Space Marine 2, the Ultimate Warhammer 40,000 Experience

It's rare these days for a highly anticipated and hyped game to actually deliver. But that's exactly what happened with Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. The direct sequel to Space Marine --which I never played-- is, at the very least, everything that was expected. In very few words: it's Gears of War but with a Warhammer 40,000 skin. Some might think this is a form of dismissal, but it's exactly the opposite. Nowadays, simplicity is a strength.

For those who have never played a Gears of War, it's not just a classic -- it's also a genre-defining title for third-person shooters. While this perspective wasn't new, it had undergone a radical and dramatic shift thanks to Resident Evil 4, which forever changed the position of the character to one of the thirds of the screen, and brought the framing closer until the character's back filled an American shot. Subtle differences that can forever alter the course of an industry or a video game genre.

Building on this innovation, Gears of War contributed several elements of its own. Particularly a more "tactical" style of gameplay that rewarded taking cover, managing ammunition, and reloading weapons within a specific timing window to earn a bonus. All set against the backdrop of a space war against enemies from other alien species.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a reworking of this genre: a classic third-person shooter where you battle against endless hordes of alien enemies. The main mechanics are shooting, melee combat, and scavenging for ammo. The key difference from Gears of War is that taking cover during combat isn't nearly as important here.

On top of that, this game has the advantage of being set in one of the coolest settings across all fantasy universes. The Warhammer universe, with its endless future war, the extermination of the xeno plague, the constant references to ultraviolence and satirized masculinity. It's the closest thing to a Commando game, the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie.

The PvE Campaign

The difficulty selection significantly changes the experience. Easier settings provide more ammo and weaker enemies, while harder ones give you less ammo, reduce stimpack effectiveness, and make enemies more lethal. I see it as a positive that you can choose how to experience a game in which the protagonist is always at a disadvantage.

The missions are all fairly linear. You start somewhere on the edge of the map and push forward while facing hordes of enemies that begin in the dozens and end in the hundreds of thousands. If there's one thing the game nails, it's the feeling of always being on the brink of being overwhelmed by enemies, but the sheer power of the Space Marines' weapons is what keeps them at bay. As The Prodigy would say: "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned." The complete space marine experience.

As you advance through the map, you also get closer to completing an objective: retrieve an object, blow up an enemy-filled base, defeat a boss, defend a position. The campaign is quite repetitive, and once you understand the gameplay loop, it becomes repetitive as well. That could be a bad thing, but it's solved by playing sessions of no more than one or two hours. That's how I approach it, at least, and every time I do, I walk away content and satisfied.

Space Marine II is a game that lets you play for a couple of hours, enjoy the peak expected experience, and move on. All of this in Single Player or PvE. The multiplayer has several options: missions you can tackle with two or three other players, or a phenomenal PvP mode pitting Space Marines against Chaos Marines, with the ability to level up, swap gear, and customize armor. Everything the fans could want.

The Warhammer Universe

Beyond the elements we can distinguish from the gameplay department (combat system, weapons and ammunition, enemies, checkpoints, movement), there's a whole other side that concerns how the Warhammer universe is represented in this game. Which, I believe, is the standout highlight.

There's a vast variety of video games in the franchise, of which I've been lucky enough to play Dawn of War - Dark Crusade, from 2006, and Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters, from 2022. But the perspective that Space Marine II offers breaks away from the classic tabletop-style game and puts us in the point of view of a specific space marine, which takes us to a different scale, where the construction details of that universe become much more relevant.

The game's art direction --the 40K skin, so to speak-- is truly a marvel. The environments, ranging from a jungle to a cathedral spaceship, are packed with detail and vitality. The armor, the weapons, the enemies -- everything is crafted with impeccable quality, along with the games' lighting, music, and sound. And while these aspects are quite important in video games in general, let's remember that Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniatures game franchise.

We're going from this to this, through one of the most iconic units in the game -- the Space Marines -- who have in fact inspired thousands of other games and franchises. I'm looking at you, Starcraft.

Game Over

In an era where triple-A hype is usually a slide into disappointment, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 manages to deliver everything it promised. While it's not an innovative game, it is a reliable one. An accessible campaign with a solid number of hours to enjoy, single-player and multiplayer modes, flawless aesthetics meeting every expectation. A more than satisfying window into the world of Warhammer 40,000.

Beyond that, you don't need to know anything about the franchise to play it, which is another point in its favor. Lastly, the price was 60 USD at launch. It's worth waiting for a good discount to pick it up cheaper. At 30 dollars or less, this game is a definitive 10.