This review is based on the PC version of Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine. Presumably there is no real difference between the PC and the console versions apart from the platform used. This review only covers the single player campaign and will be as spoiler free as possible.

Bear in mind, that the commentary expressed in this review are entirely my opinion based on my own experiences with the game. I do expect some folk to disagree with me in certain areas.

System Specs & Performance

I made an upgrade to my computer between playing the demo of Space Marine and prior to playing the full PC version. Hopefully a machine with my previous system specs (I only changed the graphic card) will still perform well for this game. On my machine the game ran very well, I experienced absolutely no problems with loading, graphical errors or any form of slowdown or lag at all.

Processor: AMD Phenom 9850 Quad-Core 2.50GHz
Memory 8.00GB DDR PC2-6400
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 w/1G Memory

On my first playthrough of the single-player campaign I experienced no technical problems with the game. I came across no bugs or apparent major flaws with how the game ran and performed on my machine.

Gameplay & Controls

I played the single player campaign with an attached wired Xbox 360 controller via USB. Despite the accessibility of the keyboard and mouse, I personally felt more comfortable using the controller instead. The game is still perfectly easy to play and operate with a keyboard & mouse configuration and I plan to give this mode a whirl on my next playthrough of the single player campaign.

Much of the gameplay of Space Marine starts when the enemies are at range. These ranged firefights swiftly progress into melee encounters, either when you close with the enemy yourself or when the enemy move up on your position. Not every enemy type will attempt to close into melee range. Orks in particular like to close with the enemy, but most other enemies will keep their distance and rely upon their ranged weapons.

It is not uncommon to get totally surrounded while in melee. Thankfully many of the attacks in melee are capable of striking multiple opponents.

Combat in Space Marine is a very active experience, even when playing against the AI in the single player campaign. You need to be aware of the positioning of enemy ranged units, even when engaged in melee, as well as lobbed grenades and other explosive devices in the scene. Explosive devices can not just injure your character, but close proximity to an explosion can white out your vision or your hearing temporarily.

Weapons: An Arsenal at your Fingertips

At any given time, your character is capable of carrying one melee weapon and up to four different ranged weapons. At various points in the single player campaign, upgrades to your basic wargear are available as well as opportunities to swap out your current loadout. Below I will list some of the major weapons of the game and my own brief opinion on each of them.

Bolt Pistol: The basic starting ranged weapon. Unlimited ammo, requires reloading when a clip is emptied. I found it to be a fair enough weapon against anything but a hardened target.

Combat Knife: The starting melee weapon. Soon replaced.

Plasma Pistol: An upgrade and permanent replacement for the Bolt Pistol. I do think it is possible to skip this upgrade if you would rather keep the bolt pistol. This weapon has unlimited ammo, but requires venting heat to keep using it. Seems to deal more damage than the bolt pistol and is better at harming armored targets. Has a charged fire mode that launches a ball of energy that stick to a target (terrain or enemy) before exploding.

Bolter (Bolt Gun): The basic bolter is a much more powerful and accurate weapon than the bolt pistol. It is easy to pick off enemies at range with this weapon, even from a distance, with carefully placed shots. The standard bolter is eventually upgraded with a Kraken Bolter that fires Kraken Penetrator Rounds.

Plasma Gun: Similar to the plasma pistol, save that it does not have infinite ammo, deals more damage and has a much improved ranged.

Vengeance Launcher: Shoots explosive devices that can be manually triggered. I did not like this weapon, it did not seem to fit into any role well in-game save when defending some position.

Meltagun: Very powerful short to medium ranged weapon. Shot goes out in a widened cone, hitting multiple enemies. Can be an instant-kill for many weaker enemy types. Feels like a shotgun type weapon.

Lascannon: A sniper-type weapon. Can be fired normally and in a zoom mode. Has a very small number of total shots (15 max) before it is depleted. Does significantly more damage than the 'sniper rifle' weapon.

Storm Bolter: Poor accuracy, very good in close combat, very high rate of fire. Shots go out in a widened (horizontally) cone.

Chainsword: First upgrade from the combat knife. The standard by which I will measure other weapons.

Power Axe: Much faster than the chainsword. Better at dealing with large numbers of weaker opponents. Seems better all-around at defeating heavily armored opponents. In my opinion it is an all around better weapon than the chainsword.

Thunder Hammer: Large, powerful and sometimes a bit slow. Execution-kills are a lot faster to perform when using this weapon. Very good at striking multiple enemies at once in sweeping arcs around the character.

Heavy Weapons (Bolter, Plasma, Autocannon): Weapons that can be dismounted and carried around. When attached to their original setting they seem to have infinite ammo, when dismounted they have a limited supply of ammunition. Generally very effective at close, medium and long range. You only come across them at specific points int he game, you cannot take a heavy weapon with you throughout the entire campaign.

