Thirteen years is a heck of a long time to wait for a sequel. Not only can tastes and trends shift hugely in such a lengthy span of time, but the framework of an IP, and general optics can also.
When Space Marine launched on the PS3/XB360 generation back in 2011, it did so at a time when Warhammer 40,000 itself was transitioning from niche hobby to truly mainstream. It also came amidst a marked shift in how Games Workshop was handling its universes. Where once 40k was kept deliberately loose and static so as to present the broadest possible sandbox for players to kitbash models and play games in, it now exists as a set narrative timeline with sizable dynamic-shifting events occurring regularly.
Space Marine 2 sits uncomfortably at the intersection of all of these burdens, and while it succeeds impressively at bringing the aesthetic-level stuff into the modern era, I deeply wish that it strived to do more beneath it.
For the Emperor of Blandkind
When I previewed Space Marine 2 last month I discussed the subtle evolution of its combat, and I’m pleased to say that it’s still fantastic after spending many more hours with it. Every element of its third-person action, from movement to gunplay to melee, all feel appropriately super-weighty and intensely visceral.
The 8-10 hour campaign makes a solid effort to mix up the moment to moment gameplay, and the PvE Operations missions which narratively tie-in to it are brilliant fun. Both being entirely completable alone or with up to two friends with total platform crossplay is fantastic also, though I should caveat that none of the PvP competitive multiplayer modes allow it, nor did my review window grant opportunity to test crossplay or PvP.
While I can’t say that I ever found the campaign especially compelling, it did keep my lizard-brain chugging along thanks to how damn visually striking and mechanically satisfying it all is. You can point the camera in any direction during any moment of gameplay and instantly have a back-of-box worthy screenshot, (the photo mode is great and all images here were taken by me using it). Unfortunately, it’s also deeply uninterested in being anything other than a whole lot of very beautiful fire and noise.
Read: Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 preview: Veterans of the long wait
When the world of Warhammer 40k was being established through the 80s and 90s, it was being done so largely as an extreme parody of the conservative austerity that defined much of the UK through that time. It is absolutely no accident that the Imperium of Man is a decaying religio-fascist colonial power, a lumbering bureaucracy of total war and oppression.
A lot of the early lore and art made great efforts to put the satirical horrors of it all front and centre, but Games Workshop have increasingly favoured more slickly marketable and ‘cool’ imagery for the setting as the years have rolled on.
Unfortunately GW never really figured out how to walk the line between keeping their space marines what they are in-universe, genetically-altered and brainwashed super soldiers who bring terror and death to any who are judged as not being wholly devoted to the nightmare regime that created them, while also using them ever more aggressively as mascots laser-targeted at young boys as a gateway to the Warhammer hobby.
I still hold a tremendous affection for the original Space Marine, but it largely just engaged with its particular slice of the source material as a puddle-deep power fantasy about how awesome it is to be a power-armour-clad Astartes-warrior. It did have a thematically-fitting downer of an ending, but its flagrant disinterest in exploring anything much deeper than unironic screams of ‘for the Emperor, brother!’ through a hail of boltgun fire felt faintly problematic even in the somewhat more innocent era of 2011.
This is a take that can absolutely work when approached harmoniously to its presentational vibes as the gleefully goofy Boltgun so delightfully proved last year, and while I wouldn’t normally expect a meditation on the futility of totalitarian warmongering from a flashy action game, Darktide succeeded in portraying that angle brilliantly just two years ago also.
The sheer fact that Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 shows even less interest in delving beyond the achingly shallow portrayal of the 40k universe its predecessor achieved frustrates immensely. In an era where media-illiterate chuds un-ironically spread images of far-right political leaders superimposed onto space marine bodies across social media, and where a segment of the 40k fandom has become so aggressively toxic that GW themselves have had to put out statements denouncing it, approaching the material in this way goes beyond the realm of disappointment and borders on outright irresponsibility.
It’s also just a really goddamn boring way to portray the sumptuously rich 40k realm, deliberately leaving out absolutely everything that’s compelling about it beyond its visual surface. To go too deep on the campaign’s story would be spoiling things, but the fact that much of it feels pointedly concerned with establishing Titus as a fixture of the now advancing setting without bothering to even explain any of it is just strange.
I hope you know what the Rubicon Primaris is and that Guilliman is back, or good luck to you in having even the most vague understanding as to what’s going on. I hope you also remember characters and plot beats from the original game too or a certain third-act reveal is going to be as laughably head-scratching for you as it was for me.
That doesn’t work for me, Battle-brother
If the aesthetic level was going to remain Saber’s chief creative concern then that’s not wholly invalid given that the largest facet of Warhammer is the building and painting of model kits.
The character customisation stuff for Operations and PvP also lacks the real depth to harmoniously lean into this side of things too though, unless you’re willing to buy DLC packs anyway. I completely get that a monetisation tail has to occur somewhere these days, but it’s a bummer to see it come at the expense of my favourite side of the tabletop hobby.
I could talk about a pile of small annoyances such as how cutscenes and minor time-jumps during campaign missions bafflingly reset your loadout, or how oddly disjointed the campaign itself is. My lingering irritation though is just that Space Marine 2 is a game that aims to be nothing more than rulebook cover art come to life.
It simultaneously tries to be as ‘mature’ as possible through constant depictions of excessive brutality while also being stubbornly unwilling to engage with its source material beyond the aspects most problematically aimed at 12 year olds. It is in the most basic of senses very fun, and I will be coming back to it again when new Operations missions drop for free over the next year. Its combat loop is exhilarating and its visual splendor immaculate. Its entire package just sits in such tonal disharmony within itself and worse so still when compared to other recent 40k video games.
Perhaps ironically that makes Space Marine 2 the truest and most immersive satire of fascism in gaming yet though. Just a whole lot of hollow sound and fury.
Three-and-a-half stars: ★★★½
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5
Developer: Saber Interactive
Publisher: Focus Entertainment
Release Date: 9 September 2024
A PC code for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 was provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review. GamesHub reviews were previously rated on a five-point scale. As of 29 July 2024, they are rated on a ten-point scale.
