The absolute definition of a casual game.
Too many games in this generation use QuickTime action style kills (Batman Arkham Asylum epitomises this) and it really disconnects you from the game. But at least in Batman you can explore. Very little exploration here, very little to do other than slash and shoot. Most games this generation give you great scenery to move around in, but very, very little in the way of interaction (I don't have enough space to list all the games guilty of this). Suffice to say that Duke Nukem 3D and the Doom series of games back in the 90's made more of an effort to let you interact with the environment. Is the Unreal Engine that difficult to create a reasonably interactive environment? Quite possibly yes, just ask the creators of Doom 3. However the result was superb.
"But this is a shooter!" You cry. We don't need immersion. Yea? Where are the points? Score chains? Awards for special kills? Awards for headshots? Hi-score table so that you can try and beat your score on your next game? And when I talk about awards I am not talking about the wretched trophy system that pervades nearly every game to get our OCD in a twist. I'm talking score bonuses. Weapon drops. None of it is anywhere.
If this is supposed to be a shooter then how about having something arcane called "lives" and "points". If you lose your three lives - Game Over. Remember when games used that line? No, of course not, it's so generic, we don't use this line anymore. But hey, what am I talking about? This game is never over anyway! You just re-spawn when you die... almost exactly where and when you died in fact. Infinite lives at the get-go. Maybe, Just maybe you get an award for beating the game without ever having to re-spawn? Ha! That's a laugh. But maybe one you, dear readers, intrepid explorers of the over the shoulder shooter, are game enough to try. Get back to me on that won't you? Really, I want to know.
Games are now supposed to be "experiences" Not tests of skill. I mean, surely you can have a Hardcore mode, which features all the er, features above? Is that so much to ask from a shooter? Seriously is it?
So then, the plot, the plot will see me through? "It's Warhammer 40K - It's so cool!" you cry. Well, I was not raised on Games Workshop, or WH40K universe, so why should I care if a planet is attacked by Orks? My point here is that no effort was made to place me in the universe at all (Gow was also guilty of this). So I have to care about some cypher named Titus, because? Well, just because. At least Dead Space, derivative plot in tow, made an effort to (successfully) immerse me. At least GoW made you use tactics (successfully) in order to advance. Again Space Marine is left wanting.
Gamespot nailed the review, in words if not in rating. I was hoping the plot would at least give me a good ride, but the characters are not realised well at all and end up being meaningless bots strutting around the battlefield. Titus says lines of trite dialogue in a manly way, but we have little idea of his motivation. Or of anyone's for that mater. Like I said, it's an exercise in Nihilism.
"But this isn't a movie!" you cry again, helpless in your adoration of hype and iconography and perhaps of table top games of yore. I hear you, I know, but every AAA game wants to be a movie these days. To whit, The game opens with a movie like credit sequence, a bombastic score and a over the top opening action sequence, which in the denouement does not actually let you finish off the mission, you have to watch a cut scene. Mark Strong, the movie star, voices our insipid hero. Hint Hint Hint.
Warhammer 40k : Space Marine is a shameful video game, simply because there is very little actual game here. The best things about it is the fantastic game engine - made by Epic, and the fantastic art design - by Games Workshop. What exactly did you do Relic? The actual game design is generic, lacking flair. It's like a committee sat down to make sure all the boxes for a shooter were ticked. Lots of blood and gore, Check. Great graphics, Check, Great art, check. Big bombastic soundtrack, check. Make sure there is one thing different to make it, you know, stand out from the crowd... No cover system! Check. AAA my left nut, This is the very definition of a casual game. Only less fun.