In most games set in Warhammer 40,000, the pumped-up Space Marines appear. Of course, genetically-engineered super-soldiers are the poster boys of the setting. However, Warhammer has much more to offer than just hyper-masculine space warriors.
By the latest enormous success of Space Marine 2, the nerd world surrounding Warhammer 40,000 has delved deep into gaming. After all, the game does a lot really well, conveying the feeling of marching through hordes of enemies in bulky armor and defeating huge foes with exaggerated weapons. Space Marine 2 is one of the best games to get into the world of Warhammer.
But what if you don’t want to play as a guy with superhuman muscles? After all, Warhammer 40,000 has significantly more factions than just the Space Marines and their chapters, though these often get drowned out in the flood of Astartes.
We have already presented the best games with Space Marines (one of which doesn’t even take place in Warhammer). This list aims to show you the best alternatives where you don’t play as Space Marines, but something completely different.
The selection is partly based on ratings on Steam and in the community, partly on personal recommendations with the aim of providing much variance. The list is unordered and not ranked.
Darktide, the absolute opposite of Space Marines
- Genre: First-person shooter/Action
- Players: Up to 4 in co-op
- Platform: Steam, PS5, Xbox
If the idea of a super-soldier with too many organs and steel-hard muscles repulses you, but you’re still looking for a first-person action game, Darktide is your best choice.
Here, you play not as Space Marines, but as condemned criminals sent on suicide missions. Survival is optional; according to the lore, no one really cares about your fate.
As expendable troops, the Imperium sends you deep into one of the gigantic macropolises, where a cult of Chaos is festering, to fulfill various tasks. In a team of four players (or AI partners), you complete missions and fight against enemies like in Left4Dead. You generally have four classes to choose from:
- Veteran with a classic shooter playstyle
- Ogryn, the “tank” of the group with a lot of punch behind
- Psychic, basically the space mages with dangerous spells
- Zealot, expressing their faith in the Emperor mainly with hammers and other melee weapons
Additionally, there are paid DLCs such as the Arbitrator, something like the space police or Judge Dredd in Warhammer 40,000, and recently the Hive Scum, who is indeed the absolute scum of the world, but plays like John Wick on combat stimulants.
