This game is pretty fucking awesome. You are chunky and weighty but with that chunk factor comes great power. This is a power fantasy through and through and it really nails it. You are an unstoppable force of death as you would want to be as an Ultra Marine. The weapon arsenal is varied, and while there are objectively better weapons over others and some just get permanently replaced, the early phases of the game do a great job with pacing in terms of enemy variety/introduction and weapons. The game will often present you with weapon stashes that allow you to both ammo up and also swap up weapons as you see fit. You're not always presented with all possible weapons, which may be a subtle way the devs tried to encourage and design encounters with specific weapons in mind. That said, you can always hold on to the weapons you like since the game provides "general" ammo crates that will refill all weapons types.

There is a clear inspiration from Gears of War. Both in the chunk factor of the protagonist but also in the muddy and drab brutal industrialist aesthetic of the game. The main difference being the removal of cover based shooting. This is great for the first half of the game where you are fighting Orks. They have a tendency to charge at you with reckless abandonment and try to bonk you on the head. Those they stay back and shoot are often quite inaccurate and it's easier to dodge. This design allows you to seamlessly transition between melee and ranged and maximize your carnage which feels very satisfying. The boss fights in this game honestly suck. Though I do like the elite Orks. Chaos Space Marines can eat my shorts. Fuck those guys.Pro tip, 3 quick shots from the Lasercannon will kill them. Once I figured that out, I always kept that gun strapped to my back. Really trivialized these bastards.

Where the combat starts becoming a bit tedious and less enjoyable is the second half where you are being bombarded by Chaos. The fodder ranged units are so frustrating to fight. They fire rapidly and precisely and will tear you into ribbons in a matter of seconds. While I always like to see game devs design encounters, the issue here is that these later ranged enemies feel more in place with a cover based shooter than a melee/gunplay hybrid. They force you to basically play a cover shooter without a cover mechanic to support it. So you will awkwardly hide behind boxes/crates and pop in and out to pick these bastards off one at a time. Fortunately they die very quickly. Though the Chaos Space Marines are as chunky as you and include regenerating shields to boot. Then there are the weird Eldritch mages who are THE WORST. If you are in their line of sight, your health evaporates in seconds. Likewise with the Chaos Space Marines, the Laser canon makes quick work of them. Only 2 shots. And the first will stun them.While this shift in enemy design can be a bit frustrating, it was still fun overall. With only a hand full of encounters that felt mean spirited. Including the final encounter right before the QTE final boss.

Melee combat isn't particularly complex. You just mash one button over and over again and will automatically combo. You have a stun attack and an execute. The execute is one of two ways to get back your health, and leaves you vulnerable to attacks. So it's possible to start an execute and die during the animation. Which honestly is a good design decision to keep it challenges. Still, as the game progresses to droves of ranged only enemies, suddenly this mechanic is no longer viable. Another mechanic, which gets upgraded over the campaign, is Fury Mode. This will regenerate your health and became my only way of healing from the midpoint forward. In addition, while in fury mode, you also eventually get bullet time. Which is quite useful in the bullet hell sequences with the forces of Chaos.

There are also 3 set pieces where you get the iconic Space Marine Jetpack and it's fucking awesome. You go from being a slow chunky bro to a deadly jet fighter. Flying up in the air then divebombing into the enemies creating explosive gib pinatas. For two of these sequences you get the Thunder Hammer which feels amazing. This hammer is balanced by preventing you from using any of your special guns. So you probably won't use this outside of the jetpack sequences since the Laser Canon becomes pretty essential in the ranged focused enemies of the second half. These set pieces weren't particularly challenging, nor were they designed to be, so I understand why they restricted them to a handful of set pieces. I wouldn't have been upset with a few more of them though. Or maybe replace that crappy QTE final boss with one more fight with the jetpack? You're already midair for the whole thing!

