The action game Warhammer 40K fans have been dreaming of is finally here, as sci-fi's toughest troopers try to prove
What the game definitely gets right is working as an introduction to the whole gloriously over the top universe, where everyone is mean and surly and the violence of war is all anyone seems to enjoy – even and especially the humans. The specifics of the plot are fairly low key though, with the Orks crashing a huge spaceship into a human Forge world in an apparent attempt to steal a new type of giant robot.
All that's stopping the million-strong army of 'greenskins' is the hilariously gruff Titus (voiced to perfection by an imperious Mark Strong) and his two squad-mates. To be honest though neither the story nor characters are very interesting – at least not to non-Warhammer fans. Although for once the idea of just a handful of people turning the tide of a whole war is made to seem almost plausible.
Compared even by the developer themselves to Gears Of War this does look and feel very similar (which is not entirely Space Marine's fault as Gears, and other games such as Starcraft, have always been heavily influenced by Warhammer's designs). There's no cover system though, with the Space Marine's thick armour meant to ensure they don't need it (which we're pretty sure was never the case in the tablet-top game but we'll let that slide).
With a chainsword in one hand and a bolter in the other the game certainly doesn't disappoint in terms of raw action. The weight and power of the armour is expertly conveyed through the movement and physics, and you really feel the heft of a thunder hammer cracking down on an ork's skull. Previously developer Relic has specialised only in strategy games (including Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War) but they've got an enormous amount right here in their first straight action game.
The problem is though that it's just too straight, literally in terms of the linearity of your progress but also figuratively in terms of the combat and enemies. It's all great fun for the first few hours but the amount of enemy variety is limited (only the Orks and Chaos Marines feature) and although there are now proper combos they never really encourage anything but mindless button mashing.