I really didn't want to say this. Really. I didn't want it to be this way. Dawn of War was awesome.

I've been waiting to play this game since day 1. Relic have handled the 40k license very well up to now. This game looked good - in fact it does look good. I didn't mind that it wasn't a strategy game. Space Marine god of war ass kickers unite!

Unfortunately it's a rush job. The offline portion is poorly handled. The set pieces shoot themselves in the foot with some of the worst camerawork i've ever seen and a basic mechanic that is completely defeated by the way the game works. The only way you can heal (other than rechargeable shields) is to perform finishing moves. The game has a strong melee component where you are obliged to charge in for the emperor and smite orks and later deamons. Unfortunately in so doing you are vulnerable to attacks from other mobs (of which there are plenty) and often (ie almost always) a horde of very damaging shootas and rokkit launchers that surround you in huge number.
The gunplay is relatively smooth and you have a reasonable choice of weapons across 4 slots incluyding a fairly useless bolt pistol. Unfortunately later on the game forces you to choose between a really useful weapon slot and a really useless weapon type (ie choose a close up weapn like the melta and then find you needed the sniper rifle you swapped it for). And the Bolter mainstay rifle is fucking useless. It fires about three shots before running out of ammo. By the time you reload you're already in melee.
The melee combat is not particularly smooth and exacerbated by a camera that's three inches from the character's face from the worst angle. Add in all the shake effects from explosions and blood and gore and you can't really see an awful lot incluyding who's shooting at you. There are also only two melee moves, one of which induces the stun needed to trigger an execution - assuming the button responds quickly enough. Melee suffers from this constantly, there are really no combos at all and you do the same thing a lot. A hell of a lot. Other than that you walk through empty corridors, collect skull probe audio logs and ride lifts.
The game looks good, the scenery is suitably broken and charred and the mobs animate very well. The story is nothing to write home about but serviceable. The chaos bad guy looks satisfyingly like Horus while the ork warboss sounds satisfyingly cockerney. It's playable enough, but only really varies between pretty easy and annoying as fuck. Difficulty is replaced by frustration and poor handling.
There is also a multiplayer but it's so anaemic and, more importantly, broken as to be a sick joke. THQ insist on inputting a code in order to play beyond level 5 but don't seem particularly interested in the quid pro quo of providing decent servers and so the game is riddled with horrible matchmaking and inexcusable lag. Why am i paying for XBL?
It has 3 classes: assault (annoying twats with jetpacks and unbeatable melee strikes as well as ground pound from above) devastator (heavy weaponry and a rather pointless stomp) and tactical (either the best or wortst of both worlds). IT has a level and perk system akin to the usual shooting game design of the modern age. Unfortunately almost everything (and I mean everything) is locked at some point. Coupled with a tendency to dish out extremely powerful perks and weapons at higher ranks and you have a game that tosses balance out the window without so much as a 'call me!'. The bolter is as useless online as it is offline unless you have managed to kill 50 people with it in which you then unlock kraken bolt super ammo which doubles its damage. This is indicative of the broken nature of the game and just makes the whole thing a chore and a frustration. There are also only 2 game modes: team deathmatch and point capture. Woopee fucking doo.
In the grim darkness of the 41sst millenium....we ran out of ideas!
There's also 5 maps some of which are really rather large. It's only 8v8 as well.
Much much more could have been done, and that's the story of this game. It's defined more by what it lacks than anything else. It's worth a play if you like 40k, but not much else. They couldn't even include the advertised coop mode on launch either (it comes next month, by which time no one will be remotely interested anymore).
Heartbreaking; i was looking forward to this for ages.
The reviews seem to average 70% and that's about right.

I had a friend work on it.  I don't know what specifically he did, but I do know his specialty.

Still looks like a fun game. Sadly I can't afford it right now.

It's a crazy amount of fun.  

There's some rough spots in some of the levels, and I'm not sure I liked the ending, and sure, they could've done even more with it; 40k is a huge universe, you can always do more with it.

But the combat is visceral and fun and feels ever so right, and the multiplayer is a blast, albeit a bit grindier than I'd like when it comes to the level/unlock system.

