Exactly the sort of "middle-shelf" material I miss in the modern gaming landscape. Though we are receiving a direct sequel in a few months, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine feels distinctly "7th gen." Aside from its obvious "early HD" visual design, Space Marine plays like a more refined third-person-shooter of the era. Though there is a lack of cover mechanics ala Gears of War, Space Marine lifts the weapon system and "corridor crawls" distinct to that series, but adding a massive dose of aggression to make Space Marine feel unique.
Before DOOM brought in the "glory kill" system in 2016, Space Marine was incentivizing using flashy animations to replenish health back in 2011. As interesting as the system is, it certainly feels like the progenitor to something refined later on; repetitive, lengthy animations for these kills can often be more harm than good for obvious reasons. I can look past there being a couple animations per weapon, per enemy, but the length of animations frequently caused my death on "normal" difficulty, especially in the later chapters. It makes sense to use aggression as the main healing factor, but it being the only way to heal aside from a (mostly) dinky overshield could make finishing the game tedious for some. I couldn't imagine the frustration of the healing system on "hard."
Space Marine's "glory kill" system is the key thing that separates it from the sea of third-person-shooters of the era, but that doesn't mean it's "subpar" by any stretch of the word. The lore additions are a treat, and the story as a whole offers a lot of flashy, interesting moments for someone who is still new but avidly learning the 40K lore. At the end of the day, Space Marine playing like a decent Gears of War "clone" makes it far more accessible to an ignoramus like myself who still can't wrap their head around any strategy game more complex than modern XCOM. It's appreciated to be on the ground-level in the fight against heresy, feeling the impact of boltgun fire and the heavy stomps of the armor-clad Ultramarines. I would highly recommend using a controller for Space Marine, not just for the controls feeling more natural on that setup, but also for the vibration to make the gameplay feel more heavy and lively.
My real complaints with Space Marine (aside from the aforementioned lengthy animations) feel part and parcel to the third-person-shooter genre at the time: certain checkpoints can prove to be a slog to get through due to enemy placements/lack of cover, enemy variety could be touched up a bit, and the final boss is nothing short of a disappointment. While Space Marine has a lot to offer in terms of narrative and lore, ending with some serious ramifications and potential for the sequel to expand, it doesn't offer enough via any of its antagonists to make the story of "fight back faction X" feel anymore than that until the very end. One does not go to 40K looking for Shakespearean writing quality, but the motives of both the protagonists and antagonists could have been fleshed out further.
The only thing I can't truly comment on at this time is the multiplayer mode, seeing that we are over ten-years since the release of the game and servers are dead aside from searching for dedicated groups on Steam. I would love to sample both the co-op and competitive modes before the release of the sequel, but I doubt that will happen. As it stands in 2024, as a singleplayer experience, you could do a whole lot worse for an approximately seven-hour campaign.
Before DOOM brought in the "glory kill" system in 2016, Space Marine was incentivizing using flashy animations to replenish health back in 2011. As interesting as the system is, it certainly feels like the progenitor to something refined later on; repetitive, lengthy animations for these kills can often be more harm than good for obvious reasons. I can look past there being a couple animations per weapon, per enemy, but the length of animations frequently caused my death on "normal" difficulty, especially in the later chapters. It makes sense to use aggression as the main healing factor, but it being the only way to heal aside from a (mostly) dinky overshield could make finishing the game tedious for some. I couldn't imagine the frustration of the healing system on "hard."
Space Marine's "glory kill" system is the key thing that separates it from the sea of third-person-shooters of the era, but that doesn't mean it's "subpar" by any stretch of the word. The lore additions are a treat, and the story as a whole offers a lot of flashy, interesting moments for someone who is still new but avidly learning the 40K lore. At the end of the day, Space Marine playing like a decent Gears of War "clone" makes it far more accessible to an ignoramus like myself who still can't wrap their head around any strategy game more complex than modern XCOM. It's appreciated to be on the ground-level in the fight against heresy, feeling the impact of boltgun fire and the heavy stomps of the armor-clad Ultramarines. I would highly recommend using a controller for Space Marine, not just for the controls feeling more natural on that setup, but also for the vibration to make the gameplay feel more heavy and lively.
My real complaints with Space Marine (aside from the aforementioned lengthy animations) feel part and parcel to the third-person-shooter genre at the time: certain checkpoints can prove to be a slog to get through due to enemy placements/lack of cover, enemy variety could be touched up a bit, and the final boss is nothing short of a disappointment. While Space Marine has a lot to offer in terms of narrative and lore, ending with some serious ramifications and potential for the sequel to expand, it doesn't offer enough via any of its antagonists to make the story of "fight back faction X" feel anymore than that until the very end. One does not go to 40K looking for Shakespearean writing quality, but the motives of both the protagonists and antagonists could have been fleshed out further.
The only thing I can't truly comment on at this time is the multiplayer mode, seeing that we are over ten-years since the release of the game and servers are dead aside from searching for dedicated groups on Steam. I would love to sample both the co-op and competitive modes before the release of the sequel, but I doubt that will happen. As it stands in 2024, as a singleplayer experience, you could do a whole lot worse for an approximately seven-hour campaign.