(Xbox game code provided by Focus Home Entertainment)
By Sam Coles:
It’s safe to say that the Warhammer license in video game form have been consistently good recently, and one that really shines at the moment is Space Marine 2. To be honest if you said to me that Space Marine was getting a sequel a few years ago, I wouldn’t believe you but here we are with Space Marine 2 in 2024 13 years removed from the first game. Is it worth the wait for a sequel to an underrated gem? Absolutely, let’s get into it.
Space Marine 2 takes place after the cliffhanger of the first game, where Captain Titus well Lieutenant Titus now was branded a heretic and stripped of his Captain rank as well as his Ultra Marine status. Shortly after a brief introduction mission, where he is part of the Darkwatch outfit and is nearly killed in said mission he is resurrected and has his Ultra Marine status is reinstated. The plot is nothing that spectacular, but to be honest you probably have to be a Warhammer 40k enthusiast to understand most of it which I am not. It just adds the context for what alien race you are going to exterminate that day.
Anyway, people play Space Marine 2 for the combat and it delivers it in gory over the top spades! Like the first game it is a mix of Gears of War and God of War (the old God of War games), where it is a mix of third person shooting and hack and slash combat. These systems combine to make a cacophony of violence which blend together beautifully.
You can shoot your way through encounters, but ammo can be scarce in a lot of scenarios so you have to get up close and personal and bathe in the blood of your enemies. It is a combination of parrying attacks which replenishes your shield with a variety of melee-based weapons, chainswords, power swords or a knife to make things simple. Where you can then shoot an enemy square in the face for major damage, although this game gets very hectic with the amount of enemies on screen I was never overwhelmed by the odds. It keeps the combat varied, as it mixes shooting and melee combat which keeps you on your toes as you have to balance each type of enemy, plus it just feels great plowing through hordes of enemies with a chainsword as blood ladens your armour. It is a simple combat system, but that doesn’t mean it is a bad thing as it serves its purpose and situations can get tough if you don’t pay attention.
The game graphically is spectacular, I played this on Xbox Series S and despite what some internet hyperbole would have you believe it is a capable console. Yes, it runs at 30 frames per second but the experience is stable and I never really had any frame drops throughout my experience. The game’s skyboxes look amazing, you really feel the grand scale of the 40k universe, although sometimes you think something is part of the backdrop and then it tries to kill you in the form of swam of Tyranids. The swarm and horde tech in this game is genuinely impressive, and considering that this game is from Sabre Interactive who made World War Z it is no surprise they went this route with the encounters. I was really shocked with the hordes of enemies coming towards to me, and I was as tense as a bike chain that is about to snap.
Overall, Space Marine 2 is an excellent follow up to the 2011 game it understands the assignment of a video game with intense action and a power fantasy. It has interesting moments in the narrative, but most will be more interested in tearing Tyranids apart with their bare hands. Highly recommend on any platform that you have access to!
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