Warhammer 40,000: Space Marines 2 may be the most faithful adaptation of the Warhammer video game ever made. You’re paying for a really good product, but you’re not getting much in the box. But ask any Custodes or Gray Knights player: this is the quintessential Warhammer experience.
Created by Saber Interactive and published by Focus Entertainment, star warrior 2 In many ways, this is a Warhammer fan’s dream game. In recent years we’ve seen a number of great new games using the IP; Boltgun, Rogue Trader, Speed Freaks and Darktide. You could easily argue that we’re in a golden age of Warhammer video game adaptations.
But Starfighter 2 is in a world of its own; given the budget it deserves, it’s the big blue boy among triple-A shooters. I think Saber Interactive has done an excellent job of bringing the dark universe of 40k to life, incorporating so many styles and characters to make this game a must-buy for any 40k die-hard. However, by the time I finished the campaign and operational modes, I was desperate for more.
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That’s because what’s here is so, so beautiful, yet so, so fleeting. I’ll start with the campaign, which was a real treat. You’ll complete roughly six to seven hours of missions on three planets, and you’ll don the ceramic boots of a Lieutenant Titus who just returned from the Death Watch. He had just returned from a 100-year mission with his Ultramarine brothers, and had been brought back to help fend off the Tyranid invasion and thwart a Chaos conspiracy unfolding before everyone’s eyes.
The existence of the Tyranids and Chaos has been revealed in detail in the game’s trailer, but the campaign still holds many fantastic surprises. Fans of every faction in Starfighter 2 will get giddy at seeing certain units appear as enemies to be eliminated or as little NPC Easter eggs scattered throughout the environment.
As for the narrative itself, I’m actually a firm believer that you need to experience the original Space Marine game to get the most out of it. This may sound obvious (it’s a direct sequel), but as the original game was released in 2011, you might want to fire up the YouTube video before jumping in. But some of his early interactions can feel a little…dry. Either way, it all ends well in the end, but if you want to learn more about this game, take the time to play or study the original first.
Now, six hours isn’t much, but what you get is Very Rich in detail. I spent a lot of time looking around my surroundings and admiring all the little treats around me. The architecture of the Imperial buildings is perfect, right down to the Astra Militarum sentries parked in various bunkers. The sound of a heavy bolter, with perfect recoil, echoed through the metal chamber. Members of the Cult Mechanicus send servants to perform menial tasks on the ship. Saber Interactive’s environment designers, audio designers, and lore experts used my PS5 to pull me across the screen and transport me into the 41st century.
But there are new surprises too – things I never thought I’d see in an action-packed 40k game. The Space Marine’s Funeral, a little further down the critical path, is a prime example that still sticks in my mind. You don’t have to add these things, but the developers did, and it makes the game feel so, so special.
I do think having the Thousand Sons as the main enemy is a strange choose. This is probably the best depiction of the Chaos faction ever written, and frankly, it’s better than Thousand Sons players deserve. It’s so refreshing to see Chaos portrayed in an alternative way as a “blood for the Blood God” screaming berserker and a vanilla boring Black Legion dork, and the little details I gush over make them even cuter . The way the twisting power is depicted is brilliant, and the fact that the regular Scarlet Warrior spews magic dust instead of blood is a cool detail for nerds (while regular, untainted people might think wistfully Know).
I think this solution can only be realized by Saber Interactive. Fans of the company’s recent World War Z game will recognize the swarm system surrounding this game, especially when swarms of Tyranids start climbing on top of each other to scale walls. Saber’s combination of dedication to the source material and technical knowledge ultimately allows you to engage in large-scale combat, where you fight alongside smaller human allies as hundreds of space bugs charge at you. Many times you’ll feel like you’re dropped right in the middle of John Branch’s or Karl Kopinski’s Warhammer artwork.
The action benefits from a lot of love put into the campaign, but has an added charm thanks to the genuinely funny quips between the three Space Marines present. That’s weird, though; the operation consists of six “side missions” that run concurrently with the main campaign, but these are by no means optional narrative content. Quite the contrary, they provide important context for the entire package. In fact, I think the action has a better conclusion to the Tyranid threat than the main story does. It’s wild. Play these along with the main story planet by planet for the best experience.
You should replay these missions with friends (if you have one) or other random players online, and while the linear missions remain largely the same, famously powerful enemies are mixed in each time to keep things fresh. You have to fight off Liktor on one run, and then the next time Neuroman appears and fires energy blasts at you. It’s a small thing, but very grateful.
Customization also plays a role in operations. There are six different classes in total, each with unique abilities and available weapons. There’s great interplay between each class – snipers standing in the back need the front line to protect them, so the vanguard can pick up big melee weapons and start slashing away, while the heavy weapons fire off the incoming waves Hundreds of rounds of ammunition. In a tight-knit squad, you’ll feel like a true kill team of elite space warriors, which is probably the biggest compliment it can get.
Then there are the cosmetic upgrades that would make 40,000 fans blush. All the major Loyalist chapters are here, along with some fan-favorite smaller chapters (even the original Dawn of War Bloodraven). You can unlock these using currency earned through actions or PvP leveling, which is nice, but it uses the same currency as skill tree unlocks. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t want to have to choose between power in the game and getting my Iron Hands marines to look just right.
You can also unlock more elaborate cosmetics for your weapons and class armor, which can go a long way toward making veteran players look better the more you upgrade them. After a day or two of polishing, you look absolutely dolled up, which is so cute. The story is accurate and player-focused, and you love seeing it.
But I can’t give the same praise to the multiplayer at the moment. Prior to the embargo, Eternal War’s PvP sessions were not scheduled for reviewers, and cross-platform play was disabled – meaning I was adrift on my PS5 while PC players maxed out their CPUs Frame rate and boil eggs. So, despite queuing for six hours over the weekend, I didn’t get a chance to play the game mode.
What I can say is that, as a whole, Starfighter 2 didn’t have a ton of “discs” at launch. Campaigns last six to seven hours, twice as long as a single operation. Yes, you can (and should) play these missions multiple times, but they are the same set of missions.
Multiplayer is obviously the long-term appeal, but you’ll get some 12-player modes that will tide you over. Customization is great, but it breaks my heart to hear that the options for Heretic Astartes (Chaos Space Marines or bad guy Space Marines for entry-level fans) are extremely limited. Yes, you only play them in Eternal War, but the skin you play 50% of the time has zero armor/weapon upgrade path? It’s so bad. I don’t care how cool the storm giants are in White Dwarf Magazine 5362, please throw them off the bus and give us some World Eater options.
Now, it’s worth noting that the game already has an official roadmap, and more content is on the way. But it will be mostly cosmetic until 2025, and then in Season 4 Horde Mode will appear. Please give the Chaos Marines some love at some point.
Starfighter 2 is a triumph of gaming. This is a must-buy for Warhammer fans and definitely recommended to serious gaming enthusiasts. I hope you consider yourself part of this outstanding group. Space Marine 2 is one of the best Warhammer games ever made, and one of the most dangerous plastic-cracking gateway drugs I’ve ever seen.
Starfighter 2 launch September 9on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. This review was conducted on PS5, code provided by the publisher.
