Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine preview

Hands-on time with Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine yields some early impressions.

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The simple fact that Relic is making another game in the 40K universe should be enough to pique many fans' interest. The real twist, however, is that they're branching off from the series' traditional videogame adaptation as a real time strategy game. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine puts players squarely in the seven-foot, thousand-pound boots of Captain Titus. The heroic Space Marine is described as a heavily-armored badass who is "humanity's last hope for survival in a dark future that knows only war." I recently had a chance to play through an early build featuring four levels pulled from different parts of the game's main campaign.

The look of Space Marine will be immediately identifiable to those familiar with the 40K universe. Massive, war-torn Gothic architecture takes on a sense of scale not fully realized in previous games in the Warhammer universe. Trademark weapons and armor are instantly recognizable to fans. It's clearly a Warhammer 40K game, and the fan-favorite pastime of sawing Orks in half translates quite well to a third-person perspective.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is a third-person shooter; however, whereas most shooters these days are geared towards mid to long-range combat, Space Marine takes a short to mid-range approach. Battles are violent, bloody, and chaotic, and players will regularly find themselves fluidly switching between melee and ranged attacks as each battle unfolds. Brutal finishing moves and power-charged Fury attacks are supplemented by the ability to charge headlong into battle and send enemies flying. Of the game's fifteen weapons, only a semi-automatic, cover-piercing weapon called the Stalker Pattern Bolter, is scoped. Snipers need not apply.

Health and armor in Space Marine is of the recharging variety - with a twist. Players can still retreat from the line of fire to regenerate their protective layers, but since Space Marines aren't known for retreating and hiding, the armor and health meters can be similarly refilled by unleashing deadly finishers on nearby enemies. The result is a system that encourages you to dive deeper into a battle, rather than flee.

Another refreshing aspect of Space Marine is its lack of the ubiquitous cover system used by many modern shooters. After all, the notion of seven-foot warriors in one-ton armor hiding behind stuff is kind of ridiculous. In practical terms, this also means that players are almost constantly on the move while in combat.

Most of the enemies present in the demo were of the Space Ork-variety - though they came in all shapes and sizes, some armed or armored more heavily than others. Heavy shield-carrying "Ard Boy" Orks were best dispatched at close range, as were the swarms of tiny Gretchin Orks and slightly larger Melee Boys. Of course, the large Orkish Warbosses proved a good bit tougher to take down.

One of the levels also showed off a couple of units from the Chaos faction - former Space Marines and Imperial Guard soldiers driven mad by the Chaos Gods. Tainted Psykers hovered over the battlefield, spawning Bloodletter Daemons that would warp into close range before attacking. Tactics for fighting the Orks was quite different from fighting the minions of Chaos - a good sign of variety.

Though I only sampled four missions and confronted twelve of the game's twenty-six enemy types, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine already seems like it does an effective job of translating ballets of bolters and chainswords into the realm of a third-person shooter. Based on my time with the game, I'm cautiously optimistic about Space Marine's potential to deliver a successful Warhammer 40K game that is far more about action than strategy.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    April 20, 2011 5:00 PM

    Comment on Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine preview, by Jeff Mattas.

    • reply
      April 20, 2011 5:01 PM

      ATTN Khan.

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      April 20, 2011 5:08 PM

      Yesssss I want this game right now Relic

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      April 20, 2011 5:11 PM

      When does this come out?

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      April 20, 2011 5:13 PM

      Not as gushing as I was expecting but still sounding good

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      April 20, 2011 5:17 PM

      So excited for this.

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      April 20, 2011 5:20 PM

      For the Emperor!!!! Die greenskins.

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      April 20, 2011 5:49 PM

      UUUUNNNNNNFFFFFF

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      April 20, 2011 6:08 PM

      [deleted]

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      April 20, 2011 6:27 PM

      Man did they nail the art style and look of WH40K. Art team deserves a raise. All WH40K games need to use this as their benchmark.

