NeroAuLune Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Review

A love letter to the Warhammer 40,000 community, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II is the gory, violent, stoic and yet the immensely immersive experience that every Warhammer 40k fan has been craving. Some may find it hard to justify a sixty dollar price tag with only a nine and a half hour three person co-op campaign, but while that may feel short, every minute of that is full of exposition and a rich story that is easy to get lost in. Technically Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II is a masterpiece, levels are well designed with a steep difficulty curve, with what feels to be a simple combat system at the start, but as you progress becomes increasingly diverse, though leaving something to be desired in the progression of the actual campaign with a lack of leveling for the main character. Once you have finished the main campaign there are two more game modes for players to explore. A rather fun but lack luster multiplayer where six players go head to head in a slaughter. The developers promise to expand this more, but at the current time there isn't much to do in the multiplayer after a few rounds of fun. The other is a three player co-op mission based game mode, with six separate classes for each player to choose from. Each class has a variety of guns and perks that players can unlock through leveling, and each of the seven missions has five different difficulty levels that ramp up quickly. Graphically there are few games even today that match the beauty of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II, despite all of the gore and brutality of it. Many of the set pieces left me awed, and the attention to detail in such rich environments was not lacking. However there is a barrier to entry for this game. Despite all of my praise, Warhammer 40,000 is not a perfect game. To enjoy the beautiful graphics, it is mandatory that you have a SSD, and a graphics card powerful enough to cope with the majesty of the game. Not to mention once you are in the game, it takes after the grim reality it is based on, and can be quite difficult if you are not prepared. The difficulty settings help combat this, but when first starting your campaign the game tells you that it is recommended to play at the second hardest difficulty which can be quite jarring for inexperienced gamers. All and all, it is my belief that Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II accomplished all that it set out to do from the start, and that if the developers keep to the release track that they have planned for the game, many of us will be fighting for the G0d Emperor of Mankind for many more years. If you are still undecided on whether you would like to play Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II, I encourage you to read other reviews, and watch some of the gameplay.