None of which is to suggest Space Marine 2 is a bad time in single-player.
Saber Interactive’s campaign does a perfectly preposterous job in following up Relic’s quintessential 7/10.
The standout trick, however, is Space Marine 2’s vast, boiling Tyranid swarms.
Unlike the other points mentioned, the Tyranids are more than just a visual flourish.
The most interesting mechanical flourish, however, is the gun strike.
Overall, I think Space Marine 2’s combat is mostly great.
That said, it can sometimes feel like trying to play Bloodborne in a mosh pit.
There are a couple of other points worth plunging into the campaign’s chitinous flesh.
Yet when a Zoanthrope appears on screen, the difficulty swerves into borderline punishing.
When played cooperatively, the campaign feels far more consistent.
The Tyranids flow better, the combat’s more intense, and those difficulty spikes are sanded down.
Gadriel and Chairon also have their own active abilities, which lends a campaign replay a slightly different angle.
Personally though, I reckon Space Marine 2 is strongest outside of the campaign.
Operations mode offers six individual, campaign-like missions with a couple of twists.
First, you play as a specific class of Space Marine with distinctive abilities.
This combination results in a greater emphasis on teamwork, while also facilitating some proper gnarly scrapes.
Each Operation takes about an hour to complete, with more coming post-launch.
Thing is, that was the casethirteen yearsago.
The original Space Marine launched with a multiplayer mode that was obligatory in the post Call of Duty era.
With Space Marine 2, none of this feels tacked on, or like an afterthought.
Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 accessibility options
Colour blind mode on/off.
Subtitles speaker visibility on/off.
Social wheel activation hold/press.
A copy ofWarhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2was provided for review by Focus Interactive.
