Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 review - Maybe the most faithful Warhammer video game adaptation of all time

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 might be the most faithful Warhammer video game adaptation of all time. You're paying money for a really good product, you just don't get a huge amount in the box. Ask any Custodian or Grey Knights player, though: that's the quintessential Warhammer experience.

Created by Saber Interactive and published by Focus Entertainment, Space Marine 2 is in many ways a dream game for Warhammer fans. We've seen a variety of great new games using this IP in recent years; Boltgun, Rogue Trader, Speed Freaks, and Darktide. You could easily make an argument that we're in the golden age of Warhammer video game adaptations.

But Space Marine 2 stands in a world of its own; it's the big blue boys in a triple-A shooter, given the budget it deserves. I think Saber Interactive has done an excellent job bringing the grimdark universe of 40k to life, mixing in so much style and character as to make the game a mandatory buy for any 40k diehard. But, by the time I finished up the campaign and operations mode, I was desperate for more.

That's because what's here is so, so good, yet so, so short. I'll start with the campaign, which is a real treat. You get roughly six-to-seven hours worth of missions spread across three planets, where you step in the ceramite boots of one lieutenant Titus, fresh from the Deathwatch and back in the thick of it. Having just returned from an 100-year work trip away from his brothers in the Ultramarines, he's brought back to help fend off a Tyranid invasion - as well as route out a Chaos plot happening under everyone's noses.

The presence of Tyranids and Chaos have been revealed at length in trailers for the game, but there are still plenty of fantastic surprises hidden within the campaign. Fans of each faction present in Space Marine 2 will be giddy seeing certain units show up as either enemies you need to take out, or little NPC easter eggs sprinkled across the environment.

As for the narrative itself, I actually do strongly believe you need to experience the original Space Marine game to get the most out of this. That might sound obvious (this being the direct sequel), but with the original game releasing back in 2011, you might wanna bust a YouTube video on before hopping in. You can glean Titus' motivations just fine without doing so, but some of his early interactions may feel a tad... dry. It all wraps up nicely eventually, either way, but take the time to play or research the original first if you want to get nice and deep in this one.

Now, six hours isn't a lot, but what you get is very rich with detail. I spent so much time looking around the environment, taking in all the little treats spread around. The architecture of Imperial buildings is perfect, right down to Astra Militarum Sentinels parked in various bunkers. The sound of a heavy bolter, with the perfect amount of recoil, that echoes off the metal chambers. Members of the Adeptus Mechanicus that send servitors around the ship to do menial tasks. The environmental designers, audio designers, and lore-heads at Saber Interactive reached through my PS5, pulled me through the screen, and dropped me in the 41st millennium.

But there are new surprises, too - things I never thought I'd see in an action-romp 40k game. A Space Marine funeral, tucked away slightly from the critical path, is the prime example still stuck in my head. You didn't have to add this stuff, but the devs did, and it makes the game feel so, so special.

I do think having the Thousand Sons as a main enemy force is a peculiar choice. It's probably the best depiction of the Chaos faction, ever, and frankly a better one than Thousand Sons players deserve. It's refreshing to see Chaos depicted in an alternative fashion as "blood for the blood god" screaming berserkers and vanilla boring Black Legion bozos, and the little details I gushed so much about do a lot to make them more endearing. The way warp powers are depicted is rad, and the fact regular Rubricon Marines splurt out magical dust rather than blood is a cool detail that nerds will get (and regular, untainted people can wonder wistfully about).

It's the sort of package I think only Saber Interactive could have pulled off. Fans of the World War Z game the company put out a while back will recognise the swarm system all around this game, especially as the Tyranid swarm starts climbing over each other to scale walls. The combination of Saber's dedication to the source material and technical know-how culminates in huge battles you can take part in, where you stand alongside smaller human allies as hundreds of space bugs rush at you. There are many moments when it feels like you've been placed slap bang in the middle of a Warhammer artwork from John Blanche or Karl Kopinski.

Operations benefit from a lot of the love found in the campaign, but with added charm thanks to genuinely entertaining quips between the three space marines present. It's strange, though; operations make up six "side missions" that take place alongside the main campaign, but by no means are these optional narrative content. Quite the opposite, they provide important context to the whole package. In fact, I think operations has a better conclusion to the Tyranid threat than the main story. Which is wild. Play these alongside the main story, planet-by-planet, for the best experience.

You're meant to replay these with friends (if you have any) or other randoms online, and while the linear missions remain largely the same, notable powerful enemies will be mixed up each time to keep things fresh. One run you have to fend off a Lictor, then the next time a Neurothrope will turn up and shoot energy blasts at you. A little thing, but much appreciated.

It's in operations that customisation comes into play, too. There are six different classes in total, each with unique abilities and weapons available to them. There's a nice interplay between each class that just works - a sniper hanging out in the back needs a frontline to defend them, so a Vanguard can take a big melee weapon and start slashing away, all while a heavy unloads hundreds of bullets at incoming waves. In a tight squad, you feel like a proper Kill Team of elite space warriors, which is probably the biggest compliment it could get.

Then there are cosmetic upgrades, which will make 40k fans blush. All the main loyalist chapters are here, as are some fan-favourite smaller chapters (even the original Dawn of War Blood Ravens). You unlock these with a currency you gain from levelling up through operations or PvP, which is fine, except it uses the same currency as skill tree unlocks. Maybe it's just me, but I'd prefer not to have to pick between in-game power and getting my Iron Hands marine to look just right.

You can also unlock more elaborate cosmetics for your weapons and class armour the more you level 'em up, which goes a long way in making established players look good. After a day or two grinding out operations you look absolutely decked out in all manner of regalia, which is just lovely. Lore accurate and player-centric, you love to see it.

But I cannot level the same praise at the multiplayer, at the moment. Eternal War PvP sessions were not scheduled for reviewers prior to embargo, and crossplay was disabled - meaning I was left adrift on my PS5 while PC enjoyers were maxing out the frame rate and cooking eggs on their CPUs. As such, despite waiting in queue for six hours over the weekend, I didn't get a chance to play the game mode.

What I can say is, as a whole package, there isn't a huge amount 'on-disc' in Space Marine 2 at launch. The campaign is six-to-seven hours, double that for a single playthrough of operations. Yes, you can (and should) play through these more than once but it's the same set of missions.

Multiplayer is clearly the long-term draw, but you get a handful of 12-player game modes that'll have to tide you over. Customisation is great, but I was heartbroken to hear that the Heretics Astartes (Chaos Space Marines or bad guy space marines for the entry level fan) have extremely limited options. Yes, you only play 'em in Eternal War, but having zero armour/weapon upgrade paths for a skin you'll be playing 50% of the time? That's a bummer. I don't care how cool the Storm Giants were in White Dwarf magazine 5362, throw them out the bus and give us some World Eaters options, please.

Now, it is worth noting there is an official roadmap for the game out there, and more content is on the way. But it's mostly cosmetics until 2025, and then a horde mode in Season 4. The game needs this, dearly, although the additional PvE and PvP additions in early 2025 will be a nice touch, too. Just give the Chaos Marines some love at some point, please.

Space Marine 2 is a triumph of a game. It's a must buy for Warhammer fans, and absolutely recommended for good game enjoyers. I hope you consider yourself a part of that illustrious group. Space Marine 2 is one of the best Warhammer games ever released, and one of the most dangerous gateway drugs to plastic crack I've ever seen.

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Space Marine 2 launches September 9, on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. This review was conducted on PS5, with code provided by the publisher.