Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine - Xbox 360

    Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is a Third-Person Shooter created by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. The game was released in 2011 on the PC, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360. Space Marine comes directly out of Games Workshop's hugely popular Warhammer 40,000 series, most known for the table-top miniatures game of the same name. It may come as some surprise that Space Marine manages to make the transition between table-top to video game quite well. In fact, playing the game actually stoked my curiosity into the rest of the Warhammer 40,000 world.

    Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine's plot is centered around Captain Titus of the human Ultramarines. Human command receives a distress call from one of their forge worlds; giant planets which solely produce military equipment. The message states that the Orks, a bestial race and nemesis of the humans, has attacked the planet. Human command decides that it is imperative to the human war effort that the planet not be lost. Unfortunately, the planet is extremely far from any ships which could bring help. The only soldiers that could make it to the planet in time would be a small squad of Ultramarines. Human command gives the order, and Titus's three-man squad is sent ahead to the surface as the vanguard of the main human force.

3 versus a planet of Orks? Seems like good enough odds!

    Once on the planet's surface, the Ultramarines fight their way through the Ork lines and meet up with the dwindling human resistance fighters. Through them, Titus learns of an Inquisitor (think secret-police/scientist) who is trapped in a building and refusing to leave his experiment. The Inquisitor insists that his experiment can help to change the tides of battle against the Orks, and Titus heads off to save him in the hopes that the scientist is correct. Little do the Ultramarines know that this "experiment" will change the face of the battle completely, and not for the better.

    Space Marine plays very similarly to other Third-Person Shooters, with the small twist that the Ultramarines are also excellent at melee combat. This comes in extremely handy when the Ork horde has closed the distance on you. It's pretty cool shooting at enemies from long to medium range before switching to a chainsaw sword to finish them off up close and personal.

Maybe a can opener sword would have been better?

    Unlike most modern Third-Person Shooters, there is no cover system in Space Marine. Sure, you can stand behind cover, but there is no 'cling to cover and shoot from relative safety' feature in the game. Instead, the Ultramarines have a layer of regenerating armor that, after being damaged, will recharge after a period of time. Underneath this shield is a health bar which does not regenerate. The health system is one of my biggest problems with the game. You see, instead of finding health pickups, or getting health at special med-stations, you can only regenerate health by stunning enemies and performing an execution move on them. I know, I know, the last thing you want to do at low health is go into melee range of an enemy, but making it even worse is the fact that you get locked into the execution animation, and get this, enemies can still hurt you while you're locked into the sometimes seconds long animation. That's right, the only way to heal is to put yourself in a defenseless situation among a horde of enemies. Great idea developers!

    Other than the healing thing, combat is generally quite brutal and fun in Space Marine. The game sticks well Warhammer 40,000's somewhat cartoony, yet ultra-violent style. A bunch of different Ultramarine weapons can be picked up throughout the game, giving you a tool for every destructive job you come across. There is also a nice variety of enemies in the game, which keeps combat fresh and entertaining.

The greatly feared 'bug-eyed' Ork relies more on laughter to kill his enemies than firepower.

    Captain Titus also gains various upgrades throughout the game's 18 chapters which give him abilities such as the rage power. Rage builds up as enemies are defeated and can be unleashed to power up attacks and regenerate health.Other upgrades strengthen his shield or unlock new moves to use against foes.

    Overall, the single player campaign is pretty enjoyable, even though the third-person genre gameplay is pretty overdone in the gaming market. The story can be dull at times, but it also features some pretty cool set pieces. The 18 chapters will likely last players around 8-10 hours depending on the difficulty level chosen. Once the final boss is defeated, however, players can still delve into the online multiplayer offered by the game. Playlists such as Deathmatch and the free DLC horde mode could easily expand player's time spent enjoying the game.

Fear the Ultra-banana-marine!

    Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine really reminded me of just how much I love Sci-Fi with a rich lore behind it. If nothing else, Space Marine has me interested in delving farther into the world of Warhammer 40k, thanks to its obviously deeply developed universe. Even with the game being somewhat mediocre, and original only in universe, I would still love to see more Warhammer games. I know that there are a number of Real-Time Strategies out there that are set in the game's world, but I'd like to see the universe in different game genres. If you're a Warhammer 40k fan, or a fan of good Sci-Fi, Space Marine will be right up your alley. If you're looking for a blockbuster hit of a game, you should probably look elsewhere...

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