After playing through last month’s downloadable release of Warhammer 40K: Kill Team (basically a variation of Smash TV style combat with a crapload of Orks), we were highly anticipating the main course, Space Marine, Relic Entertainment’s action-packed take on the classic RTS series. Imagine it with a Gears of War-style motif, but with dozens more Orks to kill and plenty more melee-based bloodshed, along with a British hero in a piece of armor that must weigh like a ton. Now it’s here - titled Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, and though it’s pretty much what we anticipated it to be, it’s also engagingly fun. Here’s the game in a nutshell – you work alongside your fellow Ultramarines, attempting to save the planet from an invasion of Orks. That’s easier said than done, as there are practically a million of them, along with varieties including shield carriers, big football helmet-wearing juggernauts, rocket launchers, gunners, and half-dog/half-lizard creatures that act like suicide bombers, among others. Your job is to kill them in one of two ways. Either you let them have it in long-range combat with a handful of guns, or go at it at close range with a Chainsword, an electrified battle axe, or a number of other handheld goodies.
Either way, you’ll definitely like how these Orks come apart. Space Marine offers blood by the gallons not just in every stage, but practically every corridor, and counting the bodies left over after each battle is brutally satisfying, as if you were saying, “Holy balls! I was in an ACTUAL battle!” Though long-range combat has its moments (particularly with a head-shattering sniper-like Bolter or a modified grenade launcher), there’s something really cool about melee, and how you can chain together lethal strikes, stun moves, and fatalities that rival the likes of Mortal Kombat. (Plus, those actually provide a health boost for you in return, giving you extra initiative in pulling them off.) Both sides of gameplay work quite well, given the circumstances of being in a huge piece of armor. After all, how much mobility can you really get out of that thing? For that matter, using supplementary items is cool as well, such as a jet pack that lets you fly up to higher levels, if only to drop a huge ground pound on a group of unexpecting Orks, leaving a wave of blood washing over the walls. It’s a little willy nilly when it comes to accurate controls, but the results will leave you smiling all the same.
The game’s campaign only takes a few hours to sort through, but at least the story has some ties to it that don’t betray the Warhammer 40K universe. For that matter, the characters feel convincingly real, a plus considering that THQ could’ve easily just gone the generic route. Relic Entertainment really cares for this franchise, and it shows with its first step towards mainstream action. (To its credit, there are RTS style elements when it comes to choosing which weapons you want for combat…though it’s hardly deep stuff.) There’s also multiplayer, but it’s limited to just a few maps and two modes, domination and deathmatch. What’s more, some of the components from the single player game aren’t here, such as the ability to stun. However, it’s interesting mixing up heavy and light classes in combat, watching big guys mow down enemies from the sky or jet packers come dive bombing like a bat out of hell. The only downside is that we never see the Orks come into play…but perhaps that’ll happen with the co-op mode that’s set for release on Xbox Live later this month. (Relax, it’ll be free.)
This feature review continues on the next page, please click Page 2 below to read our final thoughts on Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine.
