Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is Focus Entertainment’s upcoming action shooter game and sequel to the 2011 title Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. After over a decade since the last game and almost two years since its announcement in December 2021, the game’s now finally drawing closer to release. To hype up its imminent release, Focus Entertainment has released several trailers and gameplay footage showing excited fans what’s to come. But why exactly are fans excited, and why should you? Well, this list seeks to answer that question with not one, but five great reasons.
While Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a sequel that follows the first game’s events, this doesn’t make the narrative any less interesting or approachable. For those unaware of the game’s story, players control legendary Space Marine Captain Titus, a capable Ultramarine, one of many transhuman super-engineered warriors who are as large as they are powerful, able to wield weapons not many men can, and are feared all over the Imperium. They carry out the will of the Emperor by protecting the realm from alien invaders.
In the upcoming sequel, Titus is back after being reported to the Inquisition in the last game. Despite being demoted to Lieutenant, he’s still as capable as ever, and likely even more so, as trailers have revealed that Titus is now sporting a Mark X Power Armour, which is usually worn by Primaris Space Marines. This means Titus has likely crossed the Rubicon Primaris, a dangerous surgery that upgrades and enhances the already augmented Space Marine. This also means Titus is now capable of even more things in the upcoming sequel than he ever could.
Lastly, the game takes place during the Fourth Tyranid War. It will seemingly be set across several planets, allowing players to experience new narratives, characters, and conflicts within its dystopian universe.
The world of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 looks simply impeccable. Twelve years after the first game’s release, developer Saber Interactive seems to have used all the technical advancements it can since, to present the game’s world in an incredibly captivating manner. Going by the trailers and footage seen so far, the models look more detailed, motions are more precise yet fluid, combat visual effects are breathtaking, and the overall art direction, or at least what has been shown so far, looks mesmerizing and perfectly captures the brutal world of Warhammer 40,000 but also looks to showcase the grim atmosphere in greater detail.
The first Space Marine game featured explosive, highly satisfying, and engaging gameplay. Judging by the several gameplay trailers and footage shown by the publisher, the upcoming sequel looks to be even more exciting, with a larger scale of enemies and a promising selection of weapons available to players on their quest to vanquish the alien scum that are the Tyranids. Like the first game, trailers have shown that Space Marine 2 will have cool weapons featured in the first game like the epic Thunder Hammer, a massive melee weapon capable of delivering shockwave-inducing blows to enemies, the Bolt Pistol: a standard sidearm for Space Marines, capable of firing explosive bolt rounds, and the Meltagun, a weapon that fires short-ranged bursts of heat energy to melt through targets, in a highly satisfying manner.
Not only that, but playing as a hulking 8-foot Space Marine looks even more appealing than ever, with players able to exert their unbelievable strength on alien hordes with all manner of melee weapons, including the fan favorite Chainsword: a close-combat weapon with a chainsaw-like blade, used to slice through enemies at close range. Players can also simply grab onto weaker and smaller enemies and rip their limbs apart or use their own body parts to maim them. Either way, the sequel looks like it will feature an amazing gameplay experience that we simply can’t wait for.
If, for some odd reason, you aren’t excited about this game yet, then maybe you’ll be excited to learn that for the first time ever, players can join up with their Space Marine brethren to take on the Tyranid horde in the campaign mode that’s now fully playable with multiplayer co-op. Players can either opt to play with their friends or stick to being a solo player in a squad of AI teammates. Either way, the game strongly focuses on working as a team of Marines instead of going solo, like in most shooters. This means that players will be able to enjoy the entire campaign and story mode with friends and experience all the game has to offer and all the challenges thrown at them together.
If every reason we’ve listed so far hasn’t convinced or successfully made you excited for the upcoming game, then maybe you’d be happy to know that Focus Entertainment has announced that the game will receive a beta, which interested players can register for now. If you’re lucky, you can test out the game in all its glory and decide if you’ll take the full plunge and don your Space Marine armor when it launches fully this winter for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series.
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The trailer shows more of the game.
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