Yesterday, Nic took James and I on a tour of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 's co-op campaign. A merry old time was had, romping through fortress cities like a small herd of crusader buffalo, using the game's absurd jetpack functionality to pancake invading Tyranids, and getting our screens so slathered in gore we couldn't work out who was killing what. It looks like the gargantuan action game's PvP multiplayer will be even messier.
Saber and Focus Home have released an extended trailer that walks you through two major modes - the PvE boss and wave-slaying frenzy of Operations, and the 12-player PvP carnage of Eternal War, which spans a range of match types. The ecstasy of dying for the Emperor aside, both give me frightful flashbacks to the early days of Gears Of War. Each multiplayer mode gives you six upgradeable and fairly self-explanatory classes - Tactical, Assault, Vanguard, Bulwark, Sniper and Heavy.
Class abilities include a camo cloak and a banner you can heroically plant to saturate your battle-brethren's veins with zeal and allow them to brush away mortal wounds like cobwebs (i.e. it buffs their defences).
Teams are divided into regular Ultramarines and perfidious Chaos Marines: they look and sound different, but function the same. You don't get to play as a Tyrannid or other non-human species in PvP. The Gears Of Warriness of the Space Marine 2 is prominent in the outsized character models, the stompy handling, the phatness of the weaponry, and the bulky regularity of the map layouts I've seen, which favour diagonals over curves.
It doesn't have a cover system, of course. Space Marines don't take cover. Their faith is their shield.
Also they are genetically engineered, century-old giants who wear elephant armour. One of the classes does get a handheld shield, though. Look out for our collective thoughts on Space Marine 2 next week.
My immediate verdict on the campaign is that it's great fun if you turn your brain off and just wallow in the spectacle of dozens of Tyranids swarming the fittings. With allowances for choice of difficulty setting/effectiveness of comrades, it's a game for button-mashers and AOE-fanatics and anybody who reacts to the suggestion of subtlety with righteously flared nostrils and a bellow of "heresy!" It's out 9th September. If you're tempted, here are the Space Marine 2 system requirements .
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