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      April 20, 2011 6:29 PM

      I'm looking forward to this game in the worst way.

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      April 20, 2011 6:47 PM

      GOTY 2011.

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      April 20, 2011 6:49 PM

      take my coin!

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      April 20, 2011 6:50 PM

      I love the Warhammer universe, but man those guys just screamed DORK!
      btw, the game looks good!

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      April 20, 2011 7:41 PM

      Gears of Warhammer. Just kidding, that game looks awesome, can't wait.

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      April 20, 2011 8:09 PM

      OH MY GOD

      I can't wait for this game I can't wait for this game I can't wait for this game I can't wait for this game I can't wait for this game I can't wait for this game I can't wait for this game I can't wait for this game I can't wait for this game I can't wait for this game I can't wait for this game I can't wait for this game I can't wait for this game I can't wait for this game

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      April 20, 2011 8:14 PM

      this looks really really good and i can't say i give a sweet fuck about the warhammer universe - so there's that!

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      April 20, 2011 8:30 PM

      But...why only cautiously optimistic?

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        April 20, 2011 10:00 PM

        THQ is a potential machine. Unfortunately they confuse the meaning of execution, and kill the potential of projects.

        They use a venture capital style of funding and we all know how that went with the internet bubble. So a group of marketing, movie, and lawyer guys all sit around in California and let their studio operate "independently", and when they do show up they think as marketers, movie execs, and lawyers. And if by some magical chance someone who knows gameplay reviews the projects it is already too late and has become about squeezing out a ROI.

        Beware the demo-less game developer/publisher. Remember way back when you would get a taste of the actual first quarter of the game? If a modern developer/publisher can’t release a special polished portion of the game as a demo just imagine how bad it is, oh and unfinished since they don't have the time to make the demo you know they are rushing it.

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          April 20, 2011 11:38 PM

          Every 40K game they have made has been great. I'm not worried.

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            April 21, 2011 5:57 AM

            more like every relic made 40k game has been great

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              April 21, 2011 10:10 AM

              ...that's what he said, who did you think he meant by 'they'?

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      April 20, 2011 8:35 PM

      Yes please!

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      April 20, 2011 8:45 PM

      I wonder what the german version will look like without blood? Heh...

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      April 20, 2011 8:49 PM

      OH MY GOD! *SPLLOOOOOOGGGEEEEE*

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      April 20, 2011 11:06 PM

      Glory for the God Emperor. Can't wait.

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      April 20, 2011 11:25 PM

      [deleted]

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      April 20, 2011 11:31 PM

      I know it doesn't make sense to have emphasis on cover, but it was a pretty big element in Dawn of War...

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        April 20, 2011 11:36 PM

        It's a big element in almost any RTS. Most times people drop buildings to be used as such. Since this is a third person action game I'm really glad they yanked that sticky-ball cover system everyone uses.

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        April 20, 2011 11:48 PM

        IIRC, Line Of Sight was a HUGE DEAL in Warhammer Tabletop.

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      April 21, 2011 12:28 AM

      Can't wait to get this. I'm so glad they decided to release for PC. Most WH40K fans that I know prefer PC anyways so we'll have a blast with the coop.

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      April 21, 2011 12:28 AM

      Can't wait to get this. I'm so glad they decided to release for PC. Most WH40K fans that I know prefer PC anyways so we'll have a blast with the coop.

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      April 21, 2011 3:30 AM

      please dont suck.please dont suck.please dont suck.please dont suck.please dont suck.please dont suck.please dont suck.please dont suck.please dont suck.please dont suck.please dont suck.please dont suck.

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        April 21, 2011 7:57 AM

        I honestly don't care if it sucks as long as the space marine shouts incredibly earnest phrases about the god-emperor and xenos scum for the entire game.

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      April 21, 2011 6:16 AM

      Again, I say, Relic is going in the wrong direction in terms of scale. We've gone from dozens of units to squads to controlling a single unit. Next thing you know we'll be controlling a mechanical arm on a crippled Marine.

