Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 – Power Fists-On Impressions and Best Prices

ign.com:

I should not be playing Space Marine 2 like this. Even the game warned me not to. Regardless, here I slog, a puny level 1 Aspirant in a Ruthless difficulty op recommended for level 15 Angels of Death. Why am I here? For the glory of the God-Emperor. To feel the full grimdark direness of 40K. And because I’m a bloody idiot.

Through sheer grit, spit, and spite, I’ve clutch-killed a path through a swarm of Tyranids to my main objective. I’m caked in mud and blood. I’m out of medicae and depleted of lives, so my two beloved AI chapter brothers cannot resuscitate me. When these four rounds in my sidearm go, we’ll be down to pistol whips and harsh language.

As I crest the last hill and prepare to cry victoriam, the shout dies upon my lips. I stand in genuine awe of the graphics engine-flex that greets me. At least a thousand xenos—like an angry rash on the planet, like a Helldiver’s worst ultra-nightmare—flood across the mountain range beyond.

I gulp, despite “knowing” in the back of my gamer brain that this must be a parlour trick. Non-interactive eye-candy. Some sort of 2.5D matte painting, animated by the voodoo of an especially clever art team.

To my growing horror, a swarm of no fewer than two hundred of these xenos break off from the main host and beeline toward my position. I empty my bolt pistol into the biomass, shriek “Ave, Imperator!” and a tsunami of fangs and foreclaws obliterate us.

This is my very first experience of Space Marine 2, and I cannot wait to go again, albeit on a way more sensible difficulty. In a moment, I’ll fill you in on the finer details of my second sortie, but first let me get some preorder options out of the way. To skip that window shopping, click here to read my continued thoughts.

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For those of you who never played the 2011 original, let's cut right to the beating ossmodula of what Space Marine 2 is. The closest analogue I can give would be: a cover-system-less Gears of War with six