Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine - Be a complete badass

The Warhammer series has normally been associated with the RTS (Real Time Strategy) genre in the past but with Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, Relic have switched genres with surprisingly badass results. And that really is what Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is all about in a nutshell – being a complete badass. It’s about jumping into battle with your battle brothers to take on hordes of bloodthirsty Orcs shooting, maiming, stabbing or curb stomping them in the process, no questions asked. Because that’s how Space Marines roll.

In the face.... in the FAAAACE

Space Marine is an all out, over-the-top third person action game where you can use both ranged and melee weapons with the fluidity found in games like the Devil may Cry series. You’ll start off with a pistol and a rather large sword but soon you’ll get your hands on some devastating firepower, all of which feel extremely satisfying on the battlefield. These include grenade launchers, plasma weapons, Rambo-esque heavy machine guns and my personal favourite, a gun that fires molten lava at your enemies. But the highlight of the game for me personally was the Chainsword which is exactly what it sounds like – a chainsaw mounted on a freaking sword. Watching that weapon eviscerate Orcs in all sorts of unpleasant ways is one of those gaming moments that make you squeal in delight, just like you did the first time you saw Marcus Fenix chainsaw a Locust in two.

Space Marine follows the Serious Sam principle to a certain extent by throwing an insane amount of enemies at you 24/7. Considering you’re a towering behemoth of a Space Marine you may get tempted to run head first into an Orc horde but you’ll learn gradually that charging into battle is not always a good idea thanks to the annoying ranged weapon using enemies. The trick here is to avoid the melee attackers, initially going straight for the ones firing their weapons from far. Once they’re taken care of, you can slice and dice your way to victory in no time.

Did that hurt?

There are no conventional health packs in the game to speak off so when your character starts losing health, you’ll need to quickly execute an enemy to regain lost health. While this looks supremely cool, you need to understand that you are vulnerable while the entire execution animation plays out. This can get a bit frustrating at times when you’re surrounded by enemies, are forced to execute an enemy to gain health but end up dying before the animation completes. The best advice I can give you is to try and isolate the enemy you’re about to execute.