As you may have read, I was fortunate enough to attend a THQ community event last week. I joined several gamers, journalists, hobbyists, and fans of the Warhammer 40k universe for a day-long, hands-on session with the upcoming WH40k: Space Marine game. I have only a fledgling knowledge of the franchise, so I was very much out of my league. A friend of mine told me to use the phrase “For the Emperor” whenever possible. I may have not said it aloud, but after playing Space Marine, I was most definitely thinking it.
I was given the opportunity to play hours of the single player campaign as well as the two multiplayer versus modes. Unfortunately, THQ was tight lipped on the co-op support. I tried to ply them with compliments, favors, and even a sexy dance, but they weren’t having any of it. Their loss. The official statement remains that co-op exists and details are coming very, very soon. Oh well. It’s not like I was going to pass up an opportunity to play Space Marine. I wanted to get my hands on that bad-ass armor customizer. I also wanted to find out if this was just another stale third person shooter cloaked in a beloved license. I’m happy to say that it’s not a Gears clone, although lazy gamers are sure to make that comparison. I played WH40k: Space Marine all damn day, and it was awesome.
We were given ample time with the single player campaign. I’m going to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, so don’t worry about seeing any specific plot details. All you need to know is it’s the 40th Millennium. That means it’s the future, for you non-math majors out there. There’s gun-toting Orks, jetpacks, and all that crazy stuff we’ve been promised ever since Jules Verne and J.R.R. Tolkien got drunk together and invented science fiction. Mankind is facing a whole universe of adversaries, and you are one of the human race’s few protectors, an Adeptus Astartes, a Space Marine. The single player combat embodies the idea of “visible, violent death.” This is Thermopylae as a spectacle. You are the 300 Spartans compounded into one dynamic kill-crazed wrecking ball of power armor. Since that’s a helluva mouthful, we’ll just call the main character Captain Titus.
The Decapitron 40000 is dishwasher safe for easy cleanup.
Space Marine’s combat system is impressive and intuitive. Gameplay shifts between third person shooting and bloody melee action with ease. If you pull the right trigger Titus shoots. If you smash the melee buttons Titus become a maniacal murder machine. And do not think you can simply spam the “X” button. There’s only one way to regain health in Space Marine, and that’s done by performing executions. These are gory finishers that require a bit of finesse to pull off. They are also rewarding on a dark, guttural level. You’ll have to time your melee combinations with stun attacks in order to initiate these gruesome maneuvers. You must always push forward, as you can only heal yourself with the death of your enemies. The devs call this “momentum combat.” At times the game will intentionally slow down when you’re in the thick of the fight, lending a cinematic feel to the visceral action. The dev team mentioned 300 as one of their inspirations, but they didn’t need to. You can feel it. The single player campaign will supposedly take around 12 -15 hours to complete, which is high for a shooter, but just about right for an action game.
There were a few things I was wary of as I played Space Marine. I was surprised by the difficulty. I had a hard time with several areas, and I was playing on the “Easy” setting. It wasn’t frustrating, just difficult. I felt as though Titus could dish out massive damage, but I didn't feel I could absorb much punishment. The momentum concept of the combat system continually drew me into melee encounters. I found sometimes it was best to sit back and pick off the guys with rocket launchers before wading into a Chainsword fight. This may have been a result of me trying to rush through the game, since I had limited time with it. I found that if I mixed up my attacks I got the best results. The game is also very brown, but that seems to be the nature of the beast when you have an industrialized setting. Later levels did add some variety to the color palette. Despite the (at times) dreary background, the game looks great. The gameplay videos and screenshots really don’t do the title justice.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the founding member of the Clown Marines.
Later on we jumped into the multiplayer versus modes. I know we all love co-op, but let’s face it, a robust multiplayer is a huge selling factor for gamers. Space Marine multiplayer versus is online only. There is no local split screen support. We were introduced to the versus mode with the awesome armor editor. All of your choices are purely aesthetic, but they look so frick’n cool. Space Marines have a noble dignity, while Chaos Marines look like a heavy metal nightmare. You can change between factions in the editor while you customize your character. I should note that you can only edit your multiplayer avatar. The single player campaign's Captain Titus cannot be customized.
