Tyranid creatures barrel down at me faster than my Bolter can clear them out. In desperation, I chuck a grenade at close range and roll away. A dozen of the smaller Hormagaunts are turned into gory chunks while the larger Warrior is still charging. Closing the distance, it swings its bone blades at me, and I'm just barely able to parry the attack. Successfully stunning the creature with my timing, I follow up with a point-blank pistol round and turn its brains to goo.
So went my first taste of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, the upcoming third-person shooter from developer Saber Interactive and publisher Focus Entertainment. I recently played a few hours of an early build of the game, checking out one of the campaign missions and trying the Operations mode, which is focused on co-op player-vs-environment (PvE) play. Overall, I've come away extremely excited, and if what I played is indicative of the quality bar for the entire experience, this isn't a game to miss out on.
A campaign packed with action
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 opens over a hundred years after the events of the original game — 2011's Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, which was developed by Relic Entertainment — with the Imperium of Man shaking under the weight of attacks from the Tyranids, an all-consuming alien horde.
My preview session has me thrown directly into the campaign with little set-up, but I'm told the mission I played is around the halfway point or so. Titular Space Marine Titus is back with the Ultramarines after having served for a time with Deathwatch. Alongside two other squadmates (the campaign can be played in three-player co-op, with cross-play across consoles and PC), players unleash the arsenal of mankind on the alien invaders, dealing death and devastation with ease.
Powered by Saber's custom Swarm engine, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 looks gorgeous. Running with most of the bells and whistles cranked up on an RTX 3070 and an i7-13700KF, the scenes are packed full of detail, from the way the robes of a chittering Tech-Priest flow to the cracked rubble of ruined monuments.
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The attention to visual fidelity is hauntingly beautiful, completely selling the scale and faded beauty of a world that fell to inner decay long before it was invaded by alien forces. Most impressive of all are the massive hordes of enemies, as you'll frequently encounter dozens and hundreds of different creatures all on-screen at once.
Combat feels great, and I loved using heavy Bolters and Plasma weapons to obliterate foes. But against such numerous hordes, ammo eventually runs dry. Like its predecessor, Space Marine 2 demands that you engage in melee combat, swinging Chainswords and other Imperium implements to send weaker foes flying. You can also parry enemies away, delivering critical hits if your timing is perfect. I was surprised at how necessary the parry system ended up being (it's explicitly required when fighting a particular boss), but once I practiced it a bit, it felt good to use.
As the fighting continued, the forces of Chaos joined the fray, with teeming packs of Tzaangors and armored Chaos Space Marines presenting new challenges alongside the innumerable Tyranids. The variety in foes felt fresh, though I am curious how the rest of the game will be paced, considering the portion I played was stated to take place around the middle of the campaign.
I was surprised at how necessary the parry system ended up being.
Things culminated in a brutal fight against a sorcerer of the Thousand Sons. This was a serious challenge, and the difficulty really ramped up here, as befitting a boss fight. I made it through after a couple of tries, but it left me wondering what else was in store later on.
Across the level I played, the framerate stayed fairly smooth, only dropping significantly once when several explosives went off in the middle of a massive Tyranid horde. Loading in for the first time took longer than expected, considering the preview build was installed to an NVME SSD, but there aren't any frequent loading screens in-game as you move across a level, so it wasn't that big of a deal.
Co-op fun continues the fight
In addition to that campaign mission, I also had the chance to check out the co-op-oriented Operations mode, which sees players embark on dangerous missions with their own custom Space Marine. After choosing one of six classes—each player in a mission is required to choose a different class—I deployed with my colleague Rebecca Spear into a jungle mission, where we were tasked with obliterating a nearby Tyranid swarm.
Despite playing on a lower difficulty, the mission was challenging, and it's easy to get overwhelmed if you aren't carefully coordinating and calling out resources. Each Space Marine class has different armaments to choose from, as well as a unique ability. I opted for the Heavy, which provided me with a Heavy Plasma Incinerator or Heavy Bolter and the ability to generate a projectile-negating shield.
As we progressed, there were optional encounters, with some special enemies that could call reinforcements, reducing the time before another wave of foes charged in. We were able to successfully detonate the swarm and escape, but only just barely, with our guns running out of ammo as hundreds upon hundreds of insectoid monsters swarmed the escape route.
After returning to the main hub, you can check out your rewards, such as finding enough data to unlock improved versions of different weapons. As mentioned before, you can customize your Angel of Death, and it's here that Saber leans into the tabletop hobby.
Currency earned by playing Operations can be spent on cosmetics, allowing you to deck out your Space Marine in the style of a particular chapter like the Blood Angels, Space Wolves, and many, many others. The paints are even named after the corresponding Citadel paint used in painting figurines, and as a hobbyist myself, this attention to detail is extremely cool.
I only ran into a couple of bugs (of the non-Tyranid variety) while playing Operations. At a couple of different points, my character model got locked into a particular pose, floating across the battlefield instead of moving and fighting properly. This cleared up when interacting with something and moving into a new zone, but the fact it happened multiple times means it wasn't just a random glitch. I hope the developers clean this bug up in time for the full release.
Not too long to wait
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I thoroughly enjoyed the hours I've spent playing this early version of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. Combat here feels fun and gnarly in a way that builds on the original Space Marine while taking advantage of the visual quality and enemy count that modern gaming hardware is capable of rendering.
I'm also frankly thrilled that we're getting a big game with a campaign that has co-op support, a dedicated co-op PvE mode, and PvP multiplayer. These kinds of packages feel rarer and rarer in more recent years, and I applaud the development team here for going above and beyond in delivering a comprehensive experience.
That's not to say there's no criticisms to be leveled or questions remaining. I still want to know what the campaign's full scope looks like, how the PvP multiplayer will play out, and how exactly it will feel compared to other options out there. Fortunately, I won't be waiting long to learn the answers.
In fact, at the time I'm writing this, we've got just over a month to wait before the game launches, and it's easily one of my most anticipated games of the year. When it arrives — assuming the handful of small hiccups I encountered have been cleaned up, and assuming the console versions run without any issues — it should be an excellent experience for anyone that wants crunchy action, from eager newcomers to Warhammer aficionados.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is slated to launch on Sep. 9, 2024 across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5.
