Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 Review: Gameplay Impressions, Videos and Top Features

Focus Entertainment

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II from developer Saber Interactive attempts to navigate a tricky space where many before it have failed—writing a love letter to a historic franchise while also delivering a broad-appealing, triple-A title.

But Space Marine II has a sturdy foundation. It is a third-person action sequel to the 2011 hit, the Warhammer universe is essentially a playbox just perfect for video games and Saber Interactive boasts a unique background with games like World War Z: Aftermath to present jaw-dropping hordes of alien enemies for players to fend off.

Viewed from almost any angle, Space Marine II appears to have the hallmarks of a modern hit. It boasts a co-op campaign tale within the beloved universe, another extensive co-op mode, PvP multiplayer and lore-riddled, deep customization across multiple types of classes.

Execution is everything, as the long-running list of shaky Warhammer video games over the decades has stressed. But Space Marine II looks like it could zip to the top of the list with ease, if not enter Game of the Year conversations.

Graphics and Gameplay

Players have never stepped into a Warhammer 40,000 world like this.

This is both fan service at its finest and a supreme example of what next-generation horsepower can do for a massive game. One look at the game will stun, given the sheer fidelity of character models and environments.

Expansive skyboxes and little tricks that feature seemingly thousands and thousands of enemies and battles far-off in the background of the actual playable area is a feat simply unmatched in gaming to date and adds to the immersion of a mere trio of Space Marines tasked with near-impossible odds. Sure, slowing down and zooming in can let one nitpick some of the tricks going on, but the scale of the levels is never not impressive otherwise.

The fine details of the game scream passion project, whether it’s the minute engravings on armor, gild-touched accents on everything, the grimdark, gothic splash of paint and sounds or the way mere humble humans reverently regard a passing Emperor’s Angels.

The sheer power fantasy of donning some of the most powerful space marine armor in all of known fiction is fully realized. Characters are massive with almost hulking, clunky moving parts, yet agile and quick with staggering power. It’s downright incredible in motion, and that’s before talking about snappy movements via things like grapple hooks and jet packs.

Sound design is absolutely fantastic and matches the vibe set by the visuals. Warhammer lore fans might nitpick a gun sound here or there, but the weapons pack a punch, one can hear the gristle of the chainsaw weapons and the directional audio and ambient noise feeds into the odds stacked against the players. These strengths include voice acting, with the performance of Titus especially impressive.

Space Marine II runs the gamut of expected third-person combat, with a powerful parry ability rewarding players for well-timed counters. But enemies can also throw out unblockable attacks that players must instead dodge.

There is also the expected ranged combat with a variety of guns. This controls and feels good, with the early mixture of melee and ranged feeling downright great—certain close-range combos can lead to auto-locking executions with guns when prompted.

The game’s health and armor meters encourage aggression and staying in the fray. Lost armor will regenerate out of battle, yes, but players regenerate health through attacks and kills. Revives from squadmates are a part of the process, though players get just three—but can refill this through melee executions.

If there’s a complaint, it’s that the melee combat takes a while to get used to—what is effectively a tutorial is quite long and keeps layering on mechanics for what feels like a long time.

And those almost Soulslike parries, especially, start to break up the frantic action often with unskippable animations. That works fantastically well in a Dark Souls or Sekiro when the action is more intimate with fewer enemies, but slogs a little in Warhammer while being assaulted amid literally hundreds of Tyranids.

One other mileage-may-vary issue is the helpfulness of friendly A.I. characters and how enemies prioritize the player over all else. At times, A.I. companions when playing solo are all but useless besides reviving the downed player. This is very much a game designed around co-op play with other people, which is fine. We don’t spend a lot of time bashing a game like Destiny for this same philosophy, and the co-op side of the game resembles strikes from Desinty, after all, but it’s worth stressing.

Even so, the way combat all comes together is just something players will have to experience. It rewards the thoughtful input of actions to each player’s alien massacre and glancing around to see other players battling literal hundreds of enemies is simply a treat.

Story, Operations and More

Warhammer 40,000 fans, frankly, are going to fall in love with the narrative setting here. It’s the Age of the Dark Imperium and as humanity attempts to take back worlds, the Tyranids emerge to wreak havoc alongside the forces of Chaos.

The narrative features Titus, the Ultramarine protagonist still undergoing his self-decided penance in the Deathwatch due to actions from the first game. Early happenings in his tale create notable tension within his own ranks, as if the literal millions of invading aliens weren’t enough to overcome. And frankly, the campaign manages to juggle this dynamic in a satisfying way.

Lore favorite items such as the Thousands Sons feature at times in the story, really stressing the attention to detail that longtime fans of the universe will love. It’s a theme throughout the meaty campaign, too.

The three-player co-op in Operations is where things really get interesting as the game leans into modern trappings in an effort to establish longevity.

There, players can tackle a handful of Operations with six character classes that boast a minimum of three weapons. This is where the game really opens up. Using a class that can jump-pack around is a refreshing twist, while sitting back with a sniper-styled class and picking apart the biggest bads is fun, too. Mixing and matching party composition is great fun, especially when the difficulty ramps up. There are interesting ways to support each other too—a recon-styled class, for example, can do a scan that reveals invisible enemies and teammates do extra damage to those scanned foes.

While the number of Operations doesn’t seem large and running through the same things will wear thin on some players, the game does a good job of mixing up enemy engagements on a per-run basis and offers plenty of reward reasons across difficulties to keep players coming back.

Love and care for the tabletop universe is at an extreme in the customization menu. Players can unlock all sorts of different armor types from different chapters, some popular, some incredibly niche that only beloved Warhammer author Dan Abnett might recall without looking up.

Progression of armor cosmetic unlocks equates to playtime. Beyond the surprisingly in-depth appearance customization, each class of marine has its own notably big skill tree comprised of core, team, gear and signature abilities.

A gun-leveling system also offers a rewarding grind. Unlocking upgrades offers stat boosts and in many cases, an aesthetic and naming overhaul that lore fans will love.

Space Marine II also boasts a competitive multiplayer side with a handful of expected game modes. This third-person, plodding affair won’t appeal to all players by any means. And while it doesn’t reach the highs of say, the old-school successes of third-person, cover-based multiplayer like past Gears of War, it’s a fun time overall.

Trials, another mode, are training ground spaces for learning new abilities that also offer rewards for different completion levels. It’s yet another high mark in a robust feature set.

Players will be happy to hear that the game comes stocked with a nice suite of options, too. Performance might vary heavily on PC given the requirements but it runs well.

Conclusion

Leave it to Warhammer to marry Gears of War with Soulslike elements amongst its endless waves of enemies while penning a love letter to one of the all-time fictional juggernauts.

Which isn’t to say this was expected. One doesn’t have to search long to see a very shaky history for Warhammer games, in terms of execution.

But Space Marine II doesn’t top the list—it dunks on it. Even without the Warhammer paint (get it?), this is a massive hit waiting to happen because of its jaw-dropping action, smooth controls and just enough in the way of gameplay systems to keep players coming back for more.

But the fact this is one of the most carefully crafted, respectful and accurate odes to the Warhammer universe almost seems too good to be true. And yet, Space Marine II has earned every bit of praise headed its way as one of the top hits of the year with what appears to be big staying power.