From the very start of my time with Space Marine 2, I was taken aback by the sheer scale, atmosphere, and attention to detail. The pride and care emanating from this snippet of the grimdark world that Saber Interactive has built was palpable, and something I believe will resonate with both newcomers to the franchise and longtime fans of Warhammer 40K.
During my hands-on preview of Space Marine 2, I was given access to a couple of non-campaign PvE missions, as well as a main mission from around the halfway point of the story. The story mission opened with Titus and his squad exiting their ship onto a landing pad with an Imperial Guard staging area just beyond. Through this section, I saw an exciting glimpse of life in the war-torn Imperium: Militarum units bowing and kneeling at the sight of Space Marines, a commander delivering a rousing speech from atop an enormous Baneblade tank, a Commissar delivering punishment to soldiers found guilty of cowardice, troops burning mounds of Tyranid corpses with flamers, and so much more. This small section really drove home how much effort has gone into the game’s world-building, and immediately made me think that Space Marine 2 could very well be the most authentic Warhammer 40K game we’ve ever seen (and since I know so many have been curious, it’s an experience you can indeed play through with or without your helmet).
In my last preview, I said that Space Marine 2 really makes you feel like a Space Marine, and it’s a sentiment that has only been further reinforced. But so far, this is also the first game that really makes you feel like you’re in Warhammer 40K. A large part of this is thanks to the game’s combat. It definitely demands more of you than 2011’s Space Marine, but it also retains the same feeling of brutal, grimdark action that made the original great. This makes for more of a “thinking marine’s” hack-and-slash game, which works incredibly well.
However–and it may have been because the mission I played was set at the midpoint of the campaign–I did initially feel overwhelmed by the variety of inputs, enemies, counters, abilities, and resources that made up my first savage melee. But after learning the language of Space Marine 2’s combat, the blend of ranged firepower and close-quarters battle quickly became much more fluid and so satisfyingly brutal. Wide swings of a chainsword can cleave through compacted hordes of surrounding Tyranids, while parries, dodges, counters, and “gun strikes” (counters that deliver a devastating pistol shot at close range) all add complexity and are vital if you want to emerge from each bloody maelstrom unscathed.
Parryable attacks will flash with a blue circle, and nailing one of these can immediately kill a smaller enemy, or interrupt a larger foe’s combo and leave them open for attack. Unblockable attacks are denoted by a red circle and must be dodged with a quick backstep or full-on combat roll. Perfectly timed dodges or parries can also open up enemies to a gun strike.
Space Marine 2 regularly sees you jump into the hectic fray.
Lighter enemy attacks won’t give you the same warning, but after an hour or so of battle, I found myself able to instinctively react to these moves, too. It was at this point when Space Marine 2’s flow of combat began to almost remind me of Sekiro, albeit with a chainsword-swinging superhuman from the far future rather than a katana-wielding shinobi.
Chaining together attacks, parries, and dodges will quickly leave enemies exposed and vulnerable to executions, killing blows that the Space Marine 2 team has obviously delighted in crafting. Each execution seemed more visceral and satisfying than the last, from tearing limbs off of Tyranid Warriors to ripping apart the sealed power armor of the traitorous Thousand Sons.
Executions are also vital to the flow of combat, as each one will refill a portion of your armor. Previously in the original Space Marine, executions would heal you, but this time health is returned through the use of consumable stims that must be found throughout the level, forcing you to be more mindful of your resources even as you charge into the fray.
You’ll have to be strategic to overcome larger hordes.
There is also much more strategy to be found in Space Marine 2’s combat. A horde of Tyranids can feature a wide variety of enemy types, presenting different challenges and opportunities during each encounter. Do you strike at the smaller mobs to thin the horde and give you more room to maneuver, for example, or do you weather their blows and focus on the larger Warrior enemies with the goal of cutting their synaptic link, taking down surrounding lesser Tyranids? There may also be ranged enemy types to consider, firing strangling thorns that can slow movement or apply poison, or even hovering Zoanthropes buffing nearby creatures with a psychic link, requiring you to break from the immediate close-quarters battle to close the distance or engage these xenos with ranged firepower.
While I only saw a portion of the combat that Space Marine 2 has to offer, the brutal ballet of battle only grew more varied and more satisfying across the demo. As I made my way deeper into the mission, more tools and weaponry became available, such as the jump pack, which allowed me to fire hails of bolts from up on high and dive back into combat with a devastating strike from above.
During last year’s Space Marine 2 preview, there were only Tyranids to fight. This time around though, Chaos has reared its ugly head and I was able to see the Thousand Sons Chaos Space Marines in action, leading to a lot of intense scenarios. One moment saw me enter a giant plaza, where Thousand Sons, and their summoned demons and cultists, were engaged with the Termigaunts, Hormagaunts, and warriors of the Tyranids–I believe an Astartes would call that a “Target Rich Environment.”
You can play solo or in 3-player co-op.
Following that carnage, the campaign portion of my preview culminated in a boss fight with a Thousand Sons Sorcerer, which not only provided a completely different gameplay experience but was also one heck of a visual spectacle. As he cast spells and traversed across the arena, I noticed horrific eyes emerging from the walls and ceiling of the room. Shortly after, the ground below him turned to liquid that ripped toward me and my squad–a perfect visual realization of warp magick.
