Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine review

As a whole, the game is very polished and well presented. Your character’s armour is as lovingly-crafted as a Games Workshop miniature, and covered with textured enamel and the scars of battle. The scenery is more variable, but certain set pieces are simply breath-taking when seen for the first time. There are a few glitches, such as when your squadmates get stuck behind an object and continue running on the spot, but these are fairly rare.

The plot is generic 40K fiction, but it does at least give you the feeling that you’re part of a planet-wide conflict. It’s a shame that you’re playing as the Ultramarines – the squeakiest-clean of all Space Marines – instead of some of the more interesting chapters such as the Space Wolves or even Relic’s favourite Blood Ravens, but the eight-10 hours it will take you to finish the single-player campaign are still pretty gripping.

Multiplayer provides a fun reason to keep playing once the main story is over, as it feels like Space Marines have been dropped into a game of Call of Duty, complete with experience points, levelling up and weapon unlocks. Deathmatch and domination modes create an entertaining mix of ranged and close combat, but the extensive character customisation really sets the game apart from the competition. There are several different armour types, and you can change the style or colour of individual parts such as the helmet or shoulder pads to make your own highly personal Space or Chaos Marine.

Space Marine isn’t an epic, plot-driven action game. It is, however, a highly-polished, exciting and visceral shoot- and chop-em-up, which will appeal to an audience beyond Warhammer 40,000 fans. Not a must-have, but a very good game nonetheless.