Developer: Saber Interactive
Release Date: 9th September 2024
Age Rating: 18