Review: Space Marine 2

Titus is back! Once again, this game does what few do: completely capture the atmosphere of what it is trying to do. You don't play as a space marine. You ARE a space marine. All the environs are perfect. You only ever talk about courage and honor. You never sneak: your boots thud on the ground with each step. Immersion: here I come!

Now by this point I'm sure everyone has seen fight scenes with Tyranids on YouTube, as well as the most badass cinematic with Calgar jumping out of a Thunderhawk. It's hard to make Ultramarines cool amongst the older fans, but this game really does it. So anyway, the fights are fun; controls are, like all modern games, console-oriented, but reasonable; weapons aplenty. This all does a fine job of distracting you from the sketchy movement, with Titus always running along pre-defined paths in the jungle, unable to move through knee-high bushes. Mechanics: fine.

The story is short, I blitzed through the campaign in a couple of days. Then again, it was refreshing not to grind for equipment. You are a space marine! Everything is available as needed. Now I know that this game is axed more on multi-player, but I skipped that entirely. I just don't care.

But let's talk about what really made this game shine: the cinematic environments. Scrolls and candles abound.

It was really cool to see units from the tabletop, such as this Manticore missile launcher. Sentinels of all kind are all over, mostly power lifters.

The supporting characters are well written but interactions are short. The long interactions with Lt. Mira are missing, instead she has been replaced with another Cadian commander, this time sporting an Eastern European accent.

Each and every frame oozes character.

Gothic architecture pervades factory buildings, as it should.

Who lighted the candles in this abandoned research facility? Doesn't matter! This is so 40k I want to cry.

Space marine quarters are spartan.

As you walk around the ship, you can observe your battle brothers talking among themselves, as well as interact with other characters. They are never available to help you, though.

Everybody wishes that Thunderhawk was available in plastic.

The mission loading screen reminds me of XCOM. Obviously, the missions and gameplay are nothing like it.

Even though you are a small cog in a very large warmachine, your actions have resounding effects, as they should - you are a space marine!

There's a required amount of  techno-babble.

BEEHNBLADE!!!

You witness the bell fall, an apt metaphore for everything going on in the galaxy at large.

There's always respite to be found among your brothers. Even with the final reveal of the chaplain's identity: Leandros. Loved it.

And finally, necron ruins. As we all well know, if there is anything unexplainable, it's either: a) the Inquisition, b) the Warp or c) the necrons.

The game caught me and caught me well. I just couldn't do anything else until I finished it. It was a fun ride. But then I was done and I had 0 interest in doing repetitive missions or any sort of multiplayer. I had a perfect experience and this is how I want to remember it!