Space Marine 2 has upset the community with nerfs. Players now feel reminded of the co-op shooter Helldivers 2.
What is happening with Space Marine 2? Space Marine 2 received a new update on October 17. It brought, among other things, a new PvE mission called “Termination” and a new, higher difficulty level called “Deadly”.
Additionally, the update also included some balancing changes. The developers at Saber Interactive nerfed, for example, the Auspex scans and the Melta-charge. They also made the “Relentless” difficulty harder by, among other things, reducing the armor of the players.
However, these nerfs are not going down well with the community. Players are angry, now writing complaining posts on Reddit and negative reviews on Steam. Since the update, over 1,300 negative (and about 700 positive) reviews have been added to Steam within 2 days.
You can see the trailer for the new and upcoming content of Space Marine 2 here:
Players complain and draw comparisons to Helldivers
What are the players saying? Many players think that the game is less fun after the nerfs because it is more difficult. They fear that Space Marine 2 could take the same path that Helldivers 2 has taken. There were many nerfs there as well. Even the head of the co-op shooter believed they had patched the fun out of the game.
- Aspharr complains: “I don’t want all my weapons to be equally bad, I want them to be equally good. People want to smash heads and feel like tough guys on the battlefield. […] A single look at the history of Helldivers 2 should provide all the hints you need.” – via Reddit
- Wyndolll calls for: “Stop the nerfs, give us fun!” and then asks, “Didn’t you learn anything from Helldivers 2?” – via Reddit
- David2006219 states: “Learn from the mistakes of others, or suffer by making the same mistake,” and shares a Helldivers meme. – via Reddit
- Old_Competition8765 grumbles: “What’s with all the stupid nerfs? […] It’s very disappointing that this game is going the way of Helldivers. Hopefully, they do some proper balancing and not this lazy nerf nonsense.” – via Reddit
- Belgriest rages: “Who is this for? Who asked for Melta bomb nerfs? […] Who tested this and thought these changes would make for an entertaining and enjoyable endgame? […] This is why I left Helldivers. I won’t stop playing after a bad update, but it leaves a terribly bad and unfortunately familiar taste in my mouth.” – via Reddit
There are also players who don’t find the balancing changes all that bad or only object to certain details. JockstrapJayZ, for example, writes on Reddit: “I’m not gonna lie, I think you all are overreacting because of the patch.” He then explains that the “Relentless” difficulty feels almost the same as before the update and that the new “Deadly” difficulty is just as hard as it should be. He notes: “Nothing about the update has ruined the game.”
Is the criticism justified? Sort of. On one hand, it’s understandable that a game should primarily be fun for players. If they want to feel powerful as a Space Marine, then the weapons shouldn’t be too weak.
On the other hand, it’s actually impossible to balance a game solely with buffs. If all weapons are strengthened to keep up with meta loadouts, it affects the difficulty of the missions. If a game is too easy, it can quickly become boring, and players will leave. If developers then increase the difficulty of missions, for example by spawning more enemies, it’s not always beneficial for the enjoyment of the game.
Therefore, balancing almost always involves both buffs and nerfs – even though we players would prefer to read only about buffs. Helldivers 2 has focused mainly on buffs in the past 2 months. One of the winners of the recent update is a gadget for the backpack slot: In Helldivers 2, a backpack is now the perfect help when you are being overrun by hundreds of bugs