Absolutely worth the money I think, and I'm looking forward to the Horde mode that's coming for it.

the game is merely ok, IMO. Dawn of war is a much better 40k experience.

they could have done so much more with the online component and it's a real tragedy they didn't.

coop mode should have been included on release and there's really no excuse why not. It comes out in 4 weeks or so. By that time the game will be dead.

Dawn of War doesn't put my in the shoes of an actual Space Marine and let me help a Nob get up close and personal with my chainsword.

It's an apples to oranges comparison.  Space Marine is a visceral, close quarters hybrid shooter and melee combat game, Dawn of War is an RTS, Dawn of War 2 is the RTS version of Gears of War.

They're not really comparable to one another except by the presence of the setting.

Quote from: J Arcane;478262Dawn of War doesn't put my in the shoes of an actual Space Marine and let me help a Nob get up close and personal with my chainsword.

It's an apples to oranges comparison.  Space Marine is a visceral, close quarters hybrid shooter and melee combat game, Dawn of War is an RTS, Dawn of War 2 is the RTS version of Gears of War.

They're not really comparable to one another except by the presence of the setting.

And that's the comparison I was making.

space marine is a game where you are told to charge in like the war machine zealot you are and then it punishes you for it. That is, when you are not walking through corridor after empty corridor. Or riding lifts. Or having cut scenes interrupt the action right in the middle.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;478273And that's the comparison I was making.

space marine is a game where you are told to charge in like the war machine zealot you are and then it punishes you for it. That is, when you are not walking through corridor after empty corridor. Or riding lifts. Or having cut scenes interrupt the action right in the middle.

Sounds to me like you just suck at the game.

I'm really looking forward to it, but I know that I won't have enough time to get through it before I go on holiday at the end of the month (Yes, it is a short game. I have a very busy life.) so it's on the list for when I get back.

And it'll have had a price drop by the time I buy it, too.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;478181I really didn't want to say this. Really.

{snip}

Dude, I'm not saying your opinion is wrong here, but have you ever given any game a positive review? Ever?

Quote from: IMLegend;478310Dude, I'm not saying your opinion is wrong here, but have you ever given any game a positive review? Ever?

If you don't agree with my opinion on space marine you are free to refute it.
It's also not a bad game, it's just not a good game.

It's about a 2 trick pony at best.  It's a great foundation for a series of games but there are some serious areas that they could have improved upon to really make it a killer title.  Namely level design, pacing and variety - in general.  It's not a bad game by any means just not a great one.

Hardy fucking Har.

Predictable puke vomiting forth from Whistler's mouth.

I don't even think he actually played it, probably just saw a gameplay video online and decided to write a review.

Also, the game is awesome.  40k games should have always been like Space Marine and Kill Team.

I'd like to see some other stuff also - like maybe a Dire Avenger game or something.  They already did Fire Warrior - that's the only 40k game that has truly sucked.

Quote from: Blackhand;478455Hardy fucking Har.

Predictable puke vomiting forth from Whistler's mouth.

I don't even think he actually played it, probably just saw a gameplay video online and decided to write a review.

Also, the game is awesome.  40k games should have always been like Space Marine and Kill Team.

I'd like to see some other stuff also - like maybe a Dire Avenger game or something.  They already did Fire Warrior - that's the only 40k game that has truly sucked.

Completed the single player earlier. So yes, I have played it. Got as far as level 16 in the online stakes. Got bored grinding kraken bolts and dealing with lag, which are the finals nails in the online experience's coffin for me.

In some ways I preferred playing the Kill Team demo.

Quote from: Blackhand;478455Hardy fucking Har.

Predictable puke vomiting forth from Whistler's mouth.

I don't even think he actually played it, probably just saw a gameplay video online and decided to write a review.

Also, the game is awesome.  40k games should have always been like Space Marine and Kill Team.

I'd like to see some other stuff also - like maybe a Dire Avenger game or something.  They already did Fire Warrior - that's the only 40k game that has truly sucked.

It is my hope that the next Space Marine game will be Deathwatch-centered, and also that there will be Dreadnoughts involved.  

Spoiler

There's some story justification for the former, at least with that ending

Also, thanks for reminding me I need to get Kill Team.  I played the demo but never got around to buying it, and I've got 800 points sitting right there ...

It will never be deathwatch based. Ultramarines are the 'signature' chapter and they will be used, continuing Titus' story. Assuming there is a sequel.