If you’re a Warhammer 40k fan who’s been waiting for the right time to pull the (boltgun) trigger on Space Marine 2, this could be your (Oath of) moment. Six months on from release, the best Games Workshop licensed shooter ever made is not only bigger and more badass – it’s just hit its lowest price yet on PC store Fanatical, at under $40.
There’s a good reason we count Space Marine 2 as one of the best Warhammer 40k games. The game’s storyline may not blow us away (at least, not compared to our favorite Horus Heresy books) but it honestly doesn’t matter, because the perfectly tuned core gameplay and excellent, highly replayable co-op missions are more than worth the price – and there’s more of them now than at launch.
For newcomers to Games Workshop’s grim dark far future, SM2 is a fantastic game in its own right that requires zero background knowledge of the Warhammer 40k factions.
For established fans, it’s a completely essential play that showcases the noble Ultramarines and ravening Tyranids as you’ve never seen them before – and picks up the story of the first game’s protagonist Demetrian Titus, returning from a mysterious stint in the Deathwatch to rebuild his honor within the chapter (via slaughtering ‘Nids by the thousand).
Co-op and versus multiplayer are the stand-out successes, and luckily there’s a decent, still expanding amount of both to enjoy – not to mention distinctive Space Marine 2 classes to master, each with oodles of unlockable armor parts, colors, and styles to dress your warrior as any one of your favorite Space Marine chapters.
Ultimately, like its 2011 predecessor, SM2 is so good because it fully recreates the unique, heavy booted, blood drenched power fantasy of being an Adeptus Astartes super soldier. Tim Linward puts it best in our Space Marine 2 review, summing up Saber Interactive’s blockbuster as “an exquisitely crafted festival of violence that honors and enhances the 2011 original’s compulsive, bone-crunching gameplay”.
As one of 2024’s top games, Space Marine 2 hasn’t had many big sales yet – however, this recent deal isn’t one to pass up. Right now, you can grab the latest Warhammer 40k game for just $38.39 / £35.19 on Fanatical, but the rest of the editions have discounts too, so if you’re the kind of gamer who’s happy to pay 60 bucks or more for a game as long as it’s got all the extras in, that’s now an option.
Once you’ve got your hands on the game, we’ve got a bunch of guides to help you out – including a detailed tutorial on how to deal with all the different Space Marine 2 enemies, and a breakdown of strengths and weaknesses for all the Space Marine 2 weapons.
If you do fancy dipping further into 40k lore, though, you can start with our reader’s guide to the best Warhammer 40k books to try – or learn about the biggest Space Marines of all with our complete compendium of the Warhammer 40k primarchs.
Source: Wargamer
