Space Marine 2 Review (PS5) | Outta This World Ultra-Violence ...

Big gobs of dumb fun—when my comically-sized boots hit the ground in Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, that was the theoretical expected and then met. However, I was completely blindsided by just how big and just how fun this experience could feel. Because, just like its titular man-tanks, this game has been built above and beyond any sensible expectation to excel at ultra-violence.

Frankly, if it weren’t for some considerable frame-rate issues in its Act 3—where a few space-elevator-high ambitions of the art team and crazy Chaos headcounts reach their zenith—Space Marine 2 might have been the sleeper hit of the year. Fingers crossed for a big patch to rectify this.

So what’s here in terms of plot, and will it prove to be as nigh-impenetrable as Terminator armour for newcomers? Space Marine 2 is the continuing yet fairly approachable tale of Titus, a demoted marine who’s been given a second chance due to his sheer bad-assery.

Problem: the means of his secretive, sideways promotion to the Ultramarines cause some friction with his two new underlings (played by AI or your mates). One new teammate has grounds to be miffed as his command is taken, and the other is nursing a dark past, which could cause issues down the line should you come into contact with the seductive powers of Chaos.

Titus, a demoted marine who’s been given a second chance due to his sheer bad-assery.

I’m not super deep in 40K—and please realise that this universe has many more fathoms to it when compared to newer sci-fi—but even I was drawn into Space Marine 2 in no time flat. That was perhaps less about the story, which is more by-the-numbers than the painting of figurines attached to this brand, and much more about the authentic reproduction of decades of lore and OCD-level art direction.

Though I wasn’t equipped with a “Warhammipedia” degree of knowledge to fully, fully appreciate it, I was constantly gobsmacked by the level of detail in every square inch of this world. Usually when I have my action game helmet on, I barrel through any area that’s not mission-critical, because there’s nobody to kill and let the Omnissiah sort ’em out. With Space Marine 2, however, my max speed slowed to a stroll or outright stopping to gawk at vistas or listen to NPC denizens.

How could you not stop and smell Floragans in such a wonderfully weird, grimdark universe where freakazoids pray to make computers work and Strogg-level cybernetics co-exist with dusty tomes and candle-lit, cathedral-esque motherships. Even within the ready-up hangar, the sense of scale, bustling tertiary character activities, and snatches of bleak environmental storytelling are overwhelming. The term fan-service barely seems to cover it.

Better yet, when you do finally manage to sling a heavy bolter over your shoulder and hop a dropship, the wow factor finds yet another higher gear when you’re planetside. Granted, expectations do need to be managed before we continue: Space Marine 2 is more or less Gears of War with its actual playspaces—you’re funnelled along a rollercoaster of highly linear indoor/outdoor corridors interconnected with the odd wider arena. But there’s some clever magic bleeding in off the periphery of these places.

such a wonderfully weird, grimdark universe where freakazoids pray to make computers work and Strogg-level cybernetics co-exist with dusty tomes.

Firstly, the Swarm Engine handles gargantuan, pause-and-gawk backdrops quite well, and it can also infest those vistas with the sort of infestations that’d make a Helldiver crap his dacks. Even better, some visual trickery impressively blurs the lines between those seemingly impossible enemy waves out on the macro and the hordes of foes streaming in to eat your eyes for Jujubes in the micro. An imperfect tech comparison might be those seas of Freaker hordes in Days Gone.

When the teeth tsunami does arrive and it’s time to swap culture with xenos scum, Space Marine 2 becomes a curious mix of frequently satisfying power fantasy meets brutal difficulty that’s clearly better tackled by 3 co-op pals who know their roles. Basically, you’re a walking weapons platform, but shit can go sideways in an instant, and when it does, your limited lives pool will result in a level restart.

You’ll really have to play by Space Marine 2’s slightly unorthodox combat rules. On the defensive side of things, you have segmented armour pips that will regen to a point when out of combat, though your actual health bar will require medicare stims that aren’t hugely common. Essentially, your best defence is gaining resources back through offence—getting right in the fray to parry melee attacks, unload quick-time pistol taps, and deliver glorious dismemberment animations to dazed mid-sized foes.

I found it all to be a pretty intoxicating bullet ballet that always kept me on the chainsword’s edge of survival. Oh, and speaking of which, gunplay shares a roughly equal role to [power]fisticuffs, but is, by design, hamstrung by constant low ammo status. This is to the point where the designation Third-person Shooter almost feels like a misnomer. Third-person Slaughterer is more apt.

As amusing and challenging as these brouhahas are by your lonesome, I’ll state the obvious by saying they’re quite a bit more awesome with another player. I played roughly a third of the game with a cohort, and can confirm that the netcode seems solid. The simple act of needing to call out execution/health fill opportunities to keep your brothers alive and on this side of the Veil felt pretty boss. By comparison, a squad of AI brothers are way too polite with their finishers, to the point where critically dazed foes are too often allowed to recover and wreak havoc on your kidneys.

On the topic of doing things slightly differently, I like that Saber Interactive has delivered two short-to-mid-sized campaigns as opposed to one big long haul. Essentially, there are points in Titus’ tale where he needs to delegate important objectives to another squad, and their untold interwoven sorties will make up the six chunky-sized missions of a post-credits Operations Mode.

Though I lamented some environment reuse, seeing how the B-team got their objectives sorted is pretty compelling stuff. Being completely off leash to mold said crew—in every metric, be it unlockable skills, classes, weapons and cosmetics—is quite a brilliant way to keep us invested and playing after the 7-hour campaign. Doubly so when you add in some (one player, one class) matchmaking for that PvE mode, plus a dedicated PvP mode entitled Eternal War.

seeing how the B-team got their objectives sorted is pretty compelling stuff.

Whether you choose to hew through AI beasties or your online gaming brethren, the grind for gear is going to be a full-time job for a while. Beyond a decently-sized (and strictly per class) perk tree for the six Marine vocations, there’s a frankly ludicrous amount of Chapter cosmetics to chase. Many an XP point and spacedollar stands between you and a cave of wonders filled with the most legendary equipment ever mentioned in Warhammer’s 40 years and 450+ bits of side media.

Like I said earlier, then, it’s such a crying shame that a production so obviously brimming with love and an interesting riff on Gears of War was let down in the performance department (on PS5 at least). Otherwise, Space Marine 2 represents an action-filled and robust solo/co-op-friendly package with a promising PvP that I can see myself smashing harder than a dazed xenos with a jetpack-bursted hammer strike.