Warhammer 40,000: Space Marines 2 may not be the sequel I was expecting. The original Relic Entertainment game was perhaps unusual in every way. It’s a hybrid of shooters and melee combat from a studio primarily known for its strategy games. It wasn’t particularly popular at the time of its release, but has since earned a degree of adoration among Warhammer 40,000 fans and anyone who’s played it.
Space Marines is the complete package; a fairly long campaign with some solid production values across the board, a horde mode you can spend your time with once you’re done, and even a usable, if unremarkable, multiplayer mode – This was the standard at the time. By all accounts, it’s a strange phenomenon you wouldn’t think would happen again.
Yet 13 years later, we’re playing its sequel; albeit made by different people and published under a different banner.
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Starfighter 2 is a confident game that makes an immediate impression. If the stunning visuals, convincing no-nonsense bark, punchy sound, and all-around impressive presentation don’t impress you, you’ll know Exactly What a game it is the moment you get it in your hands.
I was given a preview version of the game, which included a campaign mission and two PvE co-op missions in the game’s Extinction mode. I know I’m enjoying it when I find myself trying to load the game with more missions than we have access to in the build.
Much of Starfighter 2’s confidence comes from its reliance on tried and tested ideas and its ability to execute them well. It’s not a game that pushes the envelope, but it knows what it wants to be and how to deliver that experience to its players. It wouldn’t be unfair to say its level design is dated. Consisting almost entirely of corridors, there are some opportunities for exploration, but less than I’d like. These are not levels where you will get lost, nor do they need to be. Granted, this is based on a single campaign mission, so the rest of the campaign will likely be more imaginative.
However, in the game’s adventure mode, this kind of linear, limited level design is clearly the goal. The PvE co-op adventure is pretty straight to the point. You show up with up to two other players, choose a mission, a difficulty, and start killing.
Adventure – and the game’s multiplayer mode – relies on a career system. Beyond the campaign, your chosen class will level up as you play co-op or multiplayer, allowing you to unlock new perks, weapons, variants, and some really cool cosmetics that Warhammer 40,000 fans are sure to love.
Starfighter 2 excels in its co-op mode (which also features a campaign), but most of my time in the preview was spent playing single-player. When no one joins, the game uses artificial intelligence to fill the remaining spots. I found it… nice; smart enough to get out of the way and rejuvenate you when necessary, but not quite capable of achieving any real autonomy.
In fact, I found the narrative implications and the impact of the other two characters on the overall atmosphere to be far more important than their gameplay contributions. During the campaign, they offer a different perspective on story events and really sell you on the idea of being a squad leader.
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I could see Starfighter 2’s gameplay being repeated for dozens of hours or so. It’s enough to keep you coming back to unlock this content – I suspect players will spend most of their time exploring it, but it’s not varied enough to provide any interesting gameplay opportunities. Other than Undertow, I don’t think I’ve seen weapons in Warhammer 40,000 implemented as well as they are here. Considering how many classic WH40K toys you’ve been exposed to, I don’t think it’s going to get boring anytime soon.
Saber Interactive has brought back the swarm technology from World War Z in Starfighter 2, only it’s been upgraded to deliver staggering numbers of Tyranid swarms instead of shambling undead. There are moments, especially on higher difficulties, that can really overwhelm you.
These are some of Star Marine 2’s finest moments; when blood and guts fill the screen and cover you when you find yourself switching between mowing down smaller enemies with your chainsword and pinning down snipers with your bolter. When it comes to armor, you’ll never want to stop. There’s DNA from Doom, Gears of War, and World War Z here, and it doesn’t feel forced or exploited.
The preview version works fine on my (admittedly powerful) PC. The frame rate is in the 90s almost the entire time, and everything is maxed out, using DLSS quality. I’m running an AMD 7800X3D and an RTX 4080 at 4K resolution. Most of the problems arise when facing some larger Tyranid swarms and during some planned events.
If anything, my experience with Starfighter 2 leads me to believe that this will be one of the hits of the year.
Starfighter 2 launch September 9on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
