"...nails what being a space marine should feel like and was a blast from start to end!..."
PC | PS5 | XBOX SERIES
HOW I PLAYED: Purchased a disc version for PS5, I finished the campaign solo on Veteran Difficulty and played all operations in online Co-op. This marks my first Warhammer experience!
STORY — 20/20
INTRO
Space Marine 2 starts with a cutscene detailing a brief history of the galaxy, making it known that there is constant conflict to be resolved and how the Space Marines are the first line of defence for the galaxy! The cutscene continues with a Squadron of Space Marines, Deathwatch Kill Team Primus, flying into a planets atmosphere with 2 objectives: Deploy a viral incendiary bomb and defend aurora facility. The mission turns to shit and the main character is thrown out of the ship, but survives the long drop to the planets surface.
This is where we begin to learn the games controls and mechanics. Space Marines weigh more than 500kg and you immediately feel it. These are no agile ninjas and all your movements need to be deliberate and calculated.
Space Marine 2 has 2 types of cutscenes, it mainly utilises in-game rendered cutscenes that maintain the fidelity of the gameplay, but it also features some pre-rendered cutscenes that are used for some main story points, no spoilers here though. Cinematic camera angles are used in cutscenes during both styles and they really amplify the immersion and gameplay.
WORLD BUILDING
Even with this being my first Warhammer entry I could feel myself being immersed deeper and deeper within the world and it is very clear that there is a wealth of backstory here to discover. During the games campaign missions there are audio logs to add lore points and the two companions with you will all talk amongst themselves building up more understanding of the characters and the world.
OVERALL STORY
This will not be a spoiler review so I do not want to give away details, but the story is extremely well done and it hits the major points well at the right times and I really appreciate the great story telling here. Few games have stories where I truly feel engaged and Space Marine 2 has joined itself as part of the few that had me immersed.
GRAPHICS — 13/15
CHARACTER MODELS
Characters are brought to life with the high level of detail, portraying emotion in their faces and the armor designs are brilliantly crafted as shown here.
ENVIRONMENTS
The environments are well detailed and maintain the tone of the games narrative perfectly each mission. Now, the biome diversity is lacking overall, but there is enough to suit the narrative and overall tone.
SPECIAL FX
Special FX are impressive but there seemed to be a lot of upscaling or pixelization during some explosions or magical effects. 
AUDIO — 11/15
AMBIENCE
The ambience maintains the pressure of the combat and enhances the sense of never feeling safe, even between waves of enemies you just know its simply a calm before the storm of enemies ready to rip your face off to beg your squad mate to revive you.
The squad will talk between enemy encounters to fill in the quiet times with some back story, lore or story information, which I desperately love in games, over a forced cutscene that slows the pacing and takes the "gameplay" away from the "game".
BOSS MUSIC
Most boss fights have music, but it is almost entirely drowned out by the gunshots, enemy noises and the sound of me screaming for a revive. Jokes aside, the boss music is good, but, at least on default audio settings, it is overwhelmed by the punchiness of the combat.
SOUND DESIGN
Distinct audio playing to allow me to know when an enemy is about to jump attack me so I can parry an attack from an off-screen enemy, is peak audio design. It's decisions like this that make you know gamers or passionate developers are spearheading a project.PERFORMANCE — 9/10
FRAME RATE
At times I could see enemies move at what seemed like half frame rate. This, I assume, would be to maintain the overall frame rate of the screen, but it was noticeable, distracting and slightly broke immersion. In the frame test we can see we are locked 60fps during combat, even with this many enemies on screen. Cutscenes however, were a different story. A bit of a stuttery mess.
STABILITY
The stability was amazing, something that I truly appreciate in this day and age of "deliver now, patch later" development. I encountered only one audio bug, which required closing and reopening the game and this occurred after a co-op match when the host disconnected at the victory screen.GAMEPLAY — 35/40
CONTROLS
Controls are responsive and mapped well by default. They are also multiple presets to remap to if these stock settings do not suit your input preferences. While I was slow to get a hang of the parrying and counter shots, once it all clicked I felt practically unstoppable most of the time.
MECHANICS
Mechanics are implemented so well that during combat you can be surrounded by 20 enemies but still be completely in control. The main combat mechanics are the parry, counter, gun strike and dodge and when you nail these, you realise just how much depth there is to the combat in this game and just your weapon really is not enough to get you through, especially in the harder difficulties.
The parrying animation is long, which I usually dislike in games, but it flows so well in Space Marine 2 because of the overall slower pace of combat.
PACING
The pacing enhances immersion and engagement. At first I felt like the missions may be too long then realised this added to the immersion, having a sense of never ending hordes that may end up overrunning the squad at any time and that a mission isn't over, until it's over.
UI/UE
The UI is amazing, but the menu and switching between modes in the hub area is not intuitive or easy to use. I hope this gets changed.
BOSS QUALITY
I went into this game without knowing if there was even a single boss fight. But they sure as hell surprised me with them! They were all quite unique, and trying to avoid spoilers here, but some had unique mechanics during the fights too, keeping you on your toes.
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ENEMY VARIETY
There are over 20 enemies types to engage with in Space Marine 2 and there is a good way and a better way to tackle each of them. We are really only dealing with two main groups: Alien Dinosaurs with guns and a legion of magic cultist Space Marines. *Apologies* Forgive me Warhammer fans, Tyranids and the Thousand Sons, a Chaos worshipping faction. Together, they offer a great range of how to engage them in combat.
GAMEPLAY VARIETY
The main campaign has you playing the role of Titus, but the other modes, PVP and Operations Missions, give you a choice of Class. These classes all feel quite different with the ability to play as a practically melee-only marine, with the Assault class (absolutely my favourite), or be a sniper class, who will prefer to stay at range. The PVP changes up the feel of the other modes quite a bit, with you only going against other marines, you will need to adapt new strategies as going up against a space marine or two is a lot different to tackling 50 creatures at once!
REPLAYABILITY
Offering almost live service levels of content, for free, with loads of unlocks, challenges and different levels of difficulty, Space Marine 2 gives players a great amount of reason to continue playing for "just one more mission before bed"! Furthermore, there is a section for completing challenges for each of the 6 classes, so you can hone your skills while gaining points to unlock and upgrade your weaponry!
BONUS — 2/4
Colourblind options and many options for button layouts are great to see.
OVERALL — 90/100
GREAT
Warhammer 40,000 - Space Marine 2 nails what being a space marine should feel like and was a blast from start to end and offers amazing array of customization options already. It's a perfect example of a game that doesn't rely on a great story or lore to carry it and it offers hours of fun after the credits roll. Pick up Space Marine 2 if you enjoy 3rd person shooters, you are sure to love it. I will see you there, just make sure to bring Courage and Honour! As in the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.
TL;DR 90/100 (Great) - Warhammer 40,000 - Space Marine 2 has a solid story, visuals, and amazing combat mechanics. It excels with its vast array of unlockables and customisation, with no shortage of content to enjoy. The frame rate for cutscenes stutters, the pacing isn't perfect, the menu could do with some adjusting, but I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys 3rd person shooters and especially co-operative shooters!
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