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Review of Space Marine (A proper one this time)
14 years ago
Alright, I'd better start of by saying that I am a huge Warhammer 40,000 fanboy; I will relentlessly squee over nearly everything Games Workshop crams down my throat. I just wanted to get that out so you know I'm likely to be biased.
I'll try to evaluate the game without delving into fanboy-ism first, and then move onto how it measures up against the source material.
It seems that fears that this game would be another Gears of War clone are largely unfounded. Yes there is plenty of third-person over-the-shoulder shooting, but the focus is primarily in brutal close combat. There is nothing better than seeing your blue coloured protagonist leaping gracefully about the battlefield slaughtering gleefully with a big chainsaw. The combat is fast and visceral and thoroughly entertaining, and requires more thought than just mashing buttons; the Orks assault in large waves and the trick is in prioritising the deadlier elements of the mob, timing the health-regenerating execution moves, and being peppered at by long range weapons. Chaos Marines are less fun, however, as traitor guardsmen are more content to whittle away your shield and health from a distance and Chaos Marines require quite a bit of tedious softening up. All in all though the gameplay is entertaining enough to keep you hooked.
There is a big problem though, and it comes about when the Chaos Marines start to enter into the game. The designers wanted players to avoid using cover, and so they should; a Space Marine is encased in nearly impenetrable power armour, in the tabletop game their armour save is better than (most) cover saves (basically meaning hiding behind their armour is more effective than hiding behind a brick wall). For the most part they succeeded; there is only one way to regain health in this game and it is to use the wonderfully violent execution moves in close combat. However, for much of the last act I found it safe to hide behind a nice piece of indestructible scenery and occasionally pop out to take pot shots at the enemy. Of course, it might just be that I suck.
As for the environments, they are a little dull and grey at times, though to be fair the setting is a planet-wide factory that produces skyscraper sized mechs so we can't really expect flowers and sunshine. Still, it doesn't lapse into the monotone prevalent in many shooters and action games today; the main character is bright blue and pimped out with enough gold to buy France for starters. Despite the greyness of the surroundings they are still impressive, giving a strong sense of the sheer scale evoked in Warhammer 40,000.
Speaking of Warhammer 40,000; the game exudes the look and feel of the setting perfectly. Indeed playing it looks like the evocative artwork found in rulebooks and codices come to life. Granted there are minor flaws in its adherence to the background fluff (Khorne sorcerers, tsk), but it's certainly not on the level of Soulstorm. I feared that the fact that it featured the Smurfmarines would count against it, but it doesn't; these are not the Mary Sues featured in the glorified fanfic that is the current Space Marine Codex, but rather the Ultramarines here are a damn sight more fleshed out than what we have come to expect.
In conclusion, it's a very good game and should be readily accessible to those unfamiliar with the source material. At times it can get a little repetitive and the final boss battle is just an extended button mashing quick time event, but I think the brutal and rewarding combat system, and more personally the good adherence to the source material, more than makes up for the flaws.
Oh, and I haven't touched the multiplayer because my internet connection doesn't seem to like it much.
I'll try to evaluate the game without delving into fanboy-ism first, and then move onto how it measures up against the source material.
It seems that fears that this game would be another Gears of War clone are largely unfounded. Yes there is plenty of third-person over-the-shoulder shooting, but the focus is primarily in brutal close combat. There is nothing better than seeing your blue coloured protagonist leaping gracefully about the battlefield slaughtering gleefully with a big chainsaw. The combat is fast and visceral and thoroughly entertaining, and requires more thought than just mashing buttons; the Orks assault in large waves and the trick is in prioritising the deadlier elements of the mob, timing the health-regenerating execution moves, and being peppered at by long range weapons. Chaos Marines are less fun, however, as traitor guardsmen are more content to whittle away your shield and health from a distance and Chaos Marines require quite a bit of tedious softening up. All in all though the gameplay is entertaining enough to keep you hooked.
There is a big problem though, and it comes about when the Chaos Marines start to enter into the game. The designers wanted players to avoid using cover, and so they should; a Space Marine is encased in nearly impenetrable power armour, in the tabletop game their armour save is better than (most) cover saves (basically meaning hiding behind their armour is more effective than hiding behind a brick wall). For the most part they succeeded; there is only one way to regain health in this game and it is to use the wonderfully violent execution moves in close combat. However, for much of the last act I found it safe to hide behind a nice piece of indestructible scenery and occasionally pop out to take pot shots at the enemy. Of course, it might just be that I suck.
As for the environments, they are a little dull and grey at times, though to be fair the setting is a planet-wide factory that produces skyscraper sized mechs so we can't really expect flowers and sunshine. Still, it doesn't lapse into the monotone prevalent in many shooters and action games today; the main character is bright blue and pimped out with enough gold to buy France for starters. Despite the greyness of the surroundings they are still impressive, giving a strong sense of the sheer scale evoked in Warhammer 40,000.
Speaking of Warhammer 40,000; the game exudes the look and feel of the setting perfectly. Indeed playing it looks like the evocative artwork found in rulebooks and codices come to life. Granted there are minor flaws in its adherence to the background fluff (Khorne sorcerers, tsk), but it's certainly not on the level of Soulstorm. I feared that the fact that it featured the Smurfmarines would count against it, but it doesn't; these are not the Mary Sues featured in the glorified fanfic that is the current Space Marine Codex, but rather the Ultramarines here are a damn sight more fleshed out than what we have come to expect.
In conclusion, it's a very good game and should be readily accessible to those unfamiliar with the source material. At times it can get a little repetitive and the final boss battle is just an extended button mashing quick time event, but I think the brutal and rewarding combat system, and more personally the good adherence to the source material, more than makes up for the flaws.
Oh, and I haven't touched the multiplayer because my internet connection doesn't seem to like it much.
