14 DAY TRIAL // 
The Warhammer 40,000 universe created by The Games Workshop may have started out as a tabletop gaming series, but it quickly found a great home in the video games industry, with Relic Entertainment and THQ bringing the Dawn of War real time strategy series to millions of gamers from around the world.
Now, both companies want to prove that the Warhammer 40k universe can be home to other sorts of adventures, as Space Marine is a third person shooter with hack and slash elements, a far cry from the RTS roots of the studio.
With the promise of combining the unique universe with polished shooter mechanics and visceral melee action that shows off what it's actually like to be an Ultramarine serving the Imperium, is Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine a great new direction for the series or should it be forgotten as a failed experiment? Let's find out.
Story While previous Dawn of War titles made players feel like they're shaping the Warhammer 40k universe, Space Marine is a more personal affair, detailing the adventures of Captain Titus and his Ultramarine squad, composed of the older Sergeant Sidonus, and younger rookie Leandros, as they're deployed on the surface of an Imperium Forge World, which produces its weapons, and has now been invaded by Orks.
The greenskins, while not being able to match the Imperial Guard's firepower, quickly overwhelm it with their numbers, so it's up to Titus and his squad to secure the extremely important Titan war machine before it can be used against them.
During this adventure, they meet an Inquisitor called Drogan, who's been running quite a few experiments on the forge world to uncover new power sources. Without spoiling too much, after spending more than half the game fighting the legions of Orks, Titus and his squad will then face Chaos forces, creatures from another dimension that want nothing but to dig their claws into the power armor of the Ultramarines.
While it may sound a bit weird at first, the story's pacing is quite well done, even if it tends to throw at Titus lots of relatively pointless objectives. Still, the protagonist manages to come over as a fiercely loyal and imposing hero, knowing when to follow protocol, aka the Codex Astartes, and when to go with his gut and throw caution into the wind.
Without Titus, much of the game's story would fall flat, and his squad mates, Sidonus and Leandros, not to mention the supporting characters, like 2nd Lieutenant Mira, also serve to make Space Marine a more personal experience that feels good and doesn't outstay its welcome, clocking in at around 9-10 hours, depending on your skills.
Gameplay Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is a far cry from the real time strategy of the Dawn of War series, with which Relic has gotten us used to. Instead, it's a pretty standard third person shooter, like Gears of War, but it mixes it up with hack and slash combat reminiscent of titles like God of War or Devil May Cry.
While they may not look like it, what with their big, heavy power armor, Titus and his fellow Ultramarines are quite agile when going toe to toe with their rivals, hacking and slashing away with quite a few stylish moves. What's more, seeing as how you can wield a variety of melee weapons, from the standard combat knife to the awesome chainsword, power axe or thunder hammer, brawling always feels great and, coupled with the bloody visuals, makes for a satisfyingly addictive experience.
In terms of actual shooting, Space Marine is also quite impressive, with Titus being able to carry four firearms with him, ranging from regular bolters (pistols) to more serious Stalker or Heavy Bolters (sniper or machine guns), not to mention a very special Vengeance Launcher, which shoots mines that can attach to walls, floors or enemies, and be detonated remotely.
Shooting fells good but most of the times you'll be using your firearms to snipe enemies from afar. Once they get near you, it's advisable to pull out your melee weapon and start dicing enemies left and right.
This great mix of gameplay has a few out of the ordinary sequences sprinkled in, like on-rails turret sequences or missions where you can use your Jump Pack, arguably the most fun you can have during the whole Space Marine experience.
In special levels, Titus is granted access to the aforementioned Jump pack, which impacts his mobility, but allows him to jump into the air and then smash violently into the ground, taking out all enemies in the vicinity. While you can also use weapons while wearing the jump packs, it's much more fun to just float around the level and smash into enemies, especially large groups that explode into a mess of blood and gore.
Enemies aren't much to write home about, at least in the first half when you're dealing with Orks, but, once you start running into Chaos units, things get much tougher, so you'll definitely need to start paying attention to your opponents. While Titus does have a regenerating shield, his health is a different manner altogether. As such, to rebuild it, he needs to stun enemies and then execute them in an over the top manner.
Each melee weapon has a few different executions, and it's pretty much a blast, at least for the player, to try them all out on Titus' unlucky opponents. When you feel outmatched, the game also has a fury system that turns the hero into an unstoppable killing machine, while regenerating his health and increasing his damage output.
Multiplayer Space Marine currently has just a competitive multiplayer mode, although a cooperative one is scheduled to arrive through a future update within a month. The online mode covers 8 versus 8 matches in either Annihilation, a standard Team Deathmatch, with players fighting either as Space Marines or Chaos Marines to reach 41 kills, and Seize Ground, where teams need to occupy certain objectives and start accumulating points until they reach a 1,000-point threshold.
Players can choose from three different classes, Tactical, Devastator or Assault, each with their own specific gear, and can then choose their loadouts from a variety of unlockable items. The game encourages players to change things up, and, after death, you can even opt to copy the loadout of the opponent who killed you, using the same gear as him no matter your actual level.
The multiplayer mode puts an emphasis on customization, as players that reach level 4 can decorate their own Marine with all sorts of items and colors, much like painting your own Warhammer 40,000 figurine. As you progress through the modes, using different weapons and unlocking special bonuses, you can fit new pieces of armor and equipment on your custom character.
While there are just a couple of modes and quite a few maps, Space Marine's multiplayer mode will be enriched in the future, so it's definitely worth spending some time with it.
Visuals and Sound Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine looks pretty good, even if it abuses a bit of the gray industrial feel of the planet where it takes place. Levels do alternate a bit between areas, ranging from large, open battles near the hallmarks of the planet, to cramped and messy brawls on the inside of these structures. Titus and his comrades look very good and maintain their style even when covered from head to power armor toe in the blood of their enemies.
Sound-wise, there's a heavy orchestral score, which complements the glorious adventures of the Ultramarines on the screen, as well as the British colonial nature of the Imperium. Voice actors do a proper good job, with Mark Strong doing a stellar job of bringing Captain Titus to life, while a variety of British actors smoothly handle the rest of the characters.
Conclusion Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is a fun game, combining quite a few great elements into a mix of shooting and brawling that's as fun as it sounds. The gameplay is tight, the multiplayer is decent, even if it's still without quite a few features, and the presentation rounds off a solid package.
Seeing as how the Space Marine bet paid off in spades, we're more than looking forward to a sequel from Relic and THQ.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is available for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms, and supports controllers on the computer.