I honestly think the game looks good even by modern standards. The dynamic lighting goes a long way to elevate the visuals and honestly shows us how little games have developed graphically. Running this game at 4k only looks slightly worse than a contemporary bloated AAA game. Don't get me wrong, modern game engines are objectively capable of rendering more complex worlds. You can now render significantly more enemies on screen at once (something the sequel to this game is leaning hard AF into). But aside from those gimmicks, the quality of what's rendered is honestly not that much better from what you see in this game. Dynamic lighting really hasn't evolved much since 2011 and it just goes to show how much impact on a sense of realism dynamic lighting can have and when done artfully. There are lots of invisible walls and often times how they game prevents you from going a direction is through a comically low wall or fence. The limitations to the jetpack sequences I would also bet were a result of engine limitations. It's easier creating high vertical space for a few hand picked arenas than it would be for the full game. Still, this limitation does make the jetpack sequences stand out more so it's a good compromise. I am curious about the sequel to this game, though the multiplayer does the whole CoD progression thing that I don't find remotely appealing. To be fair, that was present in this game too.

One major criticism I will levy against the level design is I found myself often getting turned around and going the wrong direction. While I don't think the art direction is bad and sometimes it can look pretty damn awesome, sadly apocalyptic brutal industrialist buildings all kind of look the same. They do include a function to occasional place a marker of where you need to go. While I'm glad they included it, better level design to effectively direct the player would have obviously been better. The band aid solution worked, but not a seamless solution.

I guess the only other commentary I have about this game is in it's themes. While I don't think this game is trying to make any philosophical commentary beyond "Green is dead," Space Marines are a clear representation of Fascism. You can look at this in one of two ways. 1.) a satire of the ideology in a similar vein to Star Ship Troopers/Robo Cop 2.) Romanticizing it. I think there's merit to both arguments. I personally fall under satire because of how absurd, over the top and silly the Warhammer world is. The creators of the tabletop game certainly were aware and had their tongues firmly pressed against their cheeks. Given how faithful the devs were to the Warhammer lore, I have to imagine they are in on the joke too. But in case you have any doubts about the symbolism, you have the prominent skull on the armor. You have the removal of the individual in favor of the nation (this is expressed in almost every line of dialogue/mantra in the game). You have violent and fervent suppression of any ideology that is deemed deviant (Chaos as heresy). War and death for your Country is considered the greatest honor an individual can pursue. You have the cartoonishly evil enemies that have no semblance of humanity (propaganda from these types of regimes always dehumanizes anyone deemed as opposition to justify political violence against them. Using the word "vermin" often to describe any dissenters). The main difference is Paul Verhoven very clearly communicates his satire through the use of the hilarious propaganda videos/ads in both movies. Not to mention it's no coincidence that Neil Patrick Harris is dressed as a Gestapo officer for most of the movie... that still doesn't stop people from loving the movie for the very wrong reasons (being the very thing the movie is making fun of). But like both of those movies, there is a contrast between gratuitous violence that is grotesque with heroic and triumphant music blaring. You are meant to have fun with Star Ship Troopers and Robo Cop. They are gleeful yet incisive political satires. Likewise, this is meant to be fun like Helldivers 2.

This game is certainly flawed but honestly is pretty underrated. It's fun and the Warhammer Lore/world is popular for a reason. It doesn't overstay it's welcome though the transition to ranged combat focused doesn't leverage the game mechanics effectively. I'm very curious about the sequel but will not pre-order it. I've been betrayed by AAA releases far too many times. Still if it's good, I'll def check it out. In the meantime I will play Boltgun.

I've never been much into warhammer 40k universe. Until recently when I've picked up Horus Heresy books. And pretty soon I was feeling the urge to play something set in this universe. Out of all the games on steam in my possession Space Marine had best review and boy was I not disappointed.

The game is a 3rd person shooter with close combat elements as well. You get a number of range weapons as well as a few melee ones including the infamous chainsaw sword. With then you'll get to fight through giant masses of orcs and chaos demons.

Story wise it's about 3 ultramarines coming to the rescue of a factory world that's being invaded by orcs. They'll start by disabling a large cannon preventing more rescue forces coming to the planet and pretty soon get entangled in a secret weapon plot. The arc of the story is very much as all the books I've read so far. But I loved it for it although I kind of knew what's coming.

