One of the world’s most popular tabletop games and an icon of British science fiction, Warhammer 40,000 has made its imperious return to fully-fledged triple-A gaming. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II continues the story of Captain Titus from the original game released in 2011, but now, instead of needing to rip through waves and waves of Orks, Titus is remade and on a quest of redemption against the swarming Tyranids.
Even with its classic all-action over-the-shoulder shooter gameplay, Space Marine II is an incredibly novel story thanks to its setting and how well the developers, Saber Interactive, have drawn from the source material.
Over 45 years old and still unique
Even with the propensity of science fiction in entertainment media, as well as the obsession with seasoned IPs, there’s nothing quite like the grim darkness of the far future. We’ve had a lot of zombie games and fully outer-space games, but none with swarms of alien hordes intent on destroying a hugely human-colonized existence of space where mankind faces Xenos (alien) and chaotic threats.
For the most part, the 40K brand has focussed on tabletop gaming and novels, but now the IP seems to be awakening in other sectors. It’s such a unique, well-realized, and recognizable setting that it’s begging to be tapped into. After all, among the slots joining the online casino jackpot collection, IPs like UFC, WWE, Deadliest Catch, Jurassic Park, and even The Lost Boys have been tapped into for the fast-moving form of gaming.
Now, there’s a sense that Space Marine II and its rapid success is just the start. It taps into the nostalgia of the entertaining first installment, but realizes the world in a much more extreme way thanks to the technology available to modern developers. There’s also news of a new TV series on Prime Video – but given their treatment of Middle-earth and Wheel of Time, 40K fans shouldn’t hold their collective breath.
Wildly successful even before its full launch
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II had a staggered launch, with the higher tiers of pre-order offering a few earlier days of play. Those who bought into these tiers were enough to propel the game to second on Steam’s concurrent players rankings within 12 hours of release.
Immediately, it broke into the top 15 of 2024 releases on Steam. Plus, it didn’t just launch into early access on Steam, being available on PlayStation and Xbox.
A big part of its appeal is its novelty despite the IP recognition. There have been many 40K games over the last 15 years or so. Most are smaller real-time strategies, but larger, more modern experiences have been sprinkled in here and there. For gaming, though, nothing creates quite the attraction as being able to play as a Space Marine. They are the brand ambassadors, as it were, for 40K.
Hulking great warriors bio-engineered to protect the massive reach of the Imperium and conquer more and more systems. They’re there to eliminate any and all threats – of which, there are many – making them the perfect playable characters for an action romp. The game itself relays the power of these soldiers. The pound of the guns and explosive finishers very much relay the Space Marine experience, as do the small-team multiplayer missions.
Very well-known for their continued commitment to World War Z: Aftermath, Saber Interactive has kept true to form with an extensive post-launch roadmap of expansions and extra content for players. Right now, there’s a good 12 hours of single-player campaign that can be replayed in multiplayer alongside its other multiplayer modes, but what fans really have their eyes on is the Season 4 Horde Mode release.
Space Marine II has landed as well as Games Workshop and Saber Interactive could have hoped, earning a huge player base and strong reviews based on its very enjoyable gameplay. It puts 40K back among top-tier entertainment products and, hopefully, is the first of many such high-quality ventures to come.
