Often, the first question for any Warhammer 40K game is simply, “Is it Warhammer 40K enough?” This is one of those franchises where the brand itself becomes the thing some fans want to play: it must be grim, it must be dark, it must have sufficient gore, and must have both recognisable nods and oblique references that adhere strictly to our “Core Brand Values”. Also, I suppose, there should be a video game in there somewhere.
Worry not though, any fan-Inquisitors in the audience: in the slice of Space Marine 2 I played, I ran more or less the entire gamut of 40K-isms within the first couple minutes – and admittedly, I think that’s brilliant. Your squad of Space Marines bicker about treachery and point fingers over presumed betrayals of the Empire, before unloading from their transport into a vast, embattled gothic citadel. Groups of Imperial Guardsmen quiver, assemble, and occasionally get shot by a Commissar for displaying cowardice, beneath the flapping baby-wings of servitor cherubs. The voices of a deep, manly choir soar. You grab a weapon and a sidearm and choice of knife, power sword or chainsword – you know full well what you’re picking here – then you clunk through more gothic corridors, a gate slides shut behind you and, in the most 40K moment of all, find yourself immediately overwhelmed by a swarm of Tyrannids without so much as a “press B to crouch” in preparation.
Thankfully, another point of 40K accuracy saves the day here: you are wonderfully overpowered in Space Marine 2, at least in this mid-game story mission (and on the standard difficulty at which I played). You can flick between a bit of frantic button-mashing and more considered parry-and-combo business as the mood strikes and get by just fine. This is good. You are the Emperor’s will made flesh. Using your bare fists to pull apart Tyrannid skulls by the dozen is exactly where you ought to be.
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