And while the story is quite nice I feel it's lacking a lot of exposition. For someone unfamiliar with the universe it might be hard to grasp what is actually going on. It even falls to explain what an Astartes warriors are. I must admit there were times when I didn't fully understand what's going on. Not that it mattered to the gameplay.

Mechanically it's straight up shooter/brawler. You're set on a path of killing and destruction and that is what you'll do through most of the game. But surprisingly it didn't feel repetitive at all. Probably due to varied guns and interesting locations.

I really also loved the way they made Astartes feel like. While bug and heavy you can feel the strength of the soldiers especially in close combat. Controlling ultra marine just felt great and the combat mechanics were spot on.

Liked the guns design and feel. Each one had its purpose and worked better in different situation and none felt overpowered.

Environment for an industrious planet were not bad with some impressive structures that really felt big. All nicely detailed and interesting for the most parts.

Enemies well designed as well and fun to kill. Good variety as well. Death counter goes in hundreds so there's no shortage of action.

Overall enjoyed it a lot with normal difficulty being just right although perhaps just a bit too long. Highly recommending for WH40k fans, and a cautious recommendation for those that know little of it.

I wouldn't recommend Space Marine unless you have a fetish for opening doors, like the makers of the game clearly have. For some bizarre reason you constantly have to open doors. Walk a bit, open a door, walk a bit, open another door. It's just so weird.

As for the game itself, it's rather boring. It's not bad, just boring. You get new weapons at a good pace, but aside from the bullet time mechanic and jump-pack-smashing, there are no skills. Yeah, you can clumsily stun enemies with F+Mouse 5 (the most bizarre button combination i've ever seen) and then hope your Ultramoron actually grabs the enemy you just stunned instead of another one of the dozen enemies around you.

There's also a bunch of amateurish mistakes. If you die, tutorial messages for stuff like bullet time replay. When you shoot while zoomed in your bullets will often hit nearby obstacles or even invisible walls. If you stun a Big Boy Ork you have to smash Mouse 1, which is only indicated by a tiny hint that i only noticed the third time. And it's really bizarre that they have insta-kill groups of suicide squigs while they're encouraging you to butcher enemies up close in bullet time. Oh, and your teammates mostly just stand around and get in the way, it's really annoying.

The game basically goes like this: Open a door, walk a short distance, open another door, kill some enemies, open another door, get a new weapon, open another door, watch a cinematic, repeat. Everything is completely on-rails, there's too little variation to keep it interesting.

I loved Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. I played all the RTS games for many years and always wondered: How would it feel if you can play as a space marine in first/third person. Well, I did not need to ask myself that question for very long.

This game follows the lore and concept of any other Warhammer 40,000 game very well. You shoot Orks, burn the heretics and are always in an environment of constant war, destruction and carnage. Just like it should be.

You play as Captain Titus of the Ultramarines. He and his squad are sent to the Forge World Graia, a vital Imperial planet filled with weapon manufactories.

The planet has been invaded by Orks led by Warboss Grimskull, who are trying to seize powerful technology. As the battle unfolds, Titus discovers a far greater threat: Chaos forces attempting to break through via a Warp portal.

An Inquisitor, Drogon, is revealed to have questionable motives and is experimenting with Warp energy. In the end, Titus must defeat both the Orks and the Chaos threat to save the planet.

Although he succeeds, Titus is taken into custody by the Inquisition, as his unusual resistance to Chaos raises suspicion.

The graphics in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine are amazing. They are robust, solid and polished. The animations are very well done and the carnage on the screen does not result in FPS drops.

The sound is also very solid. The impact from bolter fire and the Chainsword sound effects are just epic. The commentary of the NPCs in the surroundings is also very well done.

The controls are fluent and just work. There are no overcomplicated menu’s or interfaces, just move and kill every Orc in sight.

The Multiplayer in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is great. This game is one of the few that I actually enjoyed very much. It is balanced, fun and intense. You progress your character and unlock new weapon layouts and items. Sadly, the Multiplayer is kind of dead right now but it was very much fun while it lasted.