Music & Sound Effects

As someone who enjoys a good bit of music while playing a game, I was very pleased all in all with the audio score in Space Marine. Each of the pieces seemed to blend in well with the in-game cinematic bits, action sequences and other parts of the game.

I was very impressed at the overall quality of the voice acting, as well as the environmental sounds and other audio used throughout the game. From vox broadcasts, to the grunts of Orks and the giggling of Gretchin, the sounds of the game were all very well done.

Lore & Story: Trying for as few spoilers as possible

All in all I enjoyed the story presented in the single-player campaign. While certain events that played out were ones I was fully expecting, there were new developments that I did not (at first) expect. Many of the elements presented during the story of the single player campaign, the Space Marines themselves, the Imperial Guard and so forth are done very well. I felt that this game holds very closely to the lore in general, with most of the concessions being ones that revolve around gameplay mechanics.

In specific I really enjoyed the look & feel of the world. In my previous review of the demo for the game, I had some criticism on this part of the material shown... which has since been crushed. Save for one criticism about the Mechanium (detailed below) I am quite pleased with how the various elements of the 40k universe were shown off in-game.

The ending of the game leaves the door open for a sequel. Possibly a very interesting sequel.

Use of Cover: First Major Criticism

Much of the pre-launch hype for Space Marine focused on how one could smash through cover or how unnecessary it would be for much of the game. Now that I have actually played through the entire single player portion of the game, I do feel that this element of the game was misrepresented.

I found very few areas of cover could actually be broken through via charging. Many that I thought I should be able to just smash through (a stack of crates, a broken bit of wall, etc.) were totally impermeable.

Furthermore there are several areas during the course of the game, where using cover is mandatory. Approaching certain types of enemies (and living) and when dealing with things such as automated turrets requires the extensive use of cover.

Length of the Single-Player Campaign: Second Major Criticism

While I do feel that there is good potential re-play value for the single player campaign, I found it to be rather shorter than I expected. While the end of the game is reached with several major goals being completed, it felt more like a halfway point in terms of time spend playing rather than a point the campaign should end.

It took me approximately eight hours to complete the single player campaign, even though I did spend a little time checking for secret bits and collectibles. I did not rush through the game (at least I don't feel like I did) and I took some time to check out the scenery. Given the amount of content that seems to exist in the single player campaign, I think I spend about the right amount of time playing through on my first time.

Where are the Tech Priests? - Final Major Criticism

As one will encounter some servitors (sort of) during the course of play, my last major complaint about Space Marine is that I did not encounter a single member of the Mechanium per-se during the entire course of the campaign. Aside from audio pickups or looped vox messages, the closest thing is a Princeps of a Titan.

It is extremely odd to spend so much time on a Forge World (in my opinion) and not encounter a single Skitarii, Tech Priest or other obvious member of the Adeptus Mechanicus. I do not even recall seeing the bodies or corpses of any member of the Mechanium during my first play through.

Conclusion: A very good game

I really enjoyed playing Space Marine. It is not just a very good Warhammer 40k game, but a good game overall. Good story, music and overall fun to play. It is a good game to introduce people to the 40k universe too I would think.

I can easily recommend this game to my friends and to many other 40k nuts like myself who might be interested in it. For those folk who have wanted a FPS game where you can play as a Space Marine... well one finally exists.

Despite the few complaints & criticisms I have with bits of the game, I find it to be a very worthy offering and addition to my collection. I am really hoping that the game sells a good many copies and is successful, so the inevitable sequel cam be made... and perhaps a Chaos Space Marine game while they are at it, neh?
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0049: Opening Sequence very awesome...much different from Dawn of War. Much more cinematic.

0057: First objective complete...as much carnage as you would expect and a nice "Space Marine" introduction.

0108: Its amazing at how much is going on...cannons firing, ships crashing, buildings crumbling around you. The immersion factor is spot on.

0128: I can't get enough...you actually feel like you're in a war zone. The only thing I can see as a bit of a down side is there isn't much room to explore. You're more or less forced through corridors, but the action is more than enough to get your mind off of it.

0211: action packed still...just got done bringing down the thunder from above. If you played the demo, you'll know what Im talking about.

0240: Mission complete. With my final update for the night, I have to say Im rather impressed with Relics foray into the 3rd person shooter genre. There are some things that use a bit of work, but overall, I see sequel in the distant future!
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As a part of the pre-launch hype for Space Marine, a video (mostly audio) has been uploaded to YouTube as a preview of the official soundtrack and music for the game. As the aural experience is often considered as important by some as the graphical elements of the game, it is very nice that a preview of this sort was released. You can listen to the sample below.


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The second video of the Space Marine Insider Series has finally been uploaded. Here is the official one straight from the Space Marine YouTube account.



If you have not seen the first video of the series, I have included a copy below.


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