by Anthony O'Connor
Worth: $18.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Intro:
… a wildly entertaining throwback action game with a generous campaign and surprisingly deep multiplayer modes.
Being a space marine is an odd sort of power fantasy, in that it isn’t one. Not really. Oh, sure, space marines are strong as hell. Seven foot tall, boasting two hearts and numerous other genetic advantages, shoved into ceramite armour and bristling with deadly weapons – these blokes are the epitome of bad arse. However, they’re battling in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, a bleak, grimdark future where humanity is fighting a never-ending battle against rapacious aliens, narky mutants and the flesh-twisting, brain-melting forces of Chaos. In such a desperate location, even the strongest warrior is merely delaying the inevitable fall into darkness.
So, you know, cheery bloody stuff!
Space Marine 2 puts you back in the xenos-stomping boots of Demetrian Titus, an Ultramarine lieutenant with a controversial past (shown in greater detail in the original Space Marine) who after a period in exile, is back to wear the fancy blue outfit and batter enemies of The Emperor. His specific enemy type this time are the Tyranids, a race of fast-breeding, fast-eating aliens who mass in eye-popping numbers and leave the worlds they invade desiccated husks. However, as Titus begins mowing through waves and waves of these toothy wankers, his chainsaw slick with blood and chunks of nuggety gore, a larger story begins to reveal itself, one involving the forces of Chaos, traitor space marines and hideous creatures straight out of your most disturbing nightmares.
Space Marine 2 is essentially a game of three parts. The first, and most immediately impressive part, is the story campaign. Running 10-12 hours, the main story takes Titus and two battle brothers (either player or AI controlled) through impressively rendered, meaty levels featuring epic battles, bloody massacres, deadly ambushes and stunning vistas of beautifully bleak future hellscapes. It’s an engaging yarn, to say the least, and reaches a satisfying if vaguely open-ended conclusion. Put simply, this is one of the best action game campaigns in recent – and even long term – memory.
But there’s more.
Operations mode currently comprises another six, beefy missions that fill in some of the narrative blanks that the campaign left a little vague. It’s designed for multiplayer specifically (as the AI bots aren’t much chop) and has six customisable, upgradable classes with different loadouts and skills to slot in. Whether you want to launch death from above, get close into the action or use a heavy bolter to turn the battlefield red, there will be a class available for you. Post campaign, this is likely where you’ll spend the bulk of the time, giving an experience akin to Vermintide or Dark Tide but with superior presentation and gameplay. If you don’t mind the fact that you’re essentially repeating a series of horde rush encounters over and over, this is going to be a treat, and a surprisingly consumer friendly and robust offering to come with the game at launch.
The final element of Space Marine 2 is the Eternal War PvP mode, where teams of space marines battle with chaos space marines, controlled by Warhammer nerds all over the world. Honestly, expectations weren’t super high for this part of the package, which makes it such a delight to be able to say that it’s actually pretty great. Snappy and responsive controls, a decent range of maps and the classes work as well for PvP as they do for PvE. Praise the Emperor!
Combine that with a host of character customisation options and it seems like this belated sequel might have serious legs.
The big question on many minds is likely, “will this game appeal to those not into the whole 40K thing.” And it’s a fair query. Your humble word janitor has never played a session of the tabletop board game, but he’s certainly read a bunch of the books and played a heap of the video games before, so it’s hard to say for certain.
What can be said for sure is this: Space Marine 2 is a wildly entertaining throwback action game with a generous campaign and surprisingly deep multiplayer modes. It’s gorgeous, well presented and just feels bloody good to play, offering probably the best rendition of the grimdark universe to date. Now if you’ll excuse us, it’s time to get back to the front. These Tyranids won’t dismember themselves.
