- Tested on PC with a RTX 4070 TI in 3440 X 1440 ultra wide screen or 3840 x 2160 on 4K HDR video projector.
- Codes transmitted by the publisher.
- Campaign finished in ten hours in veteran mode (level 3 of 4) with this good old Benoist, historical partner of cutting monsters since Gears (2006) !
- Gameplay captures and home screen.
- Did the Tyranids dethrone the lobuses at the sashimi contest?
Five years already separate us from Gears of War 5, a lazy game that struggles to revive the flame of the original trilogy. Faced with the collapse of a license that revolutionized the GST, Saber Interactive flaired. The people are in need of Locusts, give him Tyranids! Clearly inspired by the testosterone universe of the Warhammer 40,000, the saga of this good old Cliff Bleszinski is today being sent back the elevator! What if the last born of Saber Interactive overthrew the TPS king?
Our strong video review!
The rescued Saber
If Space Marine 1 had some niche success in 2011, especially among fans of the universe WarhammerIt will take almost fifteen years to play after him. It should be noted that Saber Interactive Come back from afar. Far away. The American developer regained its independence this year after being briefly owned byEmbrace Group. Small reminder bite for those who land in the fantastic video game market. A veritable general outcry that marked the year 2023, Embracer had had to cancel about fifteen games in development after having separated from Gearbox Software, transferred to Take Two Interactive for $460 million, and Saber Interactive who regained his independence. A well-known pattern of the middle in recent years with publishers who have eyes bigger than the belly, buy massive IPs and studios then end up folding luggage leaving on the tile devs dispossessed of their jobs.
We therefore particularly enjoy the game today and the intelligence of Focus Entertainment, its new publisher, who has been able to give the teams the time to complete their project. With Benoist, we had played for the first time Space Marine 2 at Gamescom 2023 where we interviewed Oliver Hollis-Leick, creative director of the title (even our Interview). If the game had seduced us, his technical condition had troubled us a few weeks from the announced release. We still remember the PR which supported us mordicus that it was the machines in the living room that derailed and not the building.
Fortunately, the one-year delay allows us today to enjoy a technically impeccable game. Not a framerate jump to see and no bugs to report, where other games like Cyberpunk (read our critical) didn't get that chance when they got out. Remember that a postponement is always beneficial for the finished product as well as to avoid letting the crunch eat the teams. Our homemade catch attests to this, the game is beautiful! Space Marine 2 can stage his universe. In the distance, we sometimes see thousands of Tyranides melt on us as one living organism. We feel that Saber made his guns with World War Z (2019), TPS noticed for its endless zombie waves and its physical motor « Liquid ». Around us, other marines are watching us with laser rays as we throw ourselves into the fray. Question ambiance, Saber put the package to fill us with mirettes. Even in the sky you can see clouds of monsters flirting like starlings, the bucolic side less.
Special mention also concerning the sound atmosphere and a composition of 29 tracks that would not deny Dune (read our folder). We owe this OST inspired by the work of Nima Fakhrara (Detroit: Come Human · Global Voices, Resident Evil : Revelations 2) and Steve Molitz (World War Z, Evil Dead : The Game). As at Zimmer and Villeneuve, there is a strong component of drums, brass and choruses of men to transcribe the religious and tribal atmosphere of Kadaku and Avarax. Fakhrara recorded and sampled hundreds of war drums that were then multiplied to give the illusion of thousands of batteries while Molitza worked the supernatural resonances to the harp and strings.
Feasts and Men
Question gameplay, if Gears was fond of body to body, Space Marine 2 Go even further. The game largely encourages mingle with a tear gauge system that goes up by eliminating enemies in a short period of time after collecting damage or completing the toughest Tyranids. A parade system allows the big heaviards to be stunned or to eliminate the cargo menu. It's always gloomy when, in the middle of the battle, you grab a xeno to scratch the ground or cut it in half. Once the biggest enemies have lost balance, one can simply press the trigger to make a « Gun Strike critical » with classic animation! Finally, a special power gradually recharges to do more damage and regain life. Unlike Gears, it is not possible to get covered and it is so much better. One Space Marine Don't step back in front of anything; Not even death for the Emperor!
All this gives a happy brothel and generous hemoglobins on screen! Aware of the possible lack of readability, the developers opted for color indications: a blue circle for the attacks to be set, and red for those to be avoided. Fortunately it is possible to disable all the highlighted options and other overprints of the HUD for lovers of the style experience « naked ass with my knife » Hey! If the gameplay does effect in terms of sensations and show, it remains a great show not very subtle, even in hard. It remains to be seen what it is for the last level of difficulty that we have not yet tried.
It will be regretted that the first levels adopt such brown hues and a little contrast would not have been a refusal even if the battlefield gave a pictorial effect of all beauty. In addition to the body-to-body and its variants with energy sword, chainsaw or other joyous, Space Marine 2 offers an efficient and varied heavy arsenal even if visually the weapons tend to look alike. If you're not in the craziest originality on this side, the game is always pleasant in hand, especially with the DualSense and its unrivalled vibrations. Add to this several types of grenades and you have enough to do a nice butcher shop!
A Tyranid Apericube?
