Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 Review — Grimdark Goodness

Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim, dark future, there is only war.

For years, this quote has perfectly defined the setting of Warhammer 40k, a so-called grimdark (thanks to the quote) future where billions of lives and impossibly complex planet-wide industrial chains are dedicated to one thing and one thing only: constant, bloody, explosive, and unbelievably cool war. Conflicts in Warhammer 40k happen at a galactic scale, with entire races and spacefaring civilizations dedicating themselves to wiping each other out in a great space battle that would put Star Wars to shame.

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 is everything 40k is supposed to be, with all of the setting’s violence, gore, and flamboyant, explosive, awesome action in one game.

Space Marine 2 opens on the grim dawn of a Tyranid invasion.

If you’re unfamiliar with Warhammer 40k and are wondering what a Tyranid is, imagine a hivemind of terrible little dinosaurs mixed with xenomorphs that ruthlessly invade planets, gather biomass (that’s you, by the way) in unbelievable scales, and either eat or morph it into more terrible soldiers. An average Tyranid invasion could contain forces in the billions or trillions, and they all want nothing but to kill you and repurpose your bits for more killing.

We step into the role of a Death Watch Space Marine, crash landing (mostly on purpose) into the heart of the invasion to beat the Tyranids back. After an incredibly exciting, bloody tutorial consisting of you smashing your way through hordes of Tyranid soldiers, it is revealed that our Death Watch marine is actually Titus, the protagonist of the first game, after a brutal last stand that certainly should have led to his death. Titus is reborn as a Primaris Marine (basically, he underwent surgery to get taller) and sent straight back down to stomp the Tyranids out… with a squad of two other Marines this time.

From the very beginning, Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 is a thrilling action game with great pacing and a phenomenal Warhammer identity.

Mechanically, the game isn’t too complicated. It uses a simple melee combo system mixed with ranged attacks, parries, and executions, all of which bleed into one another seamlessly, so you’re constantly swapping between the gear in your loadout, which consists of several choices of accurately recreated gear from the tabletop hobby.

The game combines its combat with an armor + health system, with armor being a limited resource that takes damage instead of your health and refreshes when you pull off some sufficiently Space Mariney stuff. Parrying a Tyranid warrior not only opens them up for more damage but also gives you a gory, awesome animation full of invincibility frames and restores a point of armor. This carefully thought-out resource management makes you feel like an unstoppable, genetically modified warrior of the far future and makes dealing with the hordes of Tyranids a manageable experience.

And when I say hordes, I do mean hordes. There are times when the game will throw literal armies of the xeno threat at you, making sure you see as the menace swarms entire hillsides as it comes to claim your biomass. Tyranids will rush in you in massive hordes, stack to climb up walls—World War Z style—and overall do their best to make you feel overwhelmed with a variety of different unit types and combat strategies. While I can’t be sure that the game makes you fight every single one of these models on the screen—They Are Billions style— it most certainly always felt like I was dealing death in the thousands in the game’s numerous, timeless “stand your ground” segments.

And don’t even get me started on the rat level.

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 is a great game to play alone, with its AI companions being pretty smartly programmed, in my experience, and the game is absolutely packed with action and cinematic moments. It’s an even better game, however, to play with friends, with the campaign featuring up to 3-player co-op, which truly brings the experience to life. Each campaign mission can take you from 30 minutes to an hour to complete, and the game feels like a marathon, not a race. My ADD, which struggles with long missions and prolonged game time, had no trouble being invested in a Space Marine 2 campaign mission from beginning to end.

This is also to say nothing of the side content, which contains bonus missions that run in tandem with the game’s story and PvE and PvP modes for even more multiplayer goodness.

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 is everything you would want out of a Warhammer 40k title, lovingly dedicated to the lore and full of all the atmosphere, themes, and tropes that make Warhammer such a beloved franchise. Not only that, but it’s everything you could want out of an action game, with a great story, fun but not overly complicated mechanics, a great mix of cinematic moments and power fantasy while still presenting a challenge, and, above all else, great, gory action. It’s a game that, frankly, feels like it was made for everyone, fan of the franchise or not, and I can’t imagine anyone not getting at least a little bit of enjoyment out of this title.

Try Hard Guides received a PC review code for this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 is available on Steam, Epic Games, PlayStation, and Xbox.