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Despite coming out over a decade after its predecessor, the bloody and frenetic Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is astonishingly faithful to the original Space Marine, a cult classic that’s been long overdue for an update. Now, Space Marine 2 is on sale for Black Friday — physical copies of the game for both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. This is the lowest price we’ve seen yet for the game across any platform, and while the PC version doesn’t get quite the same discount, Fanatical has Steam codes on sale for $52.79 (was $59.99).
Space Marine 2 doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles of other big action games, because it doesn’t need those indulgences. The campaign takes place in the far future of the 41st millennium, where there is only war. Titus, an Ultramarine in service of the Emperor of Mankind, is returning to active duties after a couple of centuries on the bench.
The world of Warhammer 40,000 is incredibly dense, and I’ve spent decades of my life poring over codices and rulebooks, reading novels set 10,000 years in the past explaining the Space Marines’ origins, and scouring the internet for fan theories. One of the things that impressed me the most about Space Marine 2 is that it manages to be very accessible to pick up and play — you don’t need to have a second screen open to research your way through the story. Despite this, the game really leans into the 40K aesthetic, with the robotic cherubs and mechanized machine cult aspirants hanging out on the bridge of Titus’ battle barge. The backdrop of the main campaign captures the massive, gothic, and often absurd trappings of the Imperium of Man and the Imperial Guard really well.
The real highlight of the game, though, is definitely the combat. Titus rips his way through hordes of Tyranids, pulls their faces off with his gauntlets, and stomps them beneath heavy boots. Add in a few fun weapons, like a flamethrower for roasting Rippers, or a laser sniper rifle, and it makes for a great romp.
