5/5 ★ – speck's review of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II.

Space Marine 2's 4 day early access launch has been outstanding in every way possible, bringing the Warhammer franchise to the forefront of media attention within gaming and displaying what 40K has to offer for gamers whether you're a 40K loremaster or a fresh face. At it's core Space Marine 2 is a 3 player hack and slash game with 6 classes to choose from in PvE Operations and the PvP gamemode. In the campaign and PvE operations each player controls a space marine (a genetically modified super soldier) who has to gun down and slash through hordes of tyranids (nasty bug creatures) in service of The Imperium Of Man and The Emperor Of Mankind. Whilst staying loyal to it's hack and slash system, Space Marine 2 shares a remarkable resemblance to the Gears Of War franchise as you feel like an almost unstoppable one man army whether you're tearing into a Tyranid warrior with your chainsword or incinerating a swarm with your meltagun (a flamethrower-shotgun hybrid); from the start of the tutorial to the end of the campaign you're given access to over a dozen weapons ranging from daggers and bolter pistols to laser rifles and power fists, allowing you to customise the way you play to fit your playstyle. The game flips this format on its head in the eternal war (PvP) gamemode, where a team of 6 heretic space marines face against a seperate team of 6 loyalist space marines in a variety of gamemodes. Admittedly, this mode lacks some customisation for the heretic space marines as you can only customise colouring and emblems, with a lack of any armour to customise your heretic. What sets Space Marine 2 out as a game is the inclusion of previously praised systems such as a Shadow Of Mordor-esque parry system and executions upon enemies being staggered as seen in the DOOM franchise. This culmination of functionality helps the core gameplay loop remain fresh even after dozens of hours spent in-game. Alongside this, the game boasts a wide array of character customisation in its operations gamemode, offering dozens of space marine chapters for the player to represent; Space Marine 2 also provides the player with 4 slots (per class) to create a custom armour set and chapter whether it's an assault Death Guard marine or something completely new. The game's main appeal for many players will be the campaign, which takes approximately 10 hours to complete on the normal difficulty as a full group of 3. During the campaign's ten hour runtime it still provides some challenge regardless of difficulty as mistakes can still knock you down; it's worth noting that Space Marine 2 suffers from vastly different player experiences depending on how many people you play the campaign mode with as enemies will typically target Titus (your character) rather than your companions, the same can be said for the operations mode if you play with only bots. It is recommended to play the game with 2 friends if possible. In conclusion, I can confidently recommend space marine 2 as it has successfully brought a breath of fresh air to the co-op horde shooter genre with its thoroughly enjoyable melee system and outstanding graphics.