The best part is just the overall feeling with the rest of the lore. Although this game is not RTS, it still feels like a true Warhammer 40,000 game in every aspect. Sometimes you need to try something new to find out that it actually works,.

I would definitely recommend this awesome game to anyone.

The Warhammer series has been around for a long time, but until recently I wasn't aware of it besides the fact that it existed. Recently I have gotten into some tabletop gaming, which has put Warhammer on the map. My interest has been peaked for a little while, but it's such an overwhelming universe that extends into different mediums, has different factions, and is overly intimidating. Being that gaming is my primary hobby, I thought what better way to start to explore this world than with video games. I had heard good things about this game, and I have played every Gears of War game, which Space Marine is often compared to, so I figured this is the place to start.

Right off the bat, the gameplay is fun. I see where the Gears inspiration is but it is unique in a few ways. First, there is no sticking to cover. You will need to take cover, but it's going to be by your own character positioning. Then, there is a lot more emphasis on melee combat. I'm guessing a lot of this focus comes from the Warhammer universe but there are a variety of melee weapons, all of which have unique animations and attributes. Though, unless you're fighting basic enemies or the last of the them, it might be best to avoid melee. That is unless you need health, in which you can perform Doom style executions to recover some, but these do leave you vulnerable. Otherwise, this game is definitely a Third person shooter of the Xbox 360 era. The game plays great, but the colors can be drab, and the extremely linear levels don't offer much to explore or figure out.

That is where the style comes in of course. The game is gory. The gore is limited by the time it originally released, but if offers intense bloody action that is addicting. My playthrough of the game was on normal difficulty, and besides times where I evaluated a situation poorly, it's not very difficult. My playthrough was 5.5 hours long, which ended up being a good pace for what this game has to offer. You fight orks for most of the game until a second faction arrives, but they do a good job of introducing new types of enemies to you as the game goes on, thus mixing up how you tackle encounters. They also introduce you to more difficult enemies that are tough to take down, then after fighting them a few times you are given an upgrade such as a damage boost to your basic weapons, appropriately leveling you to the enemies. My only issue is you have a pistol and rifle that you keep the entire game, but the other weapons didn't feel as exciting to use as they should have. There are only a handful of them, and while they do pack the punch (my favorite being the Melta Gun which is a badass heat shotgun thing), they didn't feel as impactful as they should have, nor did I feel like the game set me up with the right guns for the right situations all the time. I like that it allowed me to carry whatever I picked through the entire game, but I didn't feel like it was meaningful to pick one thing over the other, just what I felt like grabbing at the time.

Then there's the story, which was nothing amazing but certainly enjoyable. It's not very long, and there's a twist you see coming a mile away, but it did what I wanted it to do: give me a basic understanding of these factions and how they fight one another. The world building is what sold the game for me, seeing this planet attacked by orks, seeing these giant facilities and machines built in the 40k universe. I think this game did a great job of making the ultramarines feel far more powerful than the other units, in turn making me feel like a badass. I think I have a good foundation of how the Space Marines work now, and the characteristics they hold as well as the orks. It's a shame that the story didn't offer as much depth, with emotional moments feeling like not much of anything and tense moments feel like just cutscenes. Tough guys can still elicit sadness. Gears is an example of that. There are audio logs that add to the plot as well, which I'm glad is there for me to dive deeper.

Overall, this game is good. I enjoyed my time with it. It certainly feels like it is from that 360 era, but I am playing this game 11 years late so it's hard to fault it for that. It felt a little short but any longer and it would probably have needed more variety, plus there are alternate difficulties and an online multiplayer that I did not try since I'm a little late to the party. As an intro to the Warhammer universe, I am engaged and ready to check out other games now like Dawn of War, Mechanicus, or Total War for the fantasy universe. I am excited to see what the second game will have to offer since technology and gaming has progressed, and it will probably be a day 1 buy for me. Check this out if you haven't for either some Warhammer fun or a solid third person shooter.

A Good 7/10