By: A.B. Timothy
Five days ago, I started a new game called Warhammer 40k: Space Marine. Just two nights ago, I finished the campaign on hard difficulty. I can say without doubt that I had a lot of fun playing this game. I got frustrated, I quit playing for a night because I kept getting crushed by the same checkpoint, only to then beat it on the first try the next day, and I really enjoyed the story. Perhaps because I was playing on hard mode, every emotional beat felt earned, every word of encouragement from the 2nd Lt. Mira lifted my shoulders, and every challenge overcome felt well fought. If you are looking for a fun arcade-y run-and-gun sci-fi experience (and you’ve already beaten all the Doom games), this would be a great game for you.
Story
The story of Warhammer 40k: Space Marine takes place on an Imperial Forge World. These worlds are massive, planet-sized factories. Their purpose is to provide the Imperial Militarum with all of their tech, like guns, tanks, ships, and Imperator-class Titans. The initial purpose of the Space Marines’ arrival on the planet is to push back the invasion. The world has been overrun with Orks, and only a small contingent of human defenders fights on to secure a future.
You play as Captain Titus of the Ultramarines. This legendary chapter of Space Marines is only called upon in the most dire of straits. You fight through the Xenos horde and find your way to the last human officer on the planet, 2nd Lt. Mira. This woman is a no-nonsense, brass tax kind of lady, and she expects and gets the same from you. You are both there to do a duty. She gives you intel on how you can destroy the main anti-air battery the works have, which has been preventing the landing of the liberation fleet.
After destroying the battery, you get a distress call from a member of the Inquisition. You find him gravely wounded and near death. He needs your help recovering an experimental power source from somewhere deep in the factory. On the way, you pass by a War Titan, a massive machine, said to be a gift from the Machine God, which looms over you, a sleeping giant.
You collect the powersource and survive exposure to unfiltered warp energies. The Warp is basically hell, so you were able to withstand the forces of hell pouring into the room. Neither you nor the Inquisitor can explain this. You push on and find your way to the top of a tower, where you are meant to use the power source to wipe out the Ork hordes. But you are betrayed. The inquisitor had died after he made the distress call to you and was possessed by a daemon of the warp. He and his Daemon Primarch have been manipulating you and your battlebrothers this whole time. You manage to take the powersource back and eventually utilize it in the Titan to blow up the spire where the Daemon is trying to open a Warp Portal big enough to bring an entire fleet of Daemons here from the warp.
After the spire is destroyed and the Daemon’s plans thwarted. You embark on a quest with your battlebrothers to kill this Prince of Daemons once and for all. You do. But exposure to the warp and resistance to it is considered heresy. So, after all is said and done, instead of getting the girl (Lt. Mira), you are arrested by the Inquisition and hauled away in chains to be investigated. A tragic ending to an otherwise heroic story.
4/5 stars. I would highly recommend this game for anyone who likes the Warhammer 40k setting or heroic stories with tragic twists.