During E3 I stood for a long time waiting to play a single game: Warhammer 40k: Space Marine. I am a huge Warhammer nerd and have been playing for a quite a few years now, so getting the chance to try the game hands on was a real treat for me and something I could rub into the faces of my friends. For those who are unfamiliar with it, Warhammer 40k started out as a miniatures table-top war game where multiple players can duke it out and attempt to wipe the floor with each other with many different factions.
The gameplay was pretty straight forward: shoot the enemy until you close into melee range and start slashing away at any Ork that is in front of you. It would sound like this is repetitive but it was pretty entertaining and did not get old during the twenty minute demo.
The design itself for the levels and characters felt like they were lifted straight from the Warhammer 40k rulebooks and codex’s. Instead of reinventing the environmental design, architectural design, enemy and character design, and weapon design, they managed to bring the common vision to life. This helped make it feel like I was that 8 foot tall Space Marine in a Gothic future world.
The sound of the game is beautiful destruction to the ears. A chainsword ripping through an Ork sounds like what you would expect a chainsword ripping through an Ork to sound like. It seems and feels like Relic took the time to listen to fans of the franchise and tried and stay faithful to the source material of the weaponry.
I truthfully enjoyed the level I got to play through; it felt like the experience I had always envisioned while playing the table-top game with my friends. So if you are looking for a game where you can play as an 8 foot tall kill machine, or you’re just a fan of the Warhammer 40k universe, then keep Space Marine on your radar and be ready for it to drop pods on to shelves September 6, 2011.
