I’ve always been wary of people who say about a game “It’s better when you play it in co-op” because virtually every activity is improved by the presence of friends. Cleaning the sink is more fun when you’ve got one to three pals monkeying around in the kitchen with you, tossing you extra sponge-scourers and reviving you when you faint because of the you just pulled out of the plughole.
Space Marine 2 reviewDeveloper: Saber InteractivePublisher: Focus EntertainmentPlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out 9th September on PC (Steam, Epic), PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Space Marine 2, however, really is better in coop, and not just because your mate Dan keeps making jokes about ‘Krak grenades’ being the product of eating too many beans. Not only is its campaign elevated with the presence of player companions, Space Marine 2’s real heart lies in what comes after the story has finished – its chaotic, class-based, Left 4 Dead style Operations.
None of which is to suggest Space Marine 2 is a bad time in single-player. Saber Interactive’s campaign does a perfectly preposterous job in following up Relic’s quintessential 7/10. The story once more revolves around the Ultramarine Titus, who has been demoted to a Lieutenant in the big blue brotherhood following accusations of heresy in the original. The introductory mission prefaces all this in a fun way that I won’t spoil, but ultimately Titus winds up leading a new squad of marines in a large-scale operation to rid a trio of Imperial planets from a Tyranid infestation.
And when I say “large-scale”, holy Omnissiah, Space Marine 2 knows how to put on a show. Its linear campaign takes you through gigantic gothic Hive Cities being pummelled by Tyranid spores, vast, churned battlefields crisscrossed by lasgun fire, and sprawling Imperial fortresses that house cathedral-sized artillery guns. It’s a gloriously extravagant depiction of the 40k universe, and also a game that feels genuinely next-generational in its presentation.
One of the major separating factors here is the busyness of the screen; the skies are constantly filled with whirling flocks of avian Tyranids, while encounters with later game enemies display some of the snazziest particle effects you’ll see outside of CERN. The standout trick, however, is Space Marine 2’s vast, boiling Tyranid swarms. The game loves to show you them flooding toward you out of the backdrop, or pouring from a spore-missile that landed smack in the middle of the battlefield.