Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Xbox Review 8/10 "Satisfying Combat and more frowning men than you can shake a stick at" ⚔️ @Focus_entmt #SpaceMarine2

There are certain franchises that can feel quite overwhelming to jump into if you haven’t been involved with them since the start, the Warhammer 40k franchise has been on the periphery for me for decades; yes, I’ve dabbled with the board games and a handful of scattered video games along the way, but as for the lore and terminology? 

Mate, I don’t know my Ultramarine from my Burnt Umber.

It was incredibly satisfying then, to dive into Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, and instantly be pulled into a weighty – yet straightforward- story filled with middle-aged, grimacing men; stoic, scarred women; preposterously over-sized armour, satisfying combat, and a merciless alien foe. Good.

Following the same character from the original Space Marine – released back in 2011 – Titus is once again thrown into a multi-planetary conflict and - after a brief tutorial - is given command of a unit of Ultramarines. With a smooth 60fps and sumptuous visuals that really capture the scale of the ongoing war, Space Marine 2 doesn’t reinvent the third-person action genre, but instead focuses on polishing it, resulting in a rewarding experience in both single and multiplayer modes that delivers suitably meaty, crushing combat across multiple worlds.

A semi-linear shooter, whilst you can splinter off for some side quests and alternate paths, what really won me over was the atmosphere of it all. Helped enormously by the soundtrack - courtesy of Nima Fakhrara and Steve Molitz - which captures the sense of impending doom and emotional weight during the unfolding events of the game. 

There are so many moments in which I found myself in awe at the seemingly overwhelming odds that were thrown against Titus and his small squad, before gritting my teeth and tearing my way through hundreds of Tyranids with the various ranged weapons - and trusty chain sword, natch - scraping by each skirmish through a blend of fiery assaults and carefully-timed parries and counter-attacks. The parrying system felt fresh and responsive, especially as I was coming off the back of the rather flawed system in Atlas Fallen.

The in-game lore was also well-balanced, and although I am a total newbie to this game world, I was instantly aware of the threats and setup, whilst also knowing there was so much more to scratch at under the surface, should I so wish. There’s an almost filmic presentation as each major encounter ramps up, and the camera pans to highlight exactly what you are up against – I was getting awesome Lost Planet vibes in that regard, which helped build up the scale of everything at stake in my mind.

With weighty combat, a suitably grim and epic story, an accessible narrative, and a well-honed gameplay loop, Space Marine 2 has a lot going for it, with the only real negative being the intrinsic repetition and linearity of the ‘over-the-shoulder’ genre itself, and that it does feel more catered to a multiplayer co-op experience as opposed to a purely single player one. 

Too often I found myself downed in combat, and I’d flick the camera to my comrades… and were they rushing to my aid? No, they were standing still, being attacked by swarms of enemies, and not reacting – or defending themselves in any way. This kind of behaviour is jarring, but can be ignored were it an NPC, but when the game features difficulty spikes and multi-stage objectives, poor AI becomes an often teeth-grinding experience that halts progress and feels tediously unfair.

SUMMARY
All in all, combat is at the heart of Space Marine 2, and that’s where the game really works, slashing your way through seemingly endless tides of enemies, swinging your chain sword with gay abandon, whilst always keeping an eye out for some funky cinematic parries – that’s where the gold is, I just wish the friendly AI was a touch more intuitive.