There have been some troubles with Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 in recent months and years. Now, testers have been invited to a demo, and many concerns have been brushed aside. The almost unanimous opinion: Space Marine 2 conveys exactly what Warhammer 40k is supposed to be.
What kind of game is this?
- You fight in Space Marine 2 as Ultramarine Titus and slice through huge hordes of monstrous space insects – with heavy bolters and chainsaw swords.
- Fans have been quite skeptical so far: After a delay in 2023, the game is now set to be released on September 9, 2024. The open beta has even been canceled, which many saw as a bad sign.
- Then the entire game was leaked and some players have played it. Although the version was incomplete, players, as well as official testers now, are excited.
Here’s what the first reports say: Some journalists and experts have already had access to a demo of Space Marine 2. Almost everywhere it is said: The game is wonderful, at least for the few hours that could be played.
According to PCGamer: The feeling of Warhammer 40k is captured incredibly well in Space Marine 2. You feel like the literal Übermensch, who appears as a giant in power armor to every normal person, while also having the bitter, ironic humor of the Warhammer universe. Space Marine 2 is “even more authentic to the Warhammer 40,000 universe than the first game.”
Colleague Dimitry Halley from GameStar is also excited as a fan of Warhammer and shooters. For him, the strong points are:
- The story, which takes place 100 years after the first part. You will find out what happened to Titus during his captivity and torture. Chaos apparently plays a central role.
- The gameplay, perhaps the most important point of the game. Different versions of bolters provide different playstyles, swords are used for parrying. A special highlight: The executions, similar to Doom.
- The visuals and performance, which are said to stand out significantly from the 2023 test. Space Marine 2 runs “with my GeForce RTX 3080 […] in WQHD Ultrawide at almost maximum details butter-smooth above 60 frames” and without technical issues.
In his conclusion, Dimitry writes: “Space Marine 2 has the potential to become the best 40K game since Dawn of War 2. And that means something, especially since the quality of Warhammer games has noticeably increased in recent years. Please don’t mess this up.” You can find the full preview report of Space Marine 2 on GameStar here.
Here is the test video from GameStar:
The condition is good, the future still uncertain
However, the tests still reveal a few points of criticism. The variety in combat is still somewhat lacking. There are different weapons, but not enough to really offer diversity.
Additionally, ammunition is heavily limited. You have to constantly pay attention to your bolter ammunition while fighting about three dozen Tyranids and a Carnifex for survival. Here, at least PCGamer is still hoping for improvement by the release.
However, a special treat is the coop mode. Here you can complete missions with two others that you assign to another team as Titus in singleplayer. The coop missions contain even more tactical depth.
The individual classes are supposed to stand out significantly from each other and especially from the “Swiss Army knife” Titus. However, the game does not come close to the variety and tactical gameplay of Left 4 Dead at least in the demo. However, the coop mode seems like a good thing in general for shooter fans: Space Marine 2 looks like a good coop shooter – even if you are not a Warhammer fan