There is a meaty multiplayer progression system. You’ll unlock things like new armor, perks, and weapons by earning XP and completing challenges. You won’t be toiling away for just another lame helmet color. You’ll be fighting for a new Plasma Cannon, Storm Bolter, or Thunder Hammer. We played at the max XP level, so I got to see all of the mightiest Wargear. It was vicious.
There are three classes that offer players a choice in fighting styles. Each class is available for either Space or Chaos Marines. The Assault Marine/Raptor can be equipped with a wonderful variety of melee weapons. They are also outfitted with a jump pack which allows them to dash in and out of combat. Their high speed and ninja-like melee skills are offset by their inability to carry heavy projectile weapons and a mockingly low armor rating. The Devastator/Havoc class carries the heaviest ranged weapons and has the toughest armor. Sadly, his melee skills are diluted weaksauce. The Tactical/Chaos Space Marine is a nice balance between the two, having decent speed and armor, as well as a wide variety of weapons.
The Devastator, Tactical, and Assault Marine Classes.
WH40k: Space Marine multiplayer is absolute chaos. When we started up the match I immediately chose the Devastator class. If you know me, you know why. I started firing rounds from my Heavy Bolter into anything that moved. Luckily, friendly fire was set to “off.” (I can’t imagine playing this game with friendly fire turned “on.” The melee weapons would wreak havoc in close quarters.) Assault and Raptor class players were flying everywhere. Knots of fighting would form and turn into furious hand-to-hand combat.
I soon figured out how to lock down my massive Heavy Bolter with the press of the right shoulder button. This changed my rate of fire from a steady “whump-whump-whump” to a ridiculous rate of “DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA,” pardon my Ork speak. My Heavy Bolter shredded my foes. Then a Raptor dropped form the sky and beat me to death with a Maul. So that's how it's gonna be.
I got to take advantage of Space Marine’s “Copy Loadout” feature more times than I care to remember. When you’re killed in multiplayer you can copy the exact same class, perks, and weapons of the player who just offed you. Now you can get back into the fight and give them a taste of their own medicine. With the push of a button in the spawn screen, I now had my killer’s loadout, jump-pack and all. I blasted above the battle field, eagerly looking for my first murder-Maul victim. As I reached the apex of my jump I placed my ground reticule on an unlucky opponent. By pressing the "X" button I was hurled from the heavens as if by some angry god. Woe to anything between me and terra firma: "Oh, I’m sorry. I can’t hear you over that giant MAUL IN YOUR FACE!" The session went on like this for the next three hours.
To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women...and Jump Packs.
I was surprised by how well balanced the classes were. I said aloud that the Devastator was toast once a Raptor got close to him. A member of the dev team pointed out that the Devastator class has a ground stomp move that could stun the Raptor, giving me time to unleash my hellish firepower. It wasn’t easy to pull off, but it gave me a chance in a melee fight. Tactical/Chaos Marines' weapon variety and ninja roll kept them in the battle. Assault/Raptors were vicious in close quarters, but susceptible to being blasted out of the sky. I really didn't favor any one class over another. I usually copied the loadout of whoever killed me and then quickly spawned, ready for revenge.
The day was capped off with a multiplayer tournament. Whoever won got to take home a replica Chainsword. Yep, that's me holding it. Nope, I didn't win it. The victor was decided by kill totals after three matches. I knew I was screwed after the first match, where I only got six kills. In the second match I earned 10. I followed that up with 16, giving me 32 total. The winner had 48. Congratulations.
Space Marine will ship with only two multiplayer modes, Seize Ground and Annihilation. These are your basic capture/defend point A/B/C and team death match modes. THQ and Relic have more modes planned as DLC. No word on a price or release date.
I really enjoyed my time with Warhammer 40k: Space Marine. But don't take my word for it. A demo drops next week. Hell, you can play it on Steam this Wednesday. Check it out and let us know what you think. We won't have a full review up for Space Marine until the co-op comes out, because that's kind of what we focus on around here. I have high hopes. If THQ and Relic give as much attention to the the co-op mode as they did the multiplayer, we should be in for a real treat. WH40k Space Marine hits the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on September 6th.