I never played the original Space Marine, so I cannot say that I had been waiting for a direct follow-up for years, but I love me some Gears of War, which meant I was more than a little intrigued by Space Marine 2 regardless. Other than its lack of emphasis on cover-based mechanics, Saber Interactive and Focus Entertainment’s shooter has looked increasingly like the sort of brutal, visceral, adrenaline-fueled third-person Gears-style game that many (including myself) have been craving for some time now, and now that I’ve finally played it myself, I’m happy to say that not only does it live up to expectations, it even manages to surpass them.

Set about two centuries after the events of the original game, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 once again puts players in the shoes of the formerly disgraced Lieutenant Titus, who rejoins the Imperium’s war against alien threats, this time taking the form of the bug-like Tyranids and, of course, the forces of Chaos. Narratively, Space Marine 2 keeps things rather simple and straightforward, but there’s enough going on here – from the way the game captures the dark science-fantasy aesthetic of the Warhammer universe to how well produced the main cutscenes often are – to keep players invested.

"What really shines as the heart and soul of Space Marine 2 is, to no one’s surprise, the combat, to the extent that this is easily one of the best and most captivating action games I’ve played in years."

What really shines as the heart and soul of Space Marine 2 is, to no one’s surprise, the combat, to the extent that this is easily one of the best and most captivating action games I’ve played in years. From its focus on slow, weighty, and deliberate movement to how visceral the action feels, it has strong shades of Gears of War, as I touched on earlier, and scratches a very similar itch. The game does a great job of making you feel incredibly empowered as you stomp around as a ruthless, towering killing machine, which is reflected in how satisfying the feedback from every single shot that you fire feels. Hits land with crunching impact as blood sprays out everywhere, and everything feels wonderfully tight, responsive, and satisfying on a moment-to-moment basis.

In addition to the immaculate third-person shooting, Space Marine 2 also places a surprising amount of emphasis on melee hack-and-slash combat. Don’t get me wrong, this is still very much a third-person shooter first and foremost, but there are stronger and more prominent melee elements in here than I expected going in. At close range, you have access to light and heavy attacks and different combos of moves for different classes, while the addition of other mechanics such as parries, dodging, different kinds of follow-up attacks after perfect dodges and parries, and more also encourages players to engage in melee duels more often than you’d expect from a typical third-person shooter.

It helps that that stuff is really well executed. Like other parts of the combat loop, melee hits land with a lot of heft and feel excellent on impact, from the regular light attacks to the brutal finishers you frequently get to perform. Space Marine 2 also boasts a solid variety of weapons, and though the bulk of that is reserved for guns (the majority of which are excellent to use), there are also different kinds of melee weapons on offer, from the chainsaw-like Chainsword and the gigantic Thunder Hammer to the smaller and nimbler power knife and more. Combining melee and ranged attacks effectively as you stomp around the battlefield and decimate alien forces feels incredible satisfying. When the action is in full flow, Space Marine 2 can make you feel like a ten-feet tall, terrifying agent of death and carnage with effortless confidence.

"When the action is in full flow, Space Marine 2 can make you feel like a ten-feet tall, terrifying agent of death and carnage with effortless confidence."

The game is no cakewalk though. It gives you the tools that you need to wreak untold havoc on your extraterrestrial foes, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t know how to put up a challenge, even on the default difficulty level. Enemies frequently come at you in massive numbers (more on this in a bit), with different types presenting different threats and combining together to pose even stiffer challenges, and on top of that, the game can also be surprisingly restrained with how liberally it hands out things such as ammo, grenades, or health stims.

Knowing when to rely on melee attacks and when to let loose with your guns can be crucial, as can be identifying the right moments to use your limited grenades (which come in different varieties, adding another layer of strategy to proceedings) or your health stims. In addition to incentivizing exploration in the largely linear levels in order to find useful drops and pickups, all of that also ensures that players are constantly being pushed to fully and efficiently use the full suit of systems and mechanics that make up the combat loop. As a result, combat ends up feeling surprisingly strategic, even in spite of how chaotic and bombastic it obviously is.