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        April 21, 2011 6:24 AM

        What?

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        April 21, 2011 6:26 AM

        what? its a 3rd person action game

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          April 21, 2011 6:28 AM

          With their WH40K games in general, I mean. We should be controlling hundreds of units at a time!

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            April 21, 2011 6:33 AM

            So if they were to multiple the standard # of people in any unit in Dawn of War x100 that would make you happy?
            The end result would be the same. At the same time, people have enough trouble controlling a hand full of units... hundreds would be a nightmare.

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              April 21, 2011 6:53 AM

              You'd have to change other elements of the game, of course. The result would probably be something closer to Shogun 2.

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            April 21, 2011 7:27 AM

            You mean like Brutal Legend? Oh wait, people hated it.

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              April 21, 2011 7:47 AM

              No, not like Brutal Legend. You didn't even control that many units at a time, that was more like Dawn of War 2 in terms of scale, if anything.

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            April 21, 2011 10:09 PM

            This isn't Epic 40k.

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        April 21, 2011 6:29 AM

        [deleted]

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          April 21, 2011 9:29 AM

          A couple of the levels I played had me fighting alongside a couple of other Space Marines, but you can't control them directly or issue orders to them.

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        April 21, 2011 9:03 AM

        Do you have a daily shit post quota or what?

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          April 21, 2011 9:25 AM

          For crying out loud, it's not like I'm saying Space Marine will be bad, I just want to see a large-scale WH40K game on a computer. It's been over a decade since that was last attempted. Please don't antagonize me because my posts scar you somehow.

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        April 21, 2011 9:05 AM

        QQ

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        April 21, 2011 9:26 AM

        trollolol

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        April 21, 2011 9:44 AM

        I agree with you to a certain extent. Before the hate train starts, let me state for the record that I am thrilled with what Space Marine looks like its turning out to be. I will be purchasing it, and I have enjoyed all of the Relic 40K games so far. Hell, Dawn of War is what first introduced me to WH40K, and now I've read more than a dozen of the books (good stuff!)

        However, I see what LS is saying. 40K is about war on a truly massive scale, like nothing else seen in pretty much any other fiction (at least none I can think of). Entire planets are destroyed, leaving nothing but a footnote in this war that is going on. I would love to see Relic step back with their next 40K outing (after Space Marine) and make a game that at least attempts to convey some of that sense of scale. I want a game something like Supreme Commander, where you have a huge sense of scale, where the armies number in the thousands, and where you can have units of all variety, from the individual Space Marine/Imperial Guardsman all the way up to the walking-mountain-like Titans. THAT would be a truly epic 40K game.

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          April 21, 2011 10:00 AM

          You say this like no one knows what he means. He's complaining is like me complaining Quake Wars isn't like Quakeworld.

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            April 21, 2011 10:06 AM

            I say this like I think the reactions he's gotten are overblown and ridiculous, as he has a point. He didn't say he thought Space Marine would be bad, he just said he'd like to see the scale taken in the other direction. Nothing wrong with that.

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        April 21, 2011 10:16 AM

        Controlling a single space marine is like controlling an entire armored tank division.

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      April 21, 2011 7:05 AM

      [deleted]

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      April 21, 2011 7:10 AM

      [deleted]

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      April 21, 2011 7:59 AM

      Another refreshing aspect of Space Marine is its lack of the ubiquitous cover system used by many modern shooters. After all, the notion of seven-foot warriors in one-ton armor hiding behind stuff is kind of ridiculous. In practical terms, this also means that players are almost constantly on the move while in combat.

      yessssss

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      April 21, 2011 9:13 AM

      Yes please. Give now!

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      April 21, 2011 10:13 AM

      DEATH TO THE HERETICS!

      FOR THE EMPEROR!

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      April 21, 2011 10:35 AM

      OH MAH GAH! Imagine Left 4 Dead style coop!

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