Warhammer 40K: Space Marine

Warhammer 40K has been around for over two decades.

I have to say, this game has really brought the power of the Space Marines sharply into focus.

You play the role of Captain Titus of the Ultramarines. A biologically and technologically enhanced and forged warrior. You have literally been fused into a suit of armor and given redundant organs to deal with wounds received in battle.

The game itself doesn't go into too much depth on the factions at play in the universe of Warhammer 40k. So a brief summation is that you are a space marine in the Imperium of Man's legion. You have come to a world under siege by the Orks (a green skinned race of violent scavengers, whose sole driving force is war and looting of planets.). In true over the top cinematic fashion, you hurl yourself directly into the fight from sub orbit and land on one of the Ork ships. Disable it, and then ride the falling ship to the surface.

You've come to secure technology located on the planet before the Orks can plunder and destroy it.

You and your small team of Ultramarines will forge a path of death and destruction through the millions of Orks between you and your objectives. Cutting them down with brutal efficiency, either with your physical strength and weapons, or a variety of ranged weapons.

Those familiar with games like Gears of War will find that the shooting mechanics are similar, except for one distinct difference. There is no Cover system as found in Gears or other games of late. You are an Ultramarine, a walking tank. You don't hide behind cover or cower in fear from your enemies. You literally wade through their bodies and gain strength(and health) from their bloody executions. There is no health packs, no regen stations. The only way to regain lost health from combat is.....more combat.

Now this honestly works well and also poorly at the same time. You learn early on that sometimes you need to retreat and find a lone enemy to kill, because the flaw in this health regen mechanic is that being surrounded by enemies and trying to execute one is that the rest of your enemies continue to attack you. Should they remove the remainder of your health before you finish your execution move, you still die. Also doing an execution makes you a prime target for grenades and other explosives that you then cannot move away from or dodge. This has caused me to reload from previous check points many times during my play through.

Aside from this one flaw in the design, I had a ton of fun with the game. The story keeps a quick narrative that doesn't leave you wondering whats going on or lost in a maze of Orks before bringing your objective back into focus with quick radio transmissions or very short cut scenes with enough information to get you moving again.

The story takes a quick twist early on, diverting you from your main objective of securing the Titan class war machines being manufactured on the planet, to a secret research facility and its tempermental head, named Inquisitor Drogan. He has developed a device that produces immense power, and must not fall into the hands of the Orks, who would likely unwittingly try to open it, causing an explosion that would destroy the planet itself.

The combat keeps itself fresh for the first half of the game. slowly adding new melee weapons and new ranged weapons to give you alot of choices in how you want to best deal death to the millions of green Orks. The Orks have a mild variety themselves. Basic grunts, snipers, grenade throwers, suicide dog-like animals with bombs strapped to them, and much larger elite units that must be beaten down before you can execute them. These can also be a bit frustrating. They always seem to get that lucky hit that takes you down to a sliver of life.

The best way to deal with them is taking advantage of the Fury system that is given to you early on. As you kill your enemies a meter fills with energy, once full you can unleash your Fury causing immense damage with all your attacks and refilling your health meter. Using it often is your best bet on survival against the waves of enemies that come at you.

It's been a while since I've enjoyed a good beat'em up game like this that wasn't using tired old mechanics and millions of enemies (ala Dynasty Warriors genre). It offers a fresh use of terrain, weapons, and combat systems that takes modern game ideas and turns them on their head or just outright removes them. Giving us a game that's quite fresh and a lot of fun.

Score: 8/10