The biggest highlight of the experience, however, is the aforementioned enemy swarms that you so often run into throughout the game. Using Saber Interactive’s proprietary Swarm Engine, Space Marine 2 frequently throws mind-bogglingly large hordes of enemies at players. More than a few times, you’ll spot humongous enemy hordes in the distance that, in any other game, you’d assume to be little more than rendered background elements for the level, and more than a few times, Space Marine 2 brings those jaw-dropping enemy swarms from the background into the foreground as actual, real-time enemies that function both individually and as a group.

"Using Saber Interactive’s proprietary Swarm Engine, Space Marine 2 frequently throws mind-bogglingly large hordes of enemies at players."

These are the best sequences of Space Marine 2, and there’s no shortage of them. Taking on overwhelmingly large hordes of enemies never loses its luster. For starters, the sheer scale that the game consistently achieves that on never ceases to impress, while this is also where the game’s approach to challenge shines brightest. Improvising and strategizing on the fly with successful results while taking on staggering forces comes with an unparalleled rush of adrenaline, allowing Space Marine 2 to carve out a really unique identity for itself (with Days Gone’s Freaker hordes perhaps being the closest analog). Remaining on the move as you funnel enemies through chokepoints, make use of environmental hazards, cleverly using grenades and health stims, and whipping out your class ability at the most opportune moment- when Space Marine 2 is at its best (which happens frequently), it’s easy to get lost in the rhythm of that on-the-fly strategizing.

What’s just as impressive is how well the game holds up technically. Space Marine 2 is an excellent looking game, boasting stellar art design and impressive technical polish, but much more important than how it looks, given the sort of game that it is, is how well it runs. I’ve spent the majority of my time in Performance Mode, and the frame rate has been largely rock solid for me. The action feels incredibly smooth and responsive as a result, and even when you’re fighting ridiculously large swarms with literally hundreds upon hundreds of actual enemies on-screen all at once, the frame rate barely skips a beat. Especially when you’re playing solo, it’s hard to spot too many noticeable dips, which in and of itself is a huge accomplishment, given how hectic and chaotic things can often get on-screen.

Another area where Space Marine 2 impresses is the amount of content it offers across multiple components. In addition to a satisfyingly meaty campaign that can be played both solo or co-op with two additional players, the game also features PvE and PvP modes in the form of Operations and Eternal War respectively. Operations (which you can play solo with bots, if you wish to) offers players a set of lengthy missions in different maps with series of objectives to perform, often tying into the events of the campaign itself. Not only does it work as an excellent companion piece to the campaign, Operations also offers similarly incredible pacing and design in terms of combat encounters. For those who finish the story but still want more, Operations is easy to recommend. I will say, however, that I encountered a noticeably higher number of technical issues in this mode than in the campaign. Specifically, the frame rate did occasionally chug when large enemy swarms were on-screen.

"Whether you’re a fan of the original game or a newcomer simply looking for a great third-person shooter, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is an easy recommendation, and one of the best games of the year."

Then there’s the PvP mode, Eternal War, which I haven’t been able to experience nearly as much as I would have liked. During the review period, matches have been quite hard to find, as a result of which I haven’t been able to get a full taste of Eternal War the way I would have liked. What I have played has hinted at a mode that offers a different kind of experience than the campaign and Operations, and I’m curious to see how it holds up without the PvE action that the game otherwise thrives on. At the very least, Space Marine 2’s core combat mechanics still feel extremely satisfying in this mode as well, and the progression and customization mechanics on offer here (and in Operations) do seem to encourage long-term time investments- but again, that’s not something that I’ve been able to fully dive into quite yet. Thankfully, with the game launching soon and expanding its pool of available players, matchmaking is presumably going to be much better imminently, and I have every intention of jumping in and getting a much more substantial helping of Eternal War.

And honestly, I’ll take any excuse I can get to play more of Space Marine 2– it’s that good. It looks and runs great, it boasts tightly crafted adrenaline-fueled action that can put even the best games in the genre to shame, and it offers a wealth of content for players to lose themselves to. Whether you’re a fan of the original game or a newcomer simply looking for a great third-person shooter, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is an easy recommendation, and one of the best games of the year.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.