As someone who played the original and rather liked it I was extremely pleased to hear the news Space Marine 2 was in development, and now we're here playing the released product. Was Titus' new adventure worth the wait? Was shifting priorities to multiplayer department a good decision? Well, I can only answer one of those since I didn't bother much with MP beyond dabbling in co-op for a while. Here we go.

Going by metal studs in his head it's been 200 years since events on Graia and Titus is doing his stint with the Deathwatch following certain heretical accusations. Suddenly things change and it would appear his name has been cleared as he's transferred back to Ultramarines chapter. Under the watchful eye of their Chaplain, of course. Now demoted to Lieutenant he has to become familiar with new faces, especially two Space Marines that comprise his squad who seem real inquisitive about his past, as well as dealing with the Tyranid invasion in the system. Amidst all that it would appear certain familiar terms and faces keep popping up giving Titus the chance to settle things once and for all.

If I had to draw parallels I'd say Space Marine 2's story is shorter, often interrupted by returns to the Battle Barge serving as your HQ and trying to convey more of the setting than the first game did. You'll see the interior of the aforementioned Battle Barge and exactly what armor clad Space Marines do when they're not deployed as well as ins and outs of Mechanicus itself. I also noticed a distinct inversion at work – both narrative and presentation get better as story advances. Although the game opens with you playing as cape-bedecked Black Shield what follows is rather mundane meandering through jungles fighting Tyranid swarms. After a brief jetpack level everything seems to pick up and budget starts pouring in. More cutscenes and even full fledged cinematics take control towards the end. I was invested in what is a very basic story that even has a small TWEEST in the finale.

I wish there were some great praise to sing about characters, but it is what it is. Titus is your stoic badass, although I do lament the absence of Mark Strong's voice acting since the new performance blends too much into “generic Space Marine” background noise, and his compatriots Chairon and Gadriel end up being the ones responsible for occasional moments of levity. It should be noted everyone is taking this extremely seriously so don't expect any quipping or such. Somewhat amusingly you do have other characters essentially forming secondary squads doing operations in the background, but I'll briefly get to those later. They have squad banter among themselves albeit playing only a small role in campaign proper. As far as antagonists go there's no zany Ork leader to speak of and Tyranids are devoid of personality by design. Archenemy does show its ugly face eventually, but certain space wizards never learn that trusty bolter & chainsword always win the day. Ultramarines are here to remind them of that fact.

Onto gameplay. I should once again point out it I didn't engage in PvP multiplayer since that's generally not my thing, and only briefly tried the co-op PvE aka Operations mode. This means my opinions only carry weight as far as campaign is concerned since multiplayer is where actual progression is contained with the player unlocking skins, weapons, skills, etc. It does appear to be a class-based game within a game affair, and if that's your thing there's probably dozens of hours of enjoyment to be found there.

Space Marine 2 is most definitely an intentional throwback to games from 10+ years ago. There's no mandatory crafting or leveling up to be found in this very straightforward TPS eschewing cover-based approach for a more aggressive one. In fact, I'd argue it expects you to get into melee most of the time until the last third or so when the board is wiped clean. That may also be where part of the problem lies as there's hidden loading screens aka elevator rides aplenty.

Absence of modern day “designed by committee” frills also means some relics that should've been forgotten rear their ugly head. Only two guns + melee is still very much in effect, for example. Luckily one of the things I complained about, intermissions taking you back to HQ so your co-op partners can rejoin, let you choose the equipment you want and I've only rarely found myself changing it from drop pods in missions themselves. You do want want more melta and plasma weapons as the game advances to combat heavily armored enemies. Some systems are also changed from the first game. Health no longer regenerates from performing executions, but instead your tiered Armor does. Healing packs exist even though you're capped by only carrying two at the moment. Since the entire campaign and Operations both are structured to played in co-op I was frankly surprised by how... not braindead they are? I personally wouldn't go above Normal difficulty in either, but they'll do the job and unlike players you're not competing for all the goodies. Remember – bash everything as it may contain ammo or curatives.

Since combat is everything you do in Space Marine 2 it's only fair we talk about it and enemies you'll be dispatching. Basically, there's two Tyranids and forces of Chaos you'll end up going against. Tyranids are your brainless swarms baked by more dangerous individual enemies wheres each one is practically a mini-boss until they became a semi-regular encounter. Keeping in mind game trains you there are blue telegraphs you can parry and orange ones you should avoid this can lead to strange behavior where you forget regular attacks can be parried just as easily, and that's what keeps you alive. In addition you're meant to approach enemy types very different. You clear out swarms, be they Nids or chaos Guardsman, and take a very deliberate approach with Raveners or Chaos Terminators, for example. There is a trick in where carefully timing executions when enemy health drops low will restore your latest received damage regardless of Armor status. Just because there's no actual sticky cover mechanic it doesn't mean you should avoid taking cover whenever you can, if only to reach that infinite ammo case and not get hit by Warp energy missiles.

I mentioned them earlier, but Operations are worth mentioning. Narratively they're side missions your other squad is undertaking while Titus is doing his thing. In practical terms there's six, each taking 30-40 minutes to complete and requiring three players, living or bots. This is also where you get to customize classes you play as so even if you're not into PvP you can still experience that aspect of the game. I just wish there were more of them as randomization is limited and Operations do add to an otherwise short campaign. I suspect you can get couple of extra hours as bare minimum on the lowest difficulty.

As usual I save presentation for last and oh boy it's impressive alright. Somehow making those swarms work in real time and each enemy being an actual object you can kill is astounding in its own right, but it's not until the very finale that you truly see what developers can pull off. What was previously a matter of “enjoy your corridors and elevators, but look at all the SCALE in the background” now takes center stage with hundreds of enemies engaging in conflict as demons rage in the sky. Just top notch all-around. Sound doesn't falter in the slightest and choosing the option to wear a helmet garbles audio lines appropriately. Those bolter sounds are still among the best representation of 40k's iconic weapon.

Final Thoughts and Rating?

Familiar throwback to 7th generation of games, Space Marine 2 carries over both good and bad in its aggressive TPS melee extravaganza somewhat diminished by hidden loading screens and uninspired story. Now demoted to Lieutenant, our boy Titus returns to Ultramarines after 200 years and finds himself embroiled in the middle of a conflict with alien Tyranids and some old enemies rearing their head finally giving Titus chance for closure. With much bigger focus on multiplayer, PvP and PvE, campaign is sadly shorter this time around while simultaneously benefiting from true rarity as production values only soar higher along the way. Absolutely worthwhile climax promising future stories alongside possibly dozens of hours to invest in multiplayer.