Space Marine 2 is a 2007 game in the best way possible

GamesThird Person ShooterWarhammer 40000: Space Marine 2Space Marine 2 is a 2007 game in the best way possibleWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Saber Interactive)

Space Marine 2 release times - A space marine

A few weeks ago I watched a Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2overview videothat stirred something in me. Something about a gang of bulky Ultramarines ripping apart hordes of Tyranids while a disembodied voice described a campaign, co-op scenarios, and multiplayer modes put a huge smile on my face, which was strange, because the game didn’t look all that remarkable to me.

Saber’s sequel was hitting a nostalgia button I didn’t know I had, but it wasn’t until I played it that I understood: Space Marine 2 is a 2007 console shooter with a 2024 coat of paint. It’s uncomplicated, indulgent, and has a surprising variety that’s taking me back to a time when campaigns were king and games were more well-rounded packages. It’s not perfect, but it’s really hitting the spot.

Space Marine 2 swings higher than a 15-year-old bargain bin, to be clear. It’s ridiculously good-looking and that horde tech carried over from Saber’s last shooter, World War Z (another one of these), is the rare technical treat that’s both pleasing to the eyes and impactful to gameplay (those aliens can really pile up!). My co-op buddy and I are trucking through the campaign relishing the heavy thunks of our Ultramarines and enjoying Space Marine 2’s expanded melee combat. It feels really cool to dump a magazine of bolter ammo into 40 advancing Termagants and then draw my chainsword for a 1v1 duel with a Tyranid Warrior with two blades for arms.

(Image credit: Saber Interactive)

Over the shoulder view in Space Marine 2. Captain Titus fires his weapon into a very large swarm of enemies below.

Eternal war

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To even have a shooter campaign substantial enough to be spoiled feels like a treat in 2024.

A lot of Space Marine’s best qualities gain a new context in a PvP setting, like that hybrid melee/ranged combat. When everyone has the same weapons and mobility that you have, fights become a delicate positional dance of “we’re shooting now” or “we’re using swords now,” with the better answer often deciding the winner. Melee gets finicky when more than two people join a scrape and the classes aren’t perfectly balanced—flaws that, were Space Marine 2 a live service game banking on a core PvP suite, would be really bad signs, but roll right off the back when I expect to get a few days of fun from Eternal War, tops.

And I mean, the armor editor:

(Image credit: Saber Interactive)

space marine 2

I’m eating good with Space Marine 2 so far, and I’m not even a Warhammer guy. I also haven’t dipped into those co-op Operations yet, which the game warns will spoil aspects of the campaign but will let you play early anyway. Reading that warning gave me a little wave of emotion on its own—to even have a shooter campaign substantial enough tobespoiled feels like a treat in 2024. The resources that used to go toward creating value for a full-bodied $60 shooter now feeds a free-to-play factory churning out cosmetics at a weekly pace. Not even Blizzard could deliver itsplanned Overwatch 2 campaignwith the demands of live service on its shoulders.

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Eternal war#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

Eternal war

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals