Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine: Empowering, violent, visceral and epic.
Thankfully W40: Space Marine didn't disappoint. The game is empowering and strangely immersive for a linear action game. SM is faithful to the W40k world and it's really exciting to see such a terrifying and awe inspiring reality brought to life.
The combat is intense and (almost) nonstop, not to mention extremely satisfying. You will spend most of your time hacking and slashing through Orks and the forces of Chaos. You carry one melee weapon and four ranged weapons. The variety of weaponry is fun to play with and keeps the game from getting boring.
In a way, I wish Gears of War wouldn't even be talked about in comparison to Space Marine, because they really have very little in common. Gears is primarily a shooter and operates with a cover system, whereas Space Marine primarily a hack and slasher. In Space Marine everything is made to be action forward; you don't hide--you rush in and destroy. For those that go into this with GOW on the brain you will find yourself deeply frustrated. You replenish your health by sawing/chopping enemies in half, you have very little need of a cover system here if you are playing the game the way it is meant to be played.
Periodically through the game you will be given a jetpack, which is pretty fun, but takes some getting used to after all the playing on the ground.
The game looks great and provides an excellent visual companion to the W40K tabletop games and books. The textures are nice and the scenery is really awe inspiring much of the time. The story has a battle-torn epic quality that doesn't let up. The occasional cutscenes help flesh out the universe and give some needed back-story to those unfamiliar with W40K.
One thing that turns me off from games of this type is all the back tracking and repetitiveness. Here you won't find such problems. I don't think I visited the same location twice.
Bottom Line:
Fans will love this game and initiates should find the experience visceral and exciting. One of the best linear games I've played in a long while.