Space Marines are truly powerful in the SF universe of Warhammer 40k. For the developers of the upcoming cooperative shooter Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, this was a real problem. They had to ensure worthy opponents.
What game is it about? “Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2” will be the new game in the dark Warhammer universe.
- This third-person shooter is the successor to the “Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine” released in 2011.
- The game will be released on September 9 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series.
- It will offer a co-op campaign, include a 6v6 multiplayer mode, and feature the PvE mode “Operations”.
“These are superhumans to an absurd degree”
Space Marines in the world of Warhammer 40,000 are quite powerful, and they are meant to be so in Space Marine 2 as well. Brand and creative manager Yann Francois explains in an interview (via gamesradar) how they dealt with the challenge of implementing the extreme, individual strength and power of the Space Marines in the game.
What are Space Marines? Space Marines were originally humans who were then genetically modified and optimized for combat.
When you read about Space Marines, Ultramarines, and Primaris, you realize that these are superhumans to a truly absurd degree.
They can be up to two or three meters tall. They have two or three functioning hearts. Because they are the only humans capable of withstanding such heavy armor and damage to this extent.
Representing this strength in the game was “quite a challenge for the team,” Francois recounts. Especially the design of the enemies posed a problem.
“They have their own behavior”
With such overpowered units like the Space Marines, you naturally also need enemies that still provide a certain challenge for players.
It took quite a while to find the right balance between being able to have hundreds of enemies charging at you – but Tyranids are not zombies.
They have their own behavior, their own way of moving, and their own way of attacking the players. Tyranids are a faction with swarm intelligence in the Warhammer lore.
And how do you find the perfect balance between an enemy rushing at you, yet possessing their own intelligence?
To find this balance, Space Marine 2 uses what is called “swarm tech.” This technology was already used in “World War Z,” where the zombies were not particularly intelligent at all. For Space Marine 2, the “swarm tech” has now been further developed.
“Saber Interactive CCO” explains in an interview (via gamesradar):
This allows us to create these epic battles, where hundreds, maybe thousands of Tyranids swarm towards you, and when they hit the breaker, they start to turn around, split up, and follow you.
The whole thing works with an “AI director” that controls the hordes of enemies, “knows you, and knows your teammates.”
The enormous strength of the Space Marine also led to another important decision. The cooperative shooter is only playable by three and not four players together: Space Marine 2 offers co-op for 3 players only, because 4 Space Marines would be “too much massacre” in the world of Warhammer 40k
