I've been playing Space Marine 2 during its early unlock period, and while it's a shame the campaign is balanced for co-op—expect a lot of objectives you have to complete while under attack and with AI allies who suck at keeping enemies off your back—it's still a blast getting stuck into hordes of tyranids. There are so many waves of them it's like a full degustation, and the finishing moves make it look like you're cracking open the shells of ornery lobsters.
One good thing about playing Space Marine 2 solo is that I can spend as much time faffing about in the photo mode as I like. Bring up the menu and press F to access it and you'll find the usual set of tools for lining up your own dioramas, including the option to change the marines' facial expressions. Now, in every screenshot I take, Titus and his squad are gurning like pros.
It also gives me an opportunity to capture the scale of the setpieces. You'll frequently step out of a building onto a battlefield where a battalion of soldiers is dying in the mud, tanks are bombarding an incoming swarm, and the air is thick with lasfire. They look like games of Warhammer 40,000 in progress, seen from table level, and I pause the action to hop into photo mode each time.
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2's latest update leads with a fancy datavault for your battle-barge, but I'm far more interested in the new tyranid unit with a cannon on its back
- Space Marine 2 dev acknowledges its FOMO events are 'a source of frustration and stress for everyone', says it'll fix things and isn't trying to make 'a full live service game' by stealth
Space Marine 2 is also great at capturing the scale of the individuals involved. Where the original game's firstborn marines towered over ordinary troopers, the sequel features primaris marines who've been transhumanized further, becoming even bigger and beefier boys. The serfs, the tech-priests, and the lasgun-toting Astra Militarum all look like children standing near them.
It's also nice to be able to zoom in and look at the little details, like the glowing green text on datapads or the scrolls and candles that make the computer terminals look a bit more gothic. To hell with RGB, my desktop tower should have some big dribbly candles melting down the side of it. And either a servo-skull or a cherub with a face like a Terminator flying around above it.
