Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

Rating: M
Release date: September 6, 2011
Platforms: XBOX 360, PS3, PC 
Multiplayer: Yes.
Downloadable content: No.


Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is one of two games this year that I've been waiting for, the other being RAGE, which came out October 5th. I had been and still am a big fan of the tabletop game, which is produced and published by Games Workshop, so seeing Warhammer 40k come to the console was just a big plus to me.

And what a plus it is: the game is visually stunning, with each environment looking crisp and real. The executions are epic, and serve to remind you why a Space Marine is a Space Marine. The multiplayer is also fun, albeit tough at times.

Most people on the multiplayer will start out at higher levels than you will, usually 20+. While this means that you may die quite a bit in the beginning, it also means that you can copy the classes of the players that killed you, enabling you to get a feel for the higher-level gear early on.

Multiplayer is also team-based, either team deathmatch or point capture, so you'll almost always have someone by your side blasting away. The players are split into two teams: Chaos Space Marines and regular Space Marines. There are three classes (Assault, Devastator, or Tactical) that the players can choose from once they've been assigned to a team, and a customizer unlocks at level five, enabling you to pick your own colour schemes and loadouts.

After you've had your fill of multiplayer, (or before, if you prefer) jump into the campaign. At the start of the campaign, the player controls Ultramarine Captain Titus, and is assisted by his command squad. However, the player is more than capable of taking out most threats by themselves, especially as the game goes on. This is helped along by the fact that the player can perform Executions, short cinematic moments which depict Captain Titus ending his enemy in a suitably gory way. During each Execution, Captain Titus is invincible, and regains a little bit of health upon its completion. Thus, if the player can string together Executions like Christmas lights, they should have no problem staying alive throughout the majority of the game. Each Execution leaves physical results, also: depending on the way Titus finishes his foes, he can end up with his armor spattered in gore. Unfortunately, said gore vanishes after a few minutes or so, leaving Titus' armor mostly pristine. However, this also leaves it ready for another bloodbath.

If you'd like to join in the carnage, Space Marine is available, as always, from my Amazon aStore.