Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine was a smash hit commercially and critically. It served up a deliciously brutal power fantasy that appealed to mainstream audiences and longtime fans alike. Despite the success and a cliffhanger of an ending, Space Marine’s future remained uncertain when THQ filed for bankruptcy in 2013. Warhammer would continue to chug along in the games space, delivering unique experiences across a wide array of genres but fans have been clamouring for another third-person action game in the vein of Space Marine.
More than a decade later, Space Marine is back under Focus Entertainment’s supervision. Developed by Saber Interactive, Space Marine 2 is a direct follow-up to the first game. And after some hands-on time with the continuation of Captain Titus’s story, I’m pleased to report that it’s shaping up to be one hell of a good time.
My session kicked off by launching me straight into the game’s fifth campaign mission – Voidsong. After his imprisonment and demotion on charges of heresy, Captain Titus has joined the Deathwatch, an order of Space Marines dedicated to hunting and exterminating alien threats. After the Tyranids invade the Imperial controlled Recidious System, Titus and his Kill Team are dispatched to fight against the Xenos threat.
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As Voidsong is about the midpoint of the campaign, the Tyranid invasion is in full swing on the planet of Avarax. The Xenos swarm clouds the skies, covers rooftops, and flood through streets in a bloodthirsty frenzy. Their corpses pile up on the streets to be incinerated while viscera cakes the nearby architecture. It’s grisly, gory stuff that sells the threat that the Tyranids pose and nails that grimdark atmosphere that 40K is known so well for.
While Space Marine 2 handles its treatment of the Tyranids with the utmost care, it’s clear that the focus here is on Titus. A fallen hero among Ultramarines, he’s constantly reminded of his actions on Graia a century prior. His squadmates, Brother Galadriel and Brother Chairon are naturally sceptical about Titus’s supposed heresy. It’s something that clearly weighs heavily on Titus’s shoulders, one that drives him to reclaim his former glory and honour.
If you’ve played the first game, it’s a captivating angle to explore in the midst of a Tyranid invasion. Stoking the flames of conflict even further is the presence of Chaos in the Recidious System, insinuating that there are deeper machinations at work underneath the surface. It’s this rich sense of place and exploration of what makes Space Marines tick that has me eager to see how the rest of Titus’s story unfolds.
If there’s one thing that Saber Interactive are striving for in Space Marine 2, it’s to elevate the power fantasy that Relic Entertainment categorically nailed in the first game. The most obvious improvements come in the Tyranids themselves. While the first game offered plenty of Orks to demolish on Graia, the number of Tyranids present on-screen at any given time is honestly mind-boggling. It’s clear that Space Marine 2’s swarm technology is an extension of Saber’s previous efforts in World War Z, a natural fit for a threat like the Tyranids.
It means that Space Marine 2 does feel noticeably different from the first game. The core of it is still there, arming you with melee and ranged weaponry to unleash the wrath of the Ultramarines onto unrelenting hordes. The sheer number of enemies you’ll face down at once echoes the feeling of Warhammer’s own Vermintide and Darktide games. You can’t mindlessly jump head-first into a group of Xenos and hope to come out unscathed, you need to wait for your opportunity and manage resources effectively.
It’s a more mindful and considered gameplay loop that still offers the same kind of power fantasy when you engage with it properly. New to Space Marine 2 are some defensive mechanics in the form of dodging and countering. Executing perfect variants of these manoeuvres opens enemies up for swift and brutal counterattack, either through a brief window for melee damage or by unleashing a devastating critical shot which feels incredible to pull off. Heavy attacks still stun larger enemy units, opening them up for an execution that regenerates armour in combat.
The most impressive thing about this slice of Space Marine 2 is the mission itself. With a runtime just shy of an hour or so, Voidsong took me through hordes of Tyranids, the forces of Chaos and two distinct boss fights. It felt like there was so much to see no matter where I looked and frequent weapon drops allow you to change up your equipment quite regularly. My only concern at this point is that the cinematic flair of parries and dodges might get old after more time with the combat, given how integral they are when fighting larger units.
The other half of this preview build comes in the form of Operations. These are smaller missions focused on cooperation and replayability between a group of three Space Marines. There’s a total of six classes to play around with here, each offering their own set of equipment and unique abilities. The Assault class, for example, kits you out with a Jump Pack and Thunder Hammer, letting you take to the skies and come crashing back down in meteoric fashion. The Sniper, on the other hand, is more focused on cloaking and long range play as you take down your targets from far.
The two Operations I got to play echo a similar level of quality to Voidsong, offering endless waves of Tyranids and plenty of spectacle to behold. The first is set in the jungles of Kadaku, where we had to arm a bomb and detonate it just at the right moment for maximum efficiency. The other saw my squad hunting down a Hive Tyrant to deal a hefty blow to Xenos forces. While I didn’t get to see each difficulty level in this slice of the game, I have no doubt that the highest tiers will require a high level of cooperation and communication.
Operations aren’t just a neat idea for a coop mode, though. They position themselves as events happening around the main campaign, with Titus and other key characters chiming in to deliver objectives and exposition. It helps make the conflict in the Recidious System feel like a war being fought on multiple fronts, Titus and his squad aren’t the only Space Marines fighting back the overwhelming Tyranid forces. It’s really fantastic stuff and a mode I suspect I and many others will sink countless hours into.
The main reason for that is the way progression is set out. Completing Operations nets you experience to spend on upgrading your arsenal and kitting your classes out with more unique skills, gearing you up for higher difficulty runs. On top of that, there’s a hefty amount of cosmetic customisation to play around with here. Each class can be equipped with new gear, colours, and accessories to show off your favoured Space Marine Chapters in glorious fashion. It feels like much has been borrowed from Vermintide and Darktide in that sense, which is a very good thing.
The other thing that floored me with Space Marine 2 is just how gorgeous it is. The first game had a bit of an issue with visual variety as it almost exclusively takes place on Graia. Much of that is remedied here, with Kakadu and Avarax alone offering distinct explorations of different visual aesthetics within the 40K universe. This is before seeing any of the third planet, Demerium, in-game, which looks to be the most visually striking of the three.
It feels like I’ve only had a taste of what Space Marine 2 has to offer, but I couldn’t be more excited to jump into the full game. I’m raring to see how Titus’s story unfolds, what other spectacles lie in the rest of the Operations, and to get into the fray of the game’s multiplayer mode, Eternal War. What I’ve played of it so far absolutely rips in a way that 40K and few other games manage to. It feels surreal to playing a sequel to Space Marine after all these years, let alone one that’s looking like it’s going to deliver in spades when it launches next month.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 launches on September 9th. Pre-order it here.
