 Time to fall straight into a bloodbath. Orks have invaded a key Space Marine planet. The planet houses one of the production facilities for the huge Titan walking mechs that the Space Marines use to pulverize opponents. It's up to a few lone marines to retake the planet.
1. Gameplay
 This is a good guy. So for those of you who are like me and only have a vague knowledge of the Warhammer 40k universe, you’re going to struggle to make sense of this game. Despite the oversimplified storyline, the characters and sides aren’t going to make a whole lot of sense and are never really explained in the game. When the game opens, a confusing text-based cutscene informs the player that Orks have invaded a Space Marine world. Normally the Space Marines would simply nuke the planet into oblivion, but there happens to be a production factory that creates the infamous Titan mechs, which are skyscraper-sized war machines capable of destroying cities in a similar way to a bowling ball knocking down pins (but with lasers and guns and missiles and stuff).  The stuff is the important part. So instead, the Space Marines are sent to try and retake the planet or, at the very least, save the Titan currently on the planet. Most of the rest of the game is spent slaughtering thousands of Orks until eventually a series of bad decisions brings in a third party, the Chaos Marines, and the rest of the game is spent slaughtering thousands of them. If that was all there was to this game, it wouldn’t be too bad. While I usually like to at least understand the story that I am progressing through, the mindless violence and variety of weapons kept things interesting throughout most of the game. Unfortunately, the developers decided to try and screw things up.  A picture of my frustration. The scale is correct. While this game may not have been as frustrating as, for example, Mirror’s Edge, I was left wondering what blundering idiot thought it would be a great idea to force the player to use a weird sort of “vampire mode” for a health system throughout the entirety of the game. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, “vampire modes” are a pretty common addition to games that players can turn on to give an extra challenge. Instead of regenerating health normally by staying out of combat or finding health packs on the ground to pick up, players gain health by killing enemies. The idea is that the only way to stay alive is to kill enough enemies. Space Marine decided to include a system similar to this, except that instead of simply getting a kill, a player has to “execute” an enemy. This means injuring an enemy enough to stun that character, then performing a 2 or 3 second long execution. This isn’t a huge deal, the executions are usually pretty interesting and I would definitely have tried to do them anyway. Except that the player is vulnerable while performing the executions. So while you’re performing a 3 second long execution (that cannot be ended prematurely), the remaining enemies are all unloading on you with every weapon they have at their disposal. This led to me frequently dying mid-execution.  Like this. I cannot say enough about how much I hated the health system for this game. It completely ruined the entire experience for me and about halfway through the game I saw the experience as much more of a “chore” than a fun experience. There were a number of times when I would have normally been willing to put down the controller and find something much more fun. If you’re an absolute diehard Warhammer fan, then go ahead and pick this game up when it’s discounted. If you don’t know what Warhammer is, this is not the place to start learning about the universe. Read some of the books or play the board games.
There is a multiplayer game mode for this game, but I’m not really sure why they even bothered including it. The number of maps and modes for this game seems limited and, quite frankly, after completing the campaign I wanted to get away from this game as quickly as possible.
That aside, the rest of this game was actually smooth. There might have been a few hiccups here and there (i.e. my player can’t jump up a step that he could easily just walk up), but these were definitely overshadowed by the health system. 2. Parental Notices
 That came from a single enemy. Normal shooting animations result in more buckets of blood, and most enemies can have their heads blown off with a well placed shot.  The Headless Horseman rides again! For a normal game, the executions would be seen as an extra novelty that the player might perform occasionally but overall would be a small part of the game. Yet the health system in Space Marine will require the player to constantly perform brutal executions over and over ad nauseum. The amount of blood that the player will eventually forcibly pull from his enemies should be enough to make the rivers on the entire planet run red for years.  Or make a new coat of paint for that previously shiny blue armor! Some of the executions are more brutal than others. The “chainsword” will almost always result in an enemy who has been drawn and quartered.  Usually starting in the middle. If you still didn’t get my emphasis on the bloody nature of the executions, here’s one more image.  And that, kids, is how you cut a Thanksgiving turkey!
3. Other Factors
There are a number of other references to religion. The Space Marines have a sort of weird hybrid between Internal Affairs and Black Ops called the “Inquisition”, which is in charge of making sure that none of the Space Marines ever dabble in the art of “chaos” (the mysticism that the “Chaos Marines” are known for). The references to the emperor and the inquisition are common enough to make religion a significant factor in this game.
 Usually from a distance. As always, it helps to have a well-balanced team with smart team members.
 This seems safe. Occasionally during the game the player will have access to a jump pack which will allow the player to boost up high into the air. The player can then boost forward straight towards the ground. The player’s impact on the ground will create a force that can kill or knock-back nearby enemies. The final battle sequence involves the player fighting the leader of the Chaos Marines during a free-fall descent. This battle includes both ranged combat and physical attacks.  And I'm FREEEEEEE!!!
 Don't go towards the light!
There was one member of the Space Marines, some sort of leader (I never understood his specific position), who has a metal plate where his skull should be.  Looks like good brain surgery to me. I am not quite sure whether or not the Chaos Marines, especially the leader of the Chaos Marines, is human. I am assuming that he is at least partially human, in which case the gaping chasm that used to be his cheek area would certainly count as human disfigurement.  I'll bet that makes drinking difficult.
1 Comment
|
Like what we do? Want to see more? Donate to the site using the button below!
Not sure what a term means? Read the definitions!
Not sure what a review section is about? Find out more information!
|
RSS Feed