The campaign ends in a mere ten hours, without major climax even if you are admitted that nothing has been understood in the scenario. Except to consider that you have a PhD from the Imperium, the game uses and abuses the vocabulary proper to the franchise. And it's so much better for the fans of the license who should enjoy themselves, a little less for the incults than we are. It's not every day that we say it (and fortunately) but playing fachists in such an outrageous and overly virile universe has something regressive and deeply stupid. With these unstoppable swarms, the game also lurks on the side of Starship Troopers, less criticism. It's the same as Wolfenstein But on the wrong side this time, even if we always prefer the Nazi's occire! It is difficult to really read the issues of history for the novice. The narration is no longer classic and the return journeys between the base and the battlefield with the traditional passage through the elevator do not overflow with originality. There is still a long way to go to tell a story worthy of that name.
It is also impossible not to talk about the level design, a large subscriber absent. Don't look for any fun inspiration, the game makes no effort on this side and it's a shame. Fortunately some levels bring a little verticality with the jetpack that allows us to melt on our enemies! However, this lack of depth never causes us to suffer from fatigue due to the low life span of the campaign. It is sometimes preferable to be aware of its faults rather than unnecessarily extend its life. The bosses stay nice, especially the sauce. Predator (read our technical testBut nothing memorable. Unfortunately, the bestiary does not encourage a change of approach. Zying heretics or Tyranids does not fundamentally change the situation. In addition, to give a little salt to its history, Space Marine 2 can boast of having splendid CGIs. A retro artistic choice that cuts the levels too much in terms of the kinematics at the motor of the game, a standard resolutely more modern, even if the fans should once again be angels.
Simple. Basic.
If you had to compare the game to its model, Gears showed more originality in its level design as its situations, even if it is not the same budget. Even though Microsoft still drowns the fish when it comes to talking about big money, the CEO of Epic had slipped in an interview that Gears of War Judgment (2013) had a development that would have cost $60 million for 100 million announced revenues. The budget of the fifth opus, however, remains unknown to the battalion... Good news for the suitor as the king of the GST, Space Marine 2, he, achieved the best start in the history of the games Warhammer, and Saber's title has crossed the line of 2 million sales in just 24 hours and... 4.5 million players since mid-October! A success achieved while the game would have benefited from a budget twice as small as that of the illustrious Doom Eternal.
Anyway, friends of numbers, Space Marine 2 became the most played Warhammer video game on Steam, dethroning Total War: Warhammer 3 and its peak of 166,754 simultaneous players. No doubt this should give Saber ideas for his third opus! In any case, one thing is certain, we need editors like Focus that allow triple I games to exist to oppose triple A games often terribly fads. Space Marine 2 add to the long list of original games stamped Focus: Banishers, Atlas Fallen, Aliens Dark Descent, Atomic Heart, A Plague Tale, Evil West, Chants of Senaar, The Surge 2, Dordogne And many more.
With its PVP and PVE modes that allow to replay battles between friends with a friendly class system, Space Marine 2 should give food to franchise lovers. For the time being, the choice of classes and their abilities seemed to be under-exploited mainly from a long-term perspective. Only the future will tell us whether the content will be renewed with season 2 already announced in a band by the end of the year. In this new trailer, the studio evokes a mode of Death Difficulty and « Operation PVE Termination, where players will face the terrifying Bio-Titan Hierophante, one of the biggest threats of the Tyranide hive ». We wouldn't be completely surprised that Saber is trying to draw inspiration from the formula. Helldivers 2 (read our critical). Wait and see as it is said in the middle because for the hour the content remains a little chicky for 70 euros full pot.
Warhammer trailer 40,000: Space Marine 2
TPS enders and fans of action games, rejoice, Warhammer 40,000 is a very good stock respectful of the universe of the saga. While Saber's title has not yet won the war against the mastodon Gears, he won a first battle by instilling a fresh wind into a disherent genre. Dynamic and fun, the game enjoys friendly ideas scattered in an expeditious campaign that we travel without time dead up to three players. A treat even if we'd love to have split screen! In many ways, Space Marine 2 benefits from the lack of competitors. Where the Gears clones were legion in the 2006s, playing a multi-GST of this acabit and in this type of universe became rare almost twenty years later, something to revive distant memories of the troubled parties. Not very subtle but incredibly spectacular, the game is full of its eyes despite a reduced content at the launch and which we hope to increase regularly to honour its community of players loyal to the Emperor. Saber can saber champagne as a result of the success of the game and we only have to hope that these benefits will be used for a third more ambitious album in terms of depth and writing. After a fifth half-tone opus, are the days of Gears of War counted?
For
- Beautiful artistic direction
- Graphics licked
- Excellent tribal OST
- CGI Good bill
- Careful staging
- Simple and visceral gameplay
- Fluidity of the character
- Muscle and greying body-to-body
- Respect for fans
- DualSense vibrations
- The multi to three mode
- Impressive enemy swarms
- The hammer and the jetpack!
- HUD à la carte
Against
- Lack of variety
- Weak service life for inflated prices
- Underexploited gameplay
- Level design poor
- Anciently invisible walls
- No split screen!
- Return to mother ship
- Slipper Narration
- Limited secondary modes at the moment
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