Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 preview: large and in charge

Much like the dystopian science fiction setting upon which it is based, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is an exercise in gritty, grim excess. I tried out a preview build of this boisterous, unapologetic third-person shooter which releases on September 9 for PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S, and PC.

In this punchy third-person shooter, you play as a nine foot, power armored super soldier known as a Space Marine. Your mission: to annihilate the enemies of the totalitarian Imperium of Man, the authoritarian regime which runs most of Warhammer 40,000’s galaxy. However, while more traditional sci-fi power fantasies like Doom might have you face the alien hordes alone, Space Marine 2 takes a more cooperative approach.

Whether you’re playing in the main story campaign or taking part in Space Marine 2 ’s multiplayer offerings, you’ll be operating as part of a squad of these remorseless super soldiers. The sci-fi shooter’s central characters may tower above the regular humans that make up parts of the game world, but, such is the immense scale of Warhammer 40:000 that even these titans are but small cogs in a wider war machine - a detail that Space Marine 2 never allows you to forget.

It’s the campaign that best channels this feeling of scale. As Lieutenant Titus, the returning hero who fronted the original Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine (2011), you’re tasked to lead a small squad of Space Marines against a staggeringly large force of invading aliens known as Tyranids. For the uninitiated, Tyranids are xenomorphs from Aliens dialed up to 11. They operate in swarms numbering in the hundreds led by deadly bio-organisms that tower above their minions.

Upending the hive

Thanks to Space Marine 2 ’s impressive graphics, hundreds of swarming aliens are realized on screen, creating a sense of dread and panic that’ll give even the most hardened Warhammer 40,000 enjoyer a lump in their throat. Fortunately, Lieutenant Titus has access to some of the deadliest and most over-the-top weapons the Imperium can muster.

Massive assault rifles spit waves of hot lead into enemy swarms, blasting them to pulp with rhythmic, pulse-pounding abandon. Less conventional items are on the menu, too. My personal favorite, the plasma pistol, allows you to charge up satisfying blasts of red hot energy. These will flat out melt weaker enemies and knock stronger enemies off guard, allowing you to move in for the kill.

Weakened enemies, helpfully highlighted with a red glow, can be executed in gory (and immensely pleasing) displays of ultra-violence. Seeing Titus rip a pointed appendage from an alien and drive it through the creature’s head had me grinning ear to ear. Even in my sixth hour with the build, the execution animations continued to satisfy with their glorious, bloody slaughter.

The Space Marines aren’t limited to using hand-to-hand techniques, either. Space Marine 2 boasts a deep melee combat system. In addition to an impressive array of weapons ranging from agile chainswords (that’s a sword that’s also somehow a chainsaw) to great hammers, Space Marine 2 offers a surprisingly cerebral array of combos and attack strategies. Heavy and light attacks can be cunningly interwoven, allowing a cunning Space Marine to adjust to the demands of close combat on the fly.

All of this is elevated by impressive sound design which never fails to give Space Marine 2’s battlescapes a feeling of raw immediacy. Aliens howl and chitter while heavy weapons scream over the din. Even your footsteps reverberate with each step you take in your massive power armor. The sights and sounds of Focus Interactive’s upcoming third-person slaughterfest are almost overwhelming.

Stronger together

In addition to the immersive and highly detailed campaign mission (which I shan’t spoil here), the preview build gave us a look at Space Marine 2 ’s multiplayer offerings. Rather than standing alone, the third person shooter’s co-op missions fit neatly into the wider narrative of the main campaign.

One memorable mission has you and two squad mates track down a hive tyrant, a deadly super-Tyranid which controls the swarm with its powerful psychic presence. Fortunately, I had a mixture of different combat approaches to help me achieve this lofty goal. Rather than act as carbon copies of one another, Space Marine 2 uses a system of classes to distinguish its different Marines. Each type of Marine has access to different loadouts as well as a central ability which refreshes every so often.

The range of options helps keep missions fresh and replayable. The ‘Tactical’ Space Marine is a versatile everyman with a flexible loadout; he can also use his scanner to highlight enemies nearby, making them more vulnerable. The ‘Assault’ Marine lives on the other end of the spectrum. Fitted for close combat, this Marine leaps into battle on a jump pack. Mobility and aggression are the watchwords here. There’s also a defensive fighter who boasts a sturdy shield, a sneaky scout and a machine-gun toting heavy weapon specialists.

Power struggle

While the majority of my experience with Space Marine 2 left me smiling, this early build did suffer from a few teething problems. While never enough to entirely undermine the experience, they did lead to some janky moments which occasionally left me cold.

Space Marine 2 ’s melee parry system is ambitous, but often hit-and-miss in its execution. The principle is simple: when an enemy attack is highlighted with a blue glow, you can press the parry button and repel the attack. Pulling off a parry makes you feel like a sword fighting genius. However, the sheer number of enemies and varying attack animations mean that timing a parry correctly can often be difficult as the individual members of the alien horde are difficult to pick out.

The grim third-person shooter also bites off more than it can chew when it comes to enemy types. While the alien hordes make excellent chainsword fodder on the ground, aerial enemies can prove frustrating to confront. Zoanthropes (the Tyranids’ giant floating psychic attack brains) hover over the battlefield, blasting unsuspecting Space Marines with lances of supernatural power. If you’ve got the wrong weapon type or a melee-focused loadout, these monsters can be a real nuisance. This is doubled when the creatures operate in pairs, shielding one another from blows with psychic force fields. This can make even the mightiest weapons of the Imperium feel like ineffectual pea shooters - an impression that jars with the rest of the game’s unapologetic bombast.

Space Marine 2 is, at its heart, a power fantasy. When the game delivers on this simple premise, it rivals some of the best shooters out there. Even in this unfinished preview state, Focus Interactive’s upcoming game shows that it’s capable of delivering on this promise the vast majority of the time. While some elements do detract from this commitment to cathartic bloodshed, Space Marine 2 is shaping up to be a memorable, distinctive and refreshingly playful take on sci-fi ultra-violence.

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