As an alien screech pierces the natural scenery of the planet of Kadaku, and screams of pain soon follow. As a small group of soldiers fight for their lives against the unending horde, they find themselves being cut down by dozens of claws. With all hope lost, the few remaining fighters whisper prayers to their God-Emperor as their ends approach, when suddenly the enemy hordes are silenced by Heavy Weapons fire, and out from the jungle brush step three of Emperor’s angels: the Space Marines.
After 13 years of development by Focus Entertainment, the sequel to the acclaimed 2011 video game “Warhammer 40k: Space Marine” was released on September 9th. Taking on the role of genetically modified super-soldiers: the titular Space Marines, players must hack and slash their way through thousands of enemies in the name of the Imperium in this Third-Person horde shooter set in Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40k universe.
Combat in Space Marine 2 is a blast. With over a dozen options for primary, secondary, and melee weapons, players will find that every weapon in their arsenal feels useful in its own way. No weapon clearly stands over another while all weapons also feel fun and effective to use against the enemy. Space Marine encourages players to jump into the fray as the game rewards the player with extra energy shield charges and more health as more enemies are killed. Space Marine excels in making the player feel like a super-soldier with the sound effects and animations that show the power behind every swing, shot, and step that the player takes.
The enemy variety is interesting and fun to fight against as well. Weaker enemies tie down the player with numbers while larger enemies take advantage of the chaos to finish off the player. Ranged enemies take shots at the player while every now and then larger command enemies appear that support their fellows and make for powerful opponents. In the face of overwhelming numbers and even hostile magic and daemons later on in the game, players will need to learn to rely on their allies. The foremost allies of the player are two fellow Space Marines that fight alongside the player and can be controlled by either AI or other players, depending on whether or not one plays online. Working together with these squadmates is critical, as players often cannot win by themselves. Ground Infantry often assists the player, though they are expendable and their help is often temporary as due to their not being Space Marines, they are often torn apart by the enemy if no effort is made to protect them.
What Space Marine 2 does well, it does very well. The combat is phenomenal and the graphics are incredible although they do take plenty of processing power, especially on higher settings. The sound design is satisfying and nice to hear, and the music soundtrack is good, though maybe not amazing. There is a wide variety of enemies and the core gameplay loop stays fresh for dozens of hours. Its weapon choices, AI, and difficulty are well-made and thought-out as well. However, it is not without its flaws. The game is somewhat buggy and has several technical issues that may hamper the experience. Aside from this, the multiplayer experience, specifically Player versus Player, has issues with limited customization. The campaign felt short to me, I thought it was great, but I found myself wishing for more than 12 hours of single-player gameplay.
In conclusion, I believe that Space Marine 2 is a worthwhile purchase at $59.99, and I think it is a very worthy successor to the original. Focus Entertainment has a roadmap for the future, with new enemy varieties and new weapons that could add even more aspects to the combat of this already amazing game. Despite its flaws, I would strongly recommend this game to anyone who enjoyed horde shooters, such as “Left 4 Dead”, and think this game deserves every praise it is given.
