Make no mistake, Space Marine 2 won’t win any prizes for storytelling – but it’s the best shooty bang bang game in Games Workshop’s grim dark far future by several hundred light years, a non-negotiable must play for 40k fans, and a brilliant co-op shooter in its own right. If you haven’t dived in yet, you must – and now’s the perfect moment, as the game’s just hit its lowest price ever (for a short time only).
Earning its rightful place in our all time list of the best Warhammer 40k games, Space Marine 2 is nothing short of glorious, gory mayhem. Even if you’re a newcomer to the lore and don’t know the ins and outs of every Warhammer 40k faction, we guarantee you’ll have a brutally brilliant time with 2024’s shooter of the year.
So you don’t need to read our guide to Space Marine chapters (if you don’t want to) here’s the story in short: following on from the 2011 original, Space Marine 2 once again puts you in the giant ceramite boots of grizzled Adeptus Astartes hero Demetrian Titus.
After a mysterious sojourn in the secret, anti-alien special forces units of the Deathwatch, Titus was mortally wounded, but has been rescued by his original battle brothers, the noble Ultramarines, and returned to service as a biologically upgraded Primaris Space Marine.
He’s still distrusted by blue-clad brothers, though, due to his murky past – so must prove himself again through (what else) extreme violence. As Titus, you’ll lead pinpoint missions to help defend several Imperial installations against a huge Hive Fleet of the merciless, ever-ravenous Tyranids – but you’ll soon learn that, in 40k, there’s far more to fear than just bug-eyed monsters…
If you play shooters (or Warhammer) for deep, satisfying narrative, you might find the plot a bit uninspired – but gameplay wise, Space Marine 2 is a knockout that absolutely nails the super-soldier fantasy. It’s more than worth playing solo, but really shines in the co-op campaign and standalone co-op multiplayer missions.
Mowing down ravening ‘Nids with bolter and plasma; hack-and-slashing through the xenos hordes; closing in for execution kills on more powerful enemies – all are an unqualified delight. We stand by our Space Marine 2 review, which calls the whole show “an exquisitely crafted festival of violence that honors and enhances the 2011 original’s compulsive, bone-crunching gameplay”.
If you’re keen to get your chainsword teeth stuck into the Warhammer 40k universe’s best shooter, you can now grab Space Marine 2 for just $38.99 / £35.74 at Humble. That’s 35% off the typical price – an impressive discount which, if you haven’t pulled the trigger on this game yet, should pull you off that fence.
Need some squadmates to play multiplayer? By all means climb aboard the Wargamer Discord community, and we’ll see if we can find you a battle brother or two!
And, if your inevitably excellent time with the game gets you into the setting, well, have we got some good news for you! Warhammer 40k also happens to be the best miniature wargame in the world, and we can tell you all about it. Ease in with our recommendations on the best Warhammer 40k starter set – or try the story-first approach with our favorite Warhammer 40k books of all time.
Source: Wargamer
