Space Marine 2's co-op gameplay suggests jetpacks are actually what make the dream come true

In the dreary heatwave of midsummer, everyone you know would love to gather around a table and roll dice for six hours, but… that thing open. You remember that thingright? Also, no one has a big enough desk. Or the new fixes. Also, Trevor's been talking about Lady Custodes for five months now, and now no one wants to be around her. So thank Omni-trevor for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2's three-player co-op. “Warhammer with kids?” said Horace, handing out preview keys from a completely different postcode. James, Edwin, and Nic were all booked up for the week at the start, but Horace reiterated and made it absolutely clear that wasn't a question.

Jacob: Okay guys, first let me ask this: are the Space Marines of Space Marine II as heavy and tough as Space Marines should be? When moving yes, when shooting definitely yes, and in close combat not so much.

Beautiful: It feels like there are some conflicting priorities between wanting to deliver a purifying horde hack n' slash, and giving you timed parries and dodge throws for precise counters. The chatter is well telegraphed, and the counters are mostly useful to fighters who are much taller than your average 'nid. I still couldn't quite get into the rhythm of it all, though. The jump pack is…

A space marine with a jetpack hovers in the air, preparing to land with a sword.

The Jump Pack is one of the few specials you can use during the cooldown. Also, it's the best. | Image credit: Saber Interactive/Rock Paper Rifle

Edwin: They look commendably chunky to me? I was playing with the controller, and there’s a hum for footsteps. I didn’t feel like they were particularly light in close combat either. I thought they were too slow, and they were downright condescending to my attempts to dodge, but then I noticed there was a dodge button. I admit there’s a tension between this being a killstreak game and a dueling game. And yes, that jetpack. Similar to the first game, it launches you straight up and lets you aim down a landing reticle in a hover-like fashion. Aim too far out and the game almost feels like a wingsuit simulator. Space Marines are more aerodynamic than they look.

Jacob: I really enjoyed the one-on-one, chainsword-hand-blade duels, especially since winning them ends with a satisfying final blow and a burst of renewed armour. There's rarely a chance for these dances to start, as you're easily attacked by the smaller Tyranids alone – if I stop swinging wildly, I'll lose more health to their gnawing than I'll get back by killing the Big Nid.

So I chose to continue with the blasting partly because the weapons themselves were deafening bang-bang factories. I Only I've gained enough experience in 40k to care about the fantasy of firing Bolter weapons, and they are very, very well realised.

Beautiful: At this point, when a 40k game comes out, it's a safe bet that some cute giganerd will make a long video explaining how accurate Bolters are. They're basically cannons, you see. And yes, they feel great here. You get a good idea of ​​how big the Marines are, as the intro starts you off next to a horde of poor, normal-sized humans, and there's also the fact that an Imperial Guardsman can't quite manage to open a door that you could easily smash open.

Edwin: Ah, the Imperial Guard. You see a lot of them in the opening campaign mission, and they're a nice way to boost the player's self-esteem. They're so small! And so helpless.

The imperial guard's flamethrower is a pile of tyrant corpses.

Image credit: Saber Interactive/Rock Paper Rifle

Beautiful: One fun aspect of doing this piece is that I can start a sentence in chat with “What's cool about the Thunderhawk Gunship…” and James and Edwin definitely have to listen to me, because technically it's business-related. But yes, the opening level of Space Marine II goes to great lengths to fulfill wishes. Even standing next to a static model of a flying vehicle that costs £598 to interact with on the desktop feels like a garish power fantasy.

Edwin: Is this what I said I wanted to eat? With its beautiful rhombic blue hull panels and those rodent gold bits. I think the entire Imperial fleet would make a glorious luxury ice cream range – all those pistachio green battlements and that white chocolate chip on the bow of a lunar cruiser. I’ve found myself actually wanting to eat quite a bit of the Warhammer 40K universe. Maybe it’s because I don’t really like the Eldar, whose hat feathers make me think of the annoying stringy bits of sweet corn. Now the smaller Tyranids look like they’ve been sautéed with some salty spring greens and a dash of red wine. Sorry, what were we talking about again?

Beautiful: I've been watching too much Delicious In Dungeon. Are we talking about jetpacks?

