Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Review: A Rip-Roaring, Blockbuster Power Fantasy

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 at a Glance

Warhammer games aren’t usually known for being that great or polished. Outside of its strategy game titles, we have had a few solid games based on the IP, but nothing spectacular. There really hasn’t been an experience that you can point to and say this is a big-budget must-play Warhammer game.

In comes Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, a meaty, deep, gorgeous, and incredibly fun action game that stands out as not only being one of the best Warhammer games to date but one of the best action games of the year. Our Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 review goes over exactly why the game is so special.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Titus the Titan
2. Above and Beyond
3. The Bottom Line
4. FAQs
5. References

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Titus the Titan
2. Above and Beyond
3. The Bottom Line
Show Full Guide
4. FAQs
5. References

Titus the Titan

It all starts with Space Marine 2’s campaign, a 10-or-so-hour-long linear experience where its structure, flow, setpieces, and gameplay evoke Gears of War and Call of Duty campaigns. You play as Demetrian Titus, a member of the Ultramarines Chapter of the Space Marines, carrying on his story from the first game. As genetically enhanced supersoldiers, your purpose is to defend Humanity against the many enemies of the Imperium across planets and systems.

After being wrongly accused of corruption, Titus is reinstated, although demoted and joined by his two battle brothers, Chairon and Gadriel. The campaign, which can be played alone or with friends, takes you across several planets and locations, from the large, expansive forests of Kadaku to the Hive City of Avarax with its towering skyscrapers and dense streets. You also have your central hub, which you can walk around in, called the Battle Barge.

They all provide a lot of variety, both in visuals and gameplay, as each of these locations and the missions within them play distinctly differently.

The rooftops of Avarax can often have sniper Tyranids you will need to pick off with your weapons, while Kadaku has more melee enemies that can easily swarm you if you are caught off guard. The campaign also expands into other areas of Warhammer lore during the third act, which offers some incredibly cool fights. In fact, the entire two-to-three hours of Space Marine 2 is one of the coolest things I have ever played in an action game.

The simple act of moving around in Space Marine 2 feels weighty and impactful but not clunky. While your hulking suit of armor and powerful weapons make you slow, hearing the thump of your footsteps on the Battle Barge or feeling the power and force behind ripping a Tyranid’s head off as you finish them off feels incredibly visceral, deeply immersive, and immensely satisfying.

I played through the entire campaign on Veteran, and at times, I felt like I was fighting for my life, slaying Tyranids, avoiding projectiles, and scrambling to find health and ammo around the arena as I fought for my own and Humanity’s survival. It felt like the perfect difficulty to really capture what Space Marine 2 is all about.

It is a power fantasy in all the best ways, especially when you are taking on swarms and swarms of Tyranids along a bridge on Avarax or using the jetpack to jump across cliffsides along the edge of the jungle on Kadaku. These setpieces make for an amazing spectacle, accompanied by a top-notch, thumping soundtrack. I only had a few moments where the frame rate suffered due to the action on screen, but those moments were brief. Space Marine 2’s gameplay is satisfying and chunky in all the best ways.

I also wish some of the other abilities you find in the PvE and PvP modes (more on that in a second) were in the campaign, as the game mostly relies on the jetpack and doesn’t act as an introduction for some of the other abilities. But beyond that small gripe, the variety of weapons to find throughout the game’s five acts makes for a lot of customization and choice when you are in the middle of the action and up until its satisfying conclusion.

Above and Beyond

Once you are done with the Space Marine 2 campaign, there’s tons of multiplayer to delve into. Saber has built entire PvE and PvP modes and systems into the game that exist separately but are just as substantial as the campaign, if not more. Both modes feel like Saber saw what they had with Space Marine 2, knew how fun it was to play, and said, “Let’s give you more”.

The Space Marine 2 multiplayer experience feels like a massive evolution from the original. The PvE takes the form of Operations, six replayable missions that are each about 30-45 minutes long that take place alongside the campaign, often in other areas of Kadaku and Avarax with other Space Marine squads.

These take the amazing action of the campaign and let you see some of the setpieces from different angles or take on some of the secondary objectives given by Titus to other squads during the campaign, allowing you to fight new bosses or see entirely new areas. All six are just as high quality as the rest of the missions in the game, and they even introduce new mechanics like certain enemies, which will call in reinforcements, adding to the intensity and scale of fights.

Unlike the campaign, Operations and Eternal War have their own progression and loadout system, which allows you to enter them with one of six different classes, like the Assault, who pushes forward and uses the jetpack to perform powerful melee slams, or the Bulwark, who acts as support, shielding enemies and restoring armor.

You can then equip a loadout for these classes before you head into a mission consisting of guns and melee weapons. Each class offers a pretty unique playstyle, and there is an impressive level of variety when it comes to the individual builds you can focus your Space Marine around, thanks to your class’ perk trees.

Several dozen of these perks for each of these classes offer passive bonuses like extra armor. Boosting damage when near teammates for the Bulwark or enhancing melee damage for the Assault, to name a few. Each tree is split into core class perks, team perks, gear enhancement perks, and signature powerful abilities, adding even more depth to your playstyle if you invest time into leveling them up.

These perks are purchased upon leveling up and using in-game currency you earn from missions and matches. The same goes for the dozen or so weapon variants on offer for every single weapon. Ranging from common Master-Crafted to legendary Relic rarities, these provide significant stat boosts upon unlocking them, rewarding your investment incredibly well with stunning Warhammer-themed paint jobs and weapon designs and a build that will be more effective in harder Operations missions.

Add on top of that individual perk trees for these weapons, allowing you to customize their stats and how they play more, and a suite of cosmetics to earn for them and your Space Marine’s armor, and you get one of the most complete action games I have played in a while. Space Marine 2 combat is addictive and keeps you coming back, delivering on the promises of the franchise’s imposing legacy.

The Bottom Line

The entire package on offer in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is spectacular. From the campaign to the replayability and flexibility on offer in Eternal War and Operations, you can tell Saber has a deep, intense love of the Warhammer universe and has spent the last few years crafting the best possible experience it could.

This is easily the most polished and best game Saber has made to date, and after grafting for years making AA experiences like World War Z, the studio has stepped up to a AAA level. Warhammer fans have finally gotten the incredible action experience they have been looking for in Space Marine 2 – one of the best action games this year and a game-of-the-year contender.

Space Marine 2’s release date is September 9, 2024. The hotly anticipated sequel will be available in various editions for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. If you like what you’ve read and want to get in on the action, then you can get in early.

For those with a Space Marine 2 pre-order, you can play the game tomorrow, September 5, with Advanced Access for anyone who invests in either the Gold, Ultra, or Ultimate Editions of the game. Prices for the base game start at $69.99, then $89.99 (Gold Edition), and $99 for Ultra / Ultimate Edition (depending on the platform).

FAQs