Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Written by Jason Dailey on 9/9/2024 for PS5  

I won’t pretend to have been a fan of Warhammer before now, or to know the difference between Warhammer 40,000 and just plain Warhammer, if there even is one (update: there is). However, I do understand that it’s a wildly popular franchise, producing many video games across various genres over the years. I also know that gigachad gamer nerd Henry Cavill loves Warhammer, and while he is an irresistibly charming guy, not even his public love affair with the IP could turn me on to it. That has all changed thanks to Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 – a superbly made third-person shooter that harkens back to the heyday of Gears of War on Xbox 360. Now, after falling in love with Space Marine 2, I find myself wondering what all I’ve been missing in the Warhammer universe all these years.

To be perfectly clear, you don’t need to have engaged with the Warhammer franchise in any shape or form to appreciate what a spectacular action game that Space Marine 2 is. In fact, it should find itself on, if not at the top of, a short list of 2024’s best shooters. It feels rare to get such a complete gaming package like this nowadays, at least at launch, and Saber Interactive should be applauded for having provided it. Or was it the Emperor?

From the jump, the game recommends that you begin your experience with the story-based campaign, and I would completely agree. It’s a tightly crafted, linear romp that takes about 10 hours to complete, and it’s worth the price of admission on its own. We need more games like Space Marine 2; ones that don’t overstay their welcome or add bloat to satisfy some superficial quota. The campaign can be played solo or in co-op for up to three players, and it’s terrific either way, but probably best played with others. I played 95% of it with a human companion and one AI bot. Though the bot never got in the way, and even came to my aid more than my human buddy, this is still a game that should be experienced with other humans if you can stomach it.

You play as a Space Marine named Demetrian Titus, a member of the Ultramarines chapter who has been reinstated and demoted from Captain to Lieutenant after being wrongfully accused of corruption. Titus is joined on his mission by compatriots Chairon and Gadriel as they are tasked with defending humanity from the Tyranids – an enemy faction akin to the xenomorphs from the Alien franchise. The story holds up over the course of the campaign, with nice some twists thrown in. The base of your operations, not only for the campaign, but the other two modes as well, is the battle barge – a cavernous spaceship where you will gear up, invite friends, and eavesdrop on NPCs for bits of lore. The battle barge establishes a sense of scale within the game world, as you are but one cog in this Space Marine war machine.

Once you get boots on the ground, the combat of Space Marine 2 quickly steals the show. Blasting enemy hordes to bits or cleaving them in half with a chainsword is gory, rip-roaring fun. I lost track of how many times I shouted “yes!” while witnessing a new brutal takedown animation, or while mowing down dozens of enemies at once. It’s impossible to play this game and not be reminded of Gears of War – games which I remember fondly. Space Marine 2 is Gears of War on steroids, thanks in large part to Saber Interactive’s Swarm Engine. It’s the same technology used in its previous horde-slaying game, World War Z, and they’ve been able to carry it over masterfully here. Even outside of battle, in the moments of respite between firefights, you sometimes see what appear to be thousands of Tyranids, either in the sky or rushing across distant battlefields. It is quite a sight to behold.

Beyond the terrifying beauty of its enemy swarms, Space Marine 2 is overall a beautiful game, boasting impeccable art direction and cool Warhammer 40,000 iconography that even this non-fan was amazed by. I was constantly intrigued by its religious symbology, gothic architectural influences, and those creepy angel baby things – what the hell are those? I played the entire game in quality mode on my PS5, which runs a 4K resolution at 30 frames per second, but you can opt for the 1080p and 60 frames per second performance mode if you like. If you can handle the 30 frames (it’s a stable 30) then I strongly recommend quality mode. I simply can’t imagine experiencing this game in 1080p – it is too gorgeous for that. The one thing I did find a bit jarring, graphically speaking, was some of its pre-rendered cutscenes, which somehow don’t always hold up to the fidelity of the actual game in motion – something I’ve rarely seen before.

Getting back to the gameplay, I need to reiterate just how good Space Marine 2’s combat is. Not only because you’re ripping enemies to shreds, but because the weapons at your disposal are fun to use as well. You haven’t lived until you’ve cut a leaping Tyranid in half with your chainsword. There is a gun for every occasion, from standard bolt rifles to fast-firing carbines, or my personal favorite, the melta gun. Imagine shooting bursts of aerosol lava at enemies and watching them disintegrate in front of you. Yeah, it totally rules. Inevitably, the enemy swarms will surround you and guns won’t do the job as efficiently as your melee weapon. Of which, there are more than just the chainsword, and each has its own combo strings that deal devastating amounts of carnage. You can also parry enemy attacks which lead to insta-kills or an opening for counterattacks. Ultimately, combat is relentless and an absolute thrill ride from start to finish, with epic set pieces and boss fights sprinkled throughout. I should also mention that Space Marine 2 features great adaptive trigger support for the PS5’s DualSense. You can feel the recoil of every shot fired, or the charging rate of fire from the heavy bolter, with each weapon packing its own amount of punch.

When you’ve finished up the excellent campaign, don’t fret, there is plenty more Space Marine 2 where that came from. Two modes are also included in the package – a co-op PvE mission-based mode called Operations, and a traditional multiplayer suite known as Eternal War. What’s cool about Operations is that each mission is an extension of the story campaign in some way, usually letting you experience a story mission from a different perspective. It’s a brilliant way to utilize content that may have otherwise been cut from the game, but it also keeps the mode from feeling tacked-on. Operations missions last between 30 minutes to an hour and are playable in co-op for up to three players, just like the campaign. If you’re looking to get some more runs as the Space Marines but don’t want to get sweaty in PvP multiplayer, this is a perfect way to go.

Eternal War is the more traditional 6v6 multiplayer suite that features three game modes and several maps at launch. The modes are some of your typical game types you see in shooters, like team deathmatch or domination. I am happy to report that Eternal War keeps up with the rest of Space Marine 2 from a quality standpoint. In other words, it is dope, and something I will keep in my multiplayer rotation for a good while. Like the campaign, it too feels like some straight-up old school Gears of War goodness. There are six classes to choose from, each with a unique ability and access to different weapons. For instance, the Bulwark class cannot utilize a primary weapon, but carries a secondary weapon, a melee weapon, and a shield. Meanwhile, the Heavy class does not have access to any melee weapons but packs a heavy bolter gatling gun with plenty of firepower to spare. Teamwork also feels important in the PvP modes, which feels silly to say, but this is not Call of Duty where you can just go rogue to try to beef up your kill:death ratio. I mean, you certainly can, but it wouldn’t be pretty. To that end, I had the most fun when sticking with teammates, synchronizing abilities, and picking enemies off. One other nice feature of Operations and Eternal War is that experience points are shared between the two modes, so you can level up classes and weapons regardless of your preference and carryover your cosmetics and customization between both.

Reflecting on the entire experience, it feels like Saber Interactive was able to take everything from the “yes” column of the concept development phase and shove it into Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. The result is a total package in terms of shooters; one that checks every box along the way, with no real chinks in its Space Marine armor to speak of. We need more games like Space Marine 2. Or perhaps we just need more Warhammer 40,0000: Space Marine games from Saber Interactive. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have more heretics to slaughter in Eternal War. The Emperor protects.