The battle was completely different from the rest of the demo I played, but these visual details–as well as the attacks and the overall design of my final foe–were another element that really drove home Space Marine 2’s attention to detail and its drive to bring so many of the elements of Warhammer 40K to life.
Finally, as a massive Warhammer fan, I couldn’t help but nerd out and get excited about the visuals on display in Space Marine 2. Not only are there tons of little details in the characters, armor, weapons, NPCs, and environments for Warhammer fans to pick apart, but everything looks bloody fantastic, too. From the explosions of your bolt rounds and the streaks of gore as you cleave an enemy in two, to the massive skies filled with flying enemies and dank, swampy jungle environments, Space Marine 2 is shaping up to be a feast for the eyes–albeit a brutal one. It combines all of these elements to create a cohesive and authentic-feeling grimdark world.
The world design in Space Marine 2 is superb.
After the campaign, I also got to experience a couple of Space Marine 2’s co-op missions. The Operations mode takes place alongside the main story of Space Marine 2 but sees you play as your own customizable Astartes in a squad of three.
One of the missions, aptly named “Decapitation,” saw my squad springing a trap on a Tyranid Hive Tyrant, knowing that doing so would disable the Tyranid swarm that Lieutenant Titus was fighting in the same campaign mission I just completed. These replayable PvE missions all seem to be tightly connected to the main story, making them feel narratively impactful. The chatter between squads and commanders is mirrored in each mission, so you feel like you’re part of the bigger picture even when replaying them as different classes or taking them on with more of a casual approach as you try out new weapons or difficulties.
From what I have played, the main objectives of these missions remain largely the same throughout each playthrough, and each will generally take you about 30 minutes on the standard difficulty. Variety mostly comes from Space Marine 2’s AI director changing up the enemies as it responds to your class and playstyle, or even springing surprise ambushes.
It’s a shame the in-game currency tied to cosmetics is also used for class perks, forcing you to choose.
Speaking of surprises, I was surprised by how varied the class system is–each class has access to a different arsenal of weapons, perks, and abilities, letting each fill their own niche on the battlefield. The Tactical Marine is your bread-and-butter Astartes and has access to the most ranged weapons, as well as a chainsword and an auspex-scan ability that both reveals enemies and makes them more vulnerable to damage. The Assault class lacks any ranged weaponry beyond a pistol but has access to the most powerful melee weapons, as well as a jump pack that allows them to take to the skies and assault groups of enemies or priority targets from above. The Vanguard, meanwhile, is lightly armored and more suited for close-quarters combat, focusing on single targets. With access to bolt carbines, a Melta Rifle (which mostly functions like a superheated shotgun), and a grapnel launcher ability that allows them to propel themselves toward foes with a diving kick to engage with their giant dueling knives, this class is great for folks looking to get up close and personal with enemies.
Bulwarks are the tank class and forgo a main ranged weapon in favor of a giant shield that they wield alongside pistols and powerful melee weapons. Their special ability is to deploy a chapter banner, restoring armor to all squad members nearby; this makes them perfect at clearing hordes, staying in the thick of the fight, and soaking up enemy damage. Snipers are, as you may have guessed, equipped with a selection of long-range weapons such as the Bolt Sniper and the Las Fusil. They’re great at starting off fights with a couple of long-ranged headshots, and their camo cloak ability allows them to turn invisible for a period of time–useful for breaking contact, flanking, and picking off pesky ranged enemies. Lastly, the Heavy class wields the big guns like the Heavy Bolter, Heavy Plasma Incinerator, or Multi Melta. This class’ weapons are so heavy to lug around that they don’t get access to a melee weapon, instead having to swing their guns into the jaws of foes or deliver brutal kicks to an enemy’s body. They are the best at clearing hordes from range and delivering heavy firepower, with their iron halo ability creating a barrier that can block incoming ranged damage.
It’s tough but honest work.
All of these classes are cosmetically customizable, although, from my time with the game, I feel as though it takes a little too long to earn some of the basic customization options. For example, if you want to buy the Caliban Green color to swap your chapter to Dark Angels as I did, you first have to use your well-earned credits to buy the chapter icon, and only then can you obtain the color. However, the credits you use for hot new paint jobs are also required for purchasing class and weapon perks as you work to progress through their respective trees, making this currency even more precious. As this was still a preview build, the price numbers may be tweaked ahead of launch, and there may be other methods to earn said credits in the final release. However, as is, it looks like there may be a lot of required grinding to craft your Astartes to your taste.
Overall, Space Marine 2 is shaping up to be a more than worthy successor to the 2011 fan favorite. Everything that made the original Space Marine great is still there but as a much more considered and evolved version of itself, all of which comes together to make Space Marine 2 feel like both a familiar old friend and an exciting new experience.
Space Marine 2’s release date of September 9 is now just a few weeks away, and while there are a few elements that we’ve yet to see, such as the PvP mode Eternal War, there are already a lot of reasons Warhammer fans to be excited about Space Marine 2. As someone who has been a huge 40K fan for over half his life, I have never been more excited about a Warhammer video game.
