Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is easily one of the best co-op shooters we’ve played in years. If you had fun slaying Terminids with friends in Helldivers 2, then you’ll likely enjoy the bloodier and arguably more epic battles against Tyranids here. Where Space Marine 2 differentiates itself from Sony’s surprise hit, is in its propensity for sci-fi spectacle, with lore-adorning graphical details, blood-splattering violence, and the sort of third-person action we thought had been left behind in the PS3 era. If you’re looking for that sci-fi escapism, that focuses on making you feel like a complete badass, then Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is an upcoming PS5 release you can't miss.
Sadly we can’t talk too much about the PS5-ness of it all, since our recent hands-on time with the game came in the form of a PC beta build. So while we’ll have to save console performance for the full review, today we can speak on the content within the game itself, and the core gameplay loop. Within our beta, we had access to one main campaign mission, and two co-op missions – all of which are playable in three-player co-op. All said and done, it was roughly two hours of content, but as we’re typing up this preview we’ve just shy of 10 hours with the game. That’s a good showcase for how much fun Space Marine 2 is.
Taking to the streets of Avarax, a mission around the mid-point of its main campaign, developer Saber Interactive is keen to show that Space Marine 2 is about as big and bombastic as they come. You will constantly find reasons to stop and just take in its sci-fi laden vistas, as Tyranid swarms pepper the skyline, and gothic architecture is reduced to rubble. Space Marine 2 is a graphical marvel, and the exact type of game that could benefit from a PS5 Pro.
Slashing and blasting our way through Tyranid hordes, we take on the role of Lieutenant Titus – a returning character from the 2011 original – along with his squad of Ultramarines. There’s tension between the squad and Titus that we would love to have more context towards, but jumping in at the mid-point doesn’t exactly allow for that. It’s not important though as we’re racing to protect the Astropathic Relay, holding out in the hope a fellow squad is able to eliminate the Hive Tyrant. If you think that’s a lot of sci-fi goodness, you’ve seen nothing yet. Each frame and sentence in Space Marine 2 has enough lore-filling details to make a psyker’s head burst.
While all those details are there for those that love to soak up the Warhammer 40K universe, for most you’ll just bask in the awesomeness of it all, as you hulk around in bulky armour and pop Tyranids like blood bags with a collective of gut-punching weaponry. With everything from full-auto machine guns to plasma pistols and melta rifles, there’s plenty of ways to dispatch Tyranids, not least with your flesh-tearing chain sword, which never loses its appeal.
It’s actually a little surprising how involved the moment-to-moment gameplay is. It’s not just a case of holding down the trigger and calling it a day, as parries, dodges, counter-shots, and executions come into play. Parries and executions in particular are how you earn back armour slots, the only real way to protect your health which doesn’t regenerate outside of med-kits. When things get messy – as they often do – it’s thrilling to catch a Tyranid mid-leap and pulverise its skull, saving what little health you have left for but a moment.
Unlike Helldivers 2, which is about overcoming hordes as squishy vulnerable humans, Space Marine 2 wants to fuel that power-fantasy, as you rip through hundreds of Tyranids with blood splashing over your power armour. Of course the game wouldn’t be much fun if you were invincible, so to ensure you’re at threat of dying a true Astartes death, Saber Interactive has ported over its horde technology from World War Z. Tyranids will scurry towards you in their hundreds, and while it’s never quite as overwhelming as the developer’s previous zombie-slaying outing, you’ll often find yourself entirely surrounded with nothing but a chain sword left to defend yourself. It’s a thrilling sensation to empty a magazine into a pursuing horde, hoping that they run out before your bullets do.
Upon reaching the Astropathic Relay, we had slain countless Tyranids, witnessed devastating destruction, and survived heretical Astartes, all before facing a final boss that put all of our combat knowledge to the test. This is an old-school blockbuster video game here folks, and if this is just one mission, we can’t wait to see the rest of the campaign.
However, the campaign is just one third of the Space Marine 2 offering. While we didn’t get to try out the Eternal War PvP mode, we did try out two of the six co-op missions. Teaming up with our battle-brothers from Pure Xbox, we went boots on the ground in Kadaku, a tropical forest planet starved by metallic factory abscesses. Structurally, there isn’t too much special about these missions. You get to explore cool environments, take on swarms of Tyranids, maybe protect a point, and end with a big horde survival moment or a boss fight. What does add to the appeal, however, is playing with friends across different difficulty levels and how it all ties in to the main story.
Surprisingly one co-op mission takes us back to Avarax, where our squad is tasked with taking out the Hive Tyrant. It’s an integral but ultimately background aspect to the main campaign, and the co-op missions subsequently filling in the gaps add to this vision of a galaxy-spanning war effort. While we didn’t have the context to our Kadaku mission, communication with Titus suggests it will also tie into the campaign. It’s a neat narrative throughline for a mode that a lot of games just aimlessly tack on.
On top of this, it's a delight to fight alongside friends in bloody bouts. Space Marine 2 is filled to the brim with clip-worthy cinematic moments, whether you're performing simultaneous executions or utilising class abilities to save a fellow battle brother from certain death. It becomes all the more fun too as you creep up the four available difficulty levels. By the time you reach the “substantial” difficulty tier, every bullet, parry, and med-syringe counts. It’s a far gnarlier experience dependent on communication, and it really keeps you on your toes as you survive by the skin of your teeth.
Upon the completion of a mission, you’ll level up your chosen class and weapons. There are six classes to choose from, all with their own skill trees, loadouts, and abilities, which range from grapple attacks to dome shields. Steadily your character’s abilities and the weapons they carry will become all the more powerful, readying you for the higher difficulties. Not only that but you'll steadily unlock and purchase cosmetic armour pieces, to really make your Ultramarine your own. We can already tell that players are going to craft up some delicious looking armour designs.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a blood-speckled action extravaganza that we can’t wait to dig into upon its full PS5 release. It’s the type of PS3 era madness that blends the crunchy shooting of a Gears of War with the sci-fi spectacle of the Warhammer 40K universe. It honestly reminds us of our teenage years, obsessing over a game into the wee small hours of the morning because we simply could not get enough of it. We have some concerns over how the PS5 version will run, but from a content, gameplay feel, and experience standpoint, it’s easily one of the most exciting games heading to PS5 in 2024.
Are excited to dive into some Tyranid action when Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 launches on PS5 on 9th September? Swear your allegiance to the Emperor down in the comments below.
