I was midway through the opening level of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, bolter roaring alongside my two squadmates, when I caught myself grinning—this is exactly the kind of brutal, exhilarating action I’d been waiting for. Over a decade has passed since the first game, yet this sequel brings the squad-based carnage back with confidence. Stunning environments, weighty and satisfying combat, and a strong sense of camaraderie—whether with AI companions or real teammates—make for an engaging experience. While it doesn’t revolutionize the genre, it doesn’t need to; the dozen-hour campaign is a relentless, entertaining ride.
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A Familiar but Fierce Return
Let’s be honest: the original Space Marine was heavily influenced by Gears of War, and Space Marine 2 stays true to that lineage. It’s a squad-based shooter filled with power-armored warriors who growl their lines between unleashing hails of gunfire and revving up Chainswords to carve through enemies. That comparison isn’t a knock—if anything, it’s a reminder of how fun this kind of action can be, and Space Marine 2 leverages Warhammer 40K’s deep lore to forge its own path. Between its gripping campaign and additional modes that offer weapon upgrades and armor customization, there’s plenty to keep players engaged beyond the story.
Stepping Into the Boots of Titus Once More
The campaign once again puts you in the role of Demetrian Titus, the protagonist of the first game. Picking up over a hundred years later, it ensures that both returning players and newcomers quickly get up to speed. Despite the time jump, Titus hasn’t changed much—thanks to his genetically enhanced longevity, he’s still the grizzled warrior he always was. Having spent the past century with the elite Deathwatch chapter, he’s thrust back into the ranks of the Ultramarines after an intense opening mission involving a devastating “Virus Bomb.”
The narrative moves at a breakneck pace, taking you across multiple planets and throwing in enough twists to keep things interesting. Inter-squad conflicts add some depth, though the overall tone remains relentlessly serious. A little dark humor—something many other Warhammer 40K games lean into—would have been a welcome addition to balance the grim tone.
A Horde of Tyranids to Cut Down
Gone are the Orks from the first game, replaced by the swarming, ever-hungry Tyranids. These alien monstrosities come in various terrifying forms, from towering Carnifexes to hordes of smaller, insectoid creatures that resemble a nightmarish mix of xenomorphs and velociraptors. Some soar through the air, while others clamber over one another to scale walls and overwhelm the Imperial Guard. As the campaign progresses, additional enemy types emerge, ensuring combat never feels stale.
Combat That Feels As Good As It Looks
The moment-to-moment action in Space Marine 2 is an absolute thrill. Gunplay and melee combat are both weighty and responsive, and the variety of weapons ensures that every encounter can be approached in multiple ways. Between missions, you can adjust your loadout, selecting from an arsenal that includes bolters, flamethrowers, plasma rifles, sniper weapons, power swords, and explosive ordnance like sticky bombs and shock grenades. Since enemies vary in their tactics and toughness, experimenting with different setups keeps things fresh.
Enemies don’t just drop when shot—they explode in gloriously violent fashion, with larger foes flashing red when they’re ready to be executed in a gruesome finishing move. These executions also recharge your shields, making them a tactical necessity as much as a spectacle. Medicae Stimms offer another way to heal, while the Righteous Fury ability temporarily turns Titus into an unstoppable force, carving through enemies with ease. The game smartly ties survivability to aggression, ensuring combat is always high-energy.
Even movement feels great. Titus is a walking tank, yet he moves with just enough agility to avoid feeling sluggish. The balance between weight and mobility is spot on, making traversal and combat equally satisfying.
A Warzone Brought to Life
One of the original Space Marine’s biggest visual drawbacks was its overly muted color palette, a symptom of its era. The sequel fixes that in spectacular fashion. Environments are richly detailed and diverse, from lush alien landscapes glowing in eerie purples and greens to towering gothic cities adorned with stained-glass windows and grim statues.
These areas aren’t just static backdrops either—they feel alive. The battlefield is always in motion, with Imperial Guard forces locked in combat, tanks rumbling through ruined streets, and aircraft soaring overhead. Tyranid swarms move like a living flood, climbing over walls and descending from above, adding to the sense of chaos. The visual design alone justifies the jump to newer hardware, making each deployment feel like stepping onto a true battlefield.
Beyond the Campaign: Operations and Eternal War
While the campaign is the heart of the experience, Space Marine 2 includes two additional modes to keep players engaged post-story: Operations and Eternal War.
Operations offers co-op missions tied to events from the main campaign, letting you take control of different Space Marines and tackle objectives with friends. While the environments are often reused from the story, the mode provides a fun way to test different loadouts and teamwork dynamics.
Eternal War is a PvP mode, though pre-release player numbers made it difficult to fully test. However, both modes share the same class system, offering six unique playstyles:
- Tactical: Highlights enemies with an Auspex Scan.
- Sniper: Uses a camo cloak for stealth.
- Bulwark: Deploys a shield-recharging banner.
- Vanguard: Utilizes a grapnel launcher for rapid movement.
- Assault: Wields a Jump Pack for aerial strikes.
- Heavy: Can generate a defensive bubble shield.
Each class has its own strengths, making for a dynamic experience depending on your squad’s composition.
Customization and Progression
A major highlight of Space Marine 2’s multiplayer component is its deep customization system. Players can unlock a variety of armor pieces, color schemes, and accessories, many of which reference different Space Marine chapters. Decking out your warrior in chains, purity seals, and skull emblems gives them a personal touch, and the ability to fine-tune weapons through progression adds another layer of depth.
That said, while Operations is a fun diversion, it doesn’t have quite enough variety to be an enduring draw. With only six missions at launch, replayability is limited unless future updates expand the mode. Eternal War could provide longer-lasting engagement, but its success will hinge on post-launch support and balance tuning.
Final Verdict
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 delivers an adrenaline-pumping third-person shooter experience packed with satisfying combat, an engaging campaign, and stunning visuals. While it doesn’t stray far from the Gears of War formula, it refines and expands on it in ways that make it distinctly Warhammer. Though the co-op Operations mode may not have the longevity some players hope for, the deep customization and potential post-launch content could keep things fresh.
At the end of the day, when you’re slicing through hordes of Tyranids on a battlefield as stunning as these, it’s hard to walk away anything but satisfied.