Jacob: Battle Barge, now that I think about it, looks a bit like Viennetta. Wait, no, that's It happened Jetpacks. Or Jump Packs. Whatever. I appreciated that they allowed the big chaos to continue on ground level, but they also gave you the agility to handle fights more decisively and not just get blown away by the herd. It's such a powerful power-up that I think we all realized at the same time that these were just temporary toys that would soon be taken away again.

Killing a tyranid warrior with a chainsword in Space Marine 2.

The fight is meaty, full of spectacular finishing moves. Image credit: Saber Interactive/Rock Paper Rifle

Beautiful: Yes, it was hard to say, as the preview only covered the opening up to the first boss, but I was a little worried that the game would unload too quickly. That's a compliment, really. The first stage was so explosive and completely overrun with enemies that I wondered where they were going to take it from there. And oh my, those skyboxes! Speaking of the first boss, though, I was a little disappointed to see him summon regular mobs, which felt like a tired gimmick to go back to too soon. But, yes, there was definitely a sense of possibly transforming into Megaman after the crazy opening. At this point, I imagined the jetpack gaining consciousness just so it could return when you needed it and save you from the one-liners.

Jacob: “Sorry, I had to go… jet.”

Edwin: Imagine appearing as a Warhammer-branded Mr. Clippy. “It looks like you're trying to climb some platforms. Would you like a jetpack?”

Beautiful: “I'm back…crawl!” I think I stole that from one of you.

Jacob: Probably from Edwin. But then I'll let him, because Edwin was always STEALING MY KILLS.

Edwin: “Feeling exhausted” was definitely mine. James, so were all those executions I stole from you during our run through of the special co-op PvE missions that gave you a choice of six classes. The best one is the one that only has a wrist grab to pull you in for a ready finisher. Oh, the look on your face when I went over you with Spider-Man and caught murder after murder right under your nose. Like that flying brain thing. Looking back, it was a bit of a jerk. The finishers in Space Marine II aren't just for show – they recharge your shields. I guess that's why you kept dying so suddenly? Sorry.

In Space Marine 2, we take a look at the Thousand Sons marine.

Image credit: Saber Interactive/Rock Paper Rifle

Jacob: I definitely got a bit of Spess Mehreen FOMO watching you two, both the MO part that covers my healing chances and the more interesting/dynamic abilities. My skill creates a big green holo-ball that marks monsters for extra damage. Extra damage? Sir, my gun fires explosive rounds the size of skulls, the outgoing damage isn't the issue here.

Beautiful: Yes, there’s definitely a difference in how useful or fun the skills feel, but I can see the more mundane support skills being very useful on the higher difficulties of a PvE campaign. One nice thing about the campaign that I didn’t get from the trailers is how quickly non-Tyranid enemies are introduced. Waiter, there’s a couple of blue goats in my bug soup! Or I guess Tzaangors, if you want to be nerdy about it. You’d burst into a room to see ‘nids fighting Tzeentch chaos warriors. I still hope the Orcs come back later. Unless you count hammering nails into concrete, I don’t think there’s much levity to the ‘nids.

Edwin: I love how you can bully the little nids – there are finishers ready for them too. COME HERE, RUNNING XENO BOY. BANG BANG BANG BACK TO THE GROUND WITH YOU.

Shooting enemies in Space Marine 2.

Image credit: Saber Interactive/Rock Paper Rifle

Jacob: I also enjoyed the mix of xenos and Chaos villains; previous trailers suggested Space Marine II would make the same “Ahhhh, they were always cultists” late-game reveal as the first trailer. Nope – Tzeentch's men are on tour, and they don't care who knows it. Also, Chaos Space Marines turn into a clanking pile of shattered armor upon death, which is even funnier than stealing a Tyranid's arm and bashing it in.

Warhammer quickly continued with the boys until the game’s first boss. We spent less time with the Darktide-like campaign mode overall, but it looks very well-rounded with multiple classes and large skill trees for each. You can even switch weapons mid-match. Nic got a power punch at one point, then spent the rest of the match demanding that James and Edwin only address him as ‘Captain Fisto’. Rumor has it that to this day he still demands that everyone address him as ‘Captain Fisto’, but no one can hear him anymore from the storage locker he’s locked in.

Leave a Comment