Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 was not only highly anticipated, but extremely long-awaited. The first part was not some kind of immortal success, but the sequel set a very high bar for expectations compared to the first videos, and as the release approached, the excitement only grew.
We have already tested the new product and are ready to share our impressions. However, there is no point in hiding: the game was an unconditional success.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 – The Basics of the Game
Name: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marines 2 Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox SeriesDeveloper: Interactive SaberEditor: Focus Homerelease date: September 9, 2024 Translation: complete, with Russian dubbingGender: Third-person action game.
The video is available on the PlayStation YouTube channel. The video is copyrighted by Focus Home.
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What is Warhammer 40,000: Space Marines 2?
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a classic third-person action game where you play as an Ultramarine. He’s a huge, burly man in a heavy suit who can lift massive weapons and doesn’t mind fighting hand-to-hand against the strongest opponents, literally ripping opponents in half, no matter how strong they are.
When I say “classic action,” I mean a game from the PS3 era, when everything revolved around gameplay, and no one required you to spend 50 hours on the road with the need to explore every corner of every location. There is no such thing here: the game is completely linear, and among the collectibles there are only rare audio diaries that will give a better idea of what happened to the locals before your arrival.
This will become a habit
Photo by: Sabre
Space Marine 2 is a thoroughbred video game that is not ashamed of it. Your goal is simply to come and destroy. Nothing more. At the same time, the developers took a bold step, completely abandoning any leveling of the hero or weapon in the story campaign. If you are tired of the usual games from Ubisoft and other modern games, in which for five minutes of gameplay you have to spend 30 minutes exploring different menus to increase the force of impact by 0.3%, then Space Marine 2 is just for you.
However, this applies exclusively to the story campaign. Space Marine 2 also features two more modes: Operations (cooperative missions, whose events take place in parallel to the story campaign) and Eternal War (competitive multiplayer with six-versus-six battles).
A closer look at the gaming world.
Photo by: Sabre
Playing Space Marine 2
Before starting the second part, I advise you to at least watch the retelling of the first part, since the number two in the title of the game appeared for a reason. In general, without knowing the previous parts, by the end of the plot you will still understand everything important, but not everything, and it is much more interesting to understand the origins of the main character and the general context of what is happening.
The plot is extremely simple, although it raises interesting themes, and the characters, although not distinguished by any elaboration or depth, harmonize well with each other: each has its own characteristics, which at the beginning of the plot are hung like weapons and fired at the right moment. However, again, there is nothing surprising here – you don’t need to play Space Marine 2 solely for the story. The game has nothing to do with the big world of Warhammer 40,000, but tells the story in its own small pocket world.
You need to play Space Marine 2 to enjoy instant action. Action gives impressions that are hard to find in games in general: adrenaline, the desire to quickly find yourself in the next battle and punish all opponents; ideally, having brothers in arms fighting nearby that you can rely on.
Scope is the middle name of Space Marine 2
Photo by: Focus
And so epic
Photo by: Sabre
Space Marine 2’s story campaign can be played solo or with one or two friends. I completed about half of the story alone and the second half in co-op mode. The impressions are slightly different, but both options work, so there’s definitely no need to worry here. Only if you start playing with friends does the difficulty level increase. It seems that the game doesn’t adapt the challenges based on the number of players.
While in a story campaign you obviously pay more attention to the narrative and what’s going on around you, in co-op mode the focus is on game situations where you need to help each other and try to act together. Alone, although bots don’t interfere, it’s not a well-coordinated team effort.
It will take about 10 hours to complete the campaign, but you definitely shouldn’t be sad about the “short” length. During this time, you will never feel boredom, prolongation of what is happening, or economy. Every scene or moment feels expensive and hand-made. Unfortunately, there are few games today that can say that.
Sometimes the game changes
Photo by: Sabre
Some scenes in Space Marine 2 are astonishing in scale, especially thanks to the patented “Swarm” system, when thousands of opponents can be displayed on the screen; in those moments, whether you want it or not, you are amazed by what is happening. Both by the scale and by the overall beauty.
Eternal war
If you were planning to go through the story campaign exclusively, I hasten to inform you: do not skip the “Operations”. This is an additional cooperative campaign, the events of which take place in parallel to the main plot, while the fates of the heroes are intertwined and the events overlap each other.
Surprisingly, these missions were also made for the money – the developers did not spare anything. In fact, this is the second full-fledged story campaign, only here it is worth gathering your friends, assigning roles and choosing character classes that go well with each other.
In “Operations” (and “Eternal War”) you have to play as your hero: you can customize his appearance, change armor and choose uniforms, and also improve both him and his weapons. There is nothing here at the “+0.3% strength” level, and the branches themselves are simple and not overloaded, which gives you the opportunity to play differently.
This is our team
Photo by: Sabre
Unfortunately, it was not possible to play “Eternal War” (6×6 multiplayer) – numerous attempts to find players for matches before launch were unsuccessful.
Is Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 worth playing?
If you like brutal and gritty third-person action games with extreme pathos, then definitely yes. This is the perfect game in its genre, which now seems almost impossible to top. There is no point in giving a specific rating – before us is the standard of the genre for all fans.
I liked it
Impeccable action with endless pathos Excellent technical condition on PC Excellent artistic design The scale of what is happening in the frame: thousands of enemies on the screen Campaign, co-op and multiplayer at the same time.
For the Emperor!
Photo by: Sabre
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