Sidequest.cool

After a fairly lengthy stretch of time, the sequel to Warhammer 40K: Space Marine is here. Originally released in 2012, Space Marine 2 is not only a stark reminder of where the video game industry is at, but it’s also an incredible representation of the grim fiction that the universe is built on.

Space Marine 2 is not a particularly long video game, with my time clocking in around seven hours to beat the campaign. There are wave-based cooperative missions you can play online and player-versus-player modes too. It’s a fairly standard package these days, with the clear intention of Saber Interactive to keep the game “in the conversation” for as long as possible.

While the single-player story is an unrelenting Space Marine experience, packed with an egotistical level of violence, it’s clear that they knew they’d have to include something into the mix. Games can’t just exist these days, without some kind of drip feed of content.

It does make sense for the overall game, and Saber does its best to incorporate the separate squad into the story like a Marvel comic event. These guys are going to do this mission, play our multiplayer modes to see what they’re up to.

It’s smart, but the 12 years since the original Xbox 360/PS3 game serves only as a wild reminder as to where the industry is at. Things just can’t happen. Player counts, engagement, all of it and the constant need for activity seems like it pulled away from the rather excellent campaign.

Everything ends just that bit too early, feeling rushed. Like being shuffled out of a room to go do something else. There, you saw Titus after a decade, now go colour in your own Space Marine and wait for the next wave of content. 

Here’s a season pass, and a roadmap. That’s what this game is, it’s a trojan horse in the vague hope you stay permanently engaged long enough for a potential microtransaction purchase.

Through the muddiness of it, though, Space Marine 2 is probably one of the best representations of being a Space Marine. 

Warhammer 40K’s latest video game leans hard into its combat encounters. It’s three versus hundreds. Swarms of enemies charge towards you, attempting to drown you in an abundance of damage and stress.

However, you are an Ultramarine. One of the Emperor’s finest, a walking, talking post-human murder machine. Whenever you’re joined by regular soldiers or other Space Marines, it almost always ensures that you, the player, are absorbed in the power fantasy.

This is something that Warhammer 40K games have struggled with. The original Space Marine was one of the first times it felt like you were truly in the giant metal boots of a religious soldier. 

While other 40K games have included Space Marines, the various strategy games and more recent RPG, Rogue Trader, are more about replicating the board game or providing a narrative.

Boltgun, the retro-inspired throwback first-person shooter, is a fairly “ridiculous” take, but ultimately is limited due to its retro style.

Space Marine 2, however, builds on that feeling from the original. Everything is far grander in scale. The combat is vicious and rewards constant pressure on the enemy. You’ll find yourself diving into the fray, rather than hanging back and dinging enemies with bullets.

Swinging a giant lightning hammer around, or countering a rogue enemy trying to leap at you, only to slam them into their buddies is frightfully entertaining. I found myself revelling in its anger as I slammed another alien into the ground, obliterating it on impact.

But despite the seven-ish hour run time, why did it feel as if Space Marine 2 wanted to get the show over as fast as possible? It’s spent the majority of the game putting you into the thick of things. 

Rarely does a cutscene or interaction take over the experience, putting you, the player, in the boots of Titus – or the other companions in co-op. Most cutscenes and non-fighting moments are just the marines standing around, talking and debating. Towards the end, however, there’s a reprieve where you watch Gadriel storm forward in what could have been an exciting encounter. 

This happens again, as you make a last stand, or charge into the final moments of the game.

I then realised that a majority of the back half of the game feels lacklustre because it moves so impossibly fast. You jump from the introduction of the Chaos faction to the takedown of the Tyranids and then the victory. 

It’s super clean cut and if it were a story, I’d be all for it. But there’s no time to spend in this new status quo, as you’re immediately shuffled through the ending of the game.

Even a large reveal that further ties the sequel to the original is brushed aside as you’re literally minutes away from the multiplayer element. It’s not even like Space Marines are about cutting the bullshit because most of the game deals with the dramatics around Titus and his new crew suspecting him of heresy. 

Entire character arcs are put to rest in moments, or wrapped up in one of the many, many elevator rides you’ll take.

This isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy the game. It filled me with that bubbly feeling in my throat that DOOM 2016 did. Just letting go of that part of my brain as I decimate entire legions of aliens. It truly does make you feel like a Space Marine.

But that’s the thing. While I “felt” like a Space Marine, it’s a very confusing feeling to have. I’m a Jewish man, playing one of science fiction’s favourite fascists. Space Marine 2 ensures that you’re constantly reminded that no, the Terran army, the Imperium of Man, are not good people.

They’re good to each other. The moment when Titus finally unites his squad and opens up to them is this bizarre feel-good moment. Am I really getting behind the space-Catholic fascists here? Gadriel’s constant moaning and trying to undermine his lieutenant makes for some surface-level drama that I got invested in.

Wandering around the incredible Battle Barge, with its grotesque, candle-lit hallways and religious lunatics tinkering with weapons and just listening in to the regular conversations was fascinating.

Those on the Barge are either overworked, tired or berating the slave class Servitors. These are a combination of robotics and humans, mindless and always at work. They’re incapable of anything other than following instructions and are the buffer for frustrated cultists to blame as repairs or restocks go wrong.

But Space Marine 2 never lets up. While it’s doing the cool thing, with the ever-increasing violence and chaotic battle sequences, it never lets up in reminding you of what the Imperium is.

Even in the moment-to-moment gameplay, the character barks and small conversations are riddled with in-universe xenophobia. Everyone is beneath humanity. Only they can save the galaxy, and only they should exist in it.�

Space Marine 2 perfectly sums up why people gravitate towards Warhammer 40K. It is as intricate as it is ridiculous. It is a glorious ode to Games Workshop’s terrifying fascists.