Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 Previews Are Here
It looks like IGN got a hands on look at the upcoming Space Marine 2 and the gameplay is looking pretty darn spicy!
Space Marine 2 is bringing the hordes of Tyranids and you’re going to have to fight them off in bloody, visceral combat:
Space Marine 2 Preview
From the looks of things Space Marine 2 has taken notes on what made the original Space Marine game work and amped those features up to 11. Saber Interactive has stepped up their game with this one and it looks to be on the right track. The preview video from IGN does hit on a few highlights as they describe the game a cross between Gears of War and Doom. To be fair, the original Space Marine was released as direct competition to Gears of War 3 put the “cover based shooter” genre on notice for a more “aggressive” option. So the comparison is pretty fair!
One of the things that has me really intrigued about this new spin on Space Marine is that Saber Interactive is perhaps best known for their World War: Z game which features the ability to have thousands of zombies on the screen as survivors have to battle against the undead hordes. Well, in a genius move, they have swapped out those zombies for Tyranids and it works pretty darn well!
Another gameplay feature that Saber Interactive is reiterating on is the armor-charge system. Remember how I said this game put cover-based shooters on notice? Well this was the “thing” that Space Marine 1 did as well with their executions. And Saber Interactive has dialed these up to 11. That’s where the Doom comparison kicks in. The concept is pretty straight forward: As you, the Space Marine, take damage your charges start to deplete. Lose them all and then you’ll start losing heath — that’s bad and it’s rare to replenish those. However, for your armor charges, you can perform special executions to recharge your armor. And there’s plenty of execution moves to go around!
You can watch the video for them in action but there’s gut-ripping, arm-tearing, gore-spewing chain sword swinging action to be had. If you were worried that this game wouldn’t really capture the violence of the Grimdark battlefield uh…I don’t think that’s going to be an issue after watching this video.
Also in the video the the narrator, Matt Purslow, brings up quite a few valid points. One thing he brings up is the constant swapping between ranged and melee combat — again, a big feature of the previous game. Personally, I really enjoyed the first game’s gameplay with a controller because the swap between ranged and melee felt really natural. This ebb-and-flow in the combat helps keep the game interesting for sure.
Another thing he rightfully mentioned is that the preview he got only featured around three different Tyranid creatures: Tyranid Warriors, Hormagaunts, and some type of “poison bug” creature. His concern was that while this intro with these creatures was fine he didn’t know if battling just those bugs could carry the entire campaign. With the 20+ different types of Tyranids being sold by Games Workshop, there’s LOTS of enemies for Saber Interactive to introduce. I have a sneaking suspicion that much bigger creatures will show up later on in the game…
He also praised Saber Interactive’s appreciation and attention to the lore. From Titus’ lore accurate Primaris Armour, to the Cadian Guardmen’s equipment and even the various Bolters you get to fire there’s a lot of love and care shown. And I think that’s going to be a big plus for Space Marine 2!
Yeah…sign me up for this one folks.
We’ll have to wait and see how the rest of the game shapes-up but I’m liking what I’ve seen so far!
Get the Hype-Train rolling for Space Marine 2!
