I strongly recommend: Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 (Review)

Thanks to Nvidia and Gigabyte Aorus for sponsoring the video. Click here to learn more about how Nvidia's and Gigabyte's cutting edge GPU hardware will transform the way you play: www.aorus.com/...
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Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 is out-dated (in the best possible way).
Video written and voiced by Ralph P.
Edited by Austin B and Stuart K.
#Review #warhammer40k #SpaceMarine2
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[@SkillUp]

Thanks to Nvidia and Gigabyte Aorus for sponsoring the video. Click here to learn more about how Nvidia's and Gigabyte's cutting edge GPU hardware will transform the way you play: www.aorus.com/en-au/graphics-cards/GV-N408SAORUS-M-16GD/Key-Features

[@markthompson4567]

the game is over priced for what you get so it couldn't of added all the extra money grabbing tactic used by other games a 7 hour story mode for £55 is to much money to ask when you have zero interest in the MP mode

[@tobyscustoms4813]

When you get that targeting reticule on a downed foe if you shoot it you will also regain shield

[@sollice01]

Space Marine 2, a recommended game sponsored by AMD, sponsored by Nvidia 😂 couldn't make it up

[@slakr2392]

And what’s also great for the game is, The Collectors Edition has a Disk 🤩👏🔥👏🔥👏🔥

[@SlackWi]

It's the most 'video game ass video game' I've played in a long while. It's so nostalgic.

[@kaladinstormblessed8790]

You played Evil West?

[@SlackWi]

@@kaladinstormblessed8790 i have not, should i?

[@kaladinstormblessed8790]

@@SlackWi if you want a video game ass video game absolutely. Fun western vampire slayer with combat in the same vain as SM2, but with a little more God of War. Fun time

[@SlackWi]

@@kaladinstormblessed8790 thanks man, ill check it out

[@markedone494]

A live service unfinished game with broken AI? Really? The broken ai part i get, a lot of old games do that, but removing 80% of content so it can be added later doesnt feel very vintage to me

[@bernardobastos5996]

Space Marine 2. Boltgun. Rogue Trader. Mechanicus. Darktide. 40k fans have been eating good lately.

[@Ghouleh3133]

Mechanicus 2 cannot come soon enough, brother.

[@bernardobastos5996]

@@Ghouleh3133 The Omnissiah wills it!

[@conaldeugenepeterson2147]

Rogue Trader is so damn good. It kinda sucks it gets overshadowed by BG3.

[@MixedMilk1]

​@conaldeugenepeterson2147 its that good? Ill have to give it a go after this.

[@conaldeugenepeterson2147]

@@MixedMilk1 it’s definitely not as polished, but the build variety is absolutely insane. The narrative branches are very thorough too. Also outside maybe the Total Warhammer games, the lore is some of the deepest for Warhammer in general for a game.

[@AdvocatusDiaboliFin]

I waited for Space Marine 2 almost as long as Ancient Rylanor waited for Fulgrim.

[@michaelcaricoo]

luckily you didn't need your virus bomb

[@chonkyseal7164]

And we got a glorious virus bomb as a reward.

[@greylaw2546]

I love how any time Warhammer is involved in anything, there will be references people make to the most obscure stuff in the lore, and a lot of people will still get it. I also get it btw fuck Fulgrim rylanor a real emperors chosen

[@leatherjerk2192]

“I am Rylanor and I am the Ancient of Rites! So now I reject now and for always!” - Stringstorm

[@mcmarkmarkson7115]

Jesus christ

[@vrkosa3061]

Fun Fact: All the colours in customisation are named after the real life official warhammer paints from Citadel

[@samjones337]

This is another reason I love the customization so much. No goofy skins or cosmetics that are unfriendly to the lore.

[@burnttoast26]

@@samjones337Technically you could argue that the names with Warhammer Fantasy references are lore breaking, but that's nitpicking

[@Richard-qx2zx]

@@samjones337 To be fair, that is easier when your lore is forty years of adding goofy skins and cosmetics to the official canon because it looks sick.

[@TheOneCrispy1533]

These are the KOTOR Remake devs, I’m so happy.

[@acceptablecasualty5319]

If they stick to the narrative highpoints of the Original only, we have nothing to fear. If they decide to re-write the story themselves, well... that could go either way.

[@aravindpallippara1577]

@@acceptablecasualty5319 I am a little more interested in the second one's remake - it has far more to gain from the treatment as well.

[@TheOneCrispy1533]

@@acceptablecasualty5319 i think this is like the best case scenario for the remake right now, Saber is like an old school, non woke, quality, independent developer that seems to respect the source material.

[@NorthHD]

@@TheOneCrispy1533 sorry to break it to you, but "woke" people helped make this game! One of the writers is a trans women! Oh no!

[@Wraiven22]

@@TheOneCrispy1533people who call things woke unironically are troglodytes

[@Renagale]

You found warhammer lore videos that are 12hours?????? I didn't know they came that short.

[@Vince01]

@@Renagale Those lore videos mostly consist of the same shit happening somewhere else in the universe with different people. I'm so mindblown that this IP is so loved. It's so incredibly 2-dimensional. There's literally only war. "Yeah, but they shoot with bullets the size of a fist, dude!" OH NO WAY!?

[@hyteclowlife]

@@Vince01 You sound like a nerd who doesn't know cool shit when it happens right in front of your face

[@TylerDiddaThing]

​@@Vince01 I can see that point, but there's a lot of depth. There's plenty of silly goofy dark stuff, but a ton of excellent stories and characters.

[@Vince01]

@@TylerDiddaThing while I trust that's true, I haven't seen them yet. I guess we'd have to read the books for that because all the games -- even the good ones -- show I wanna say a childlike simplicity to the 40K universe.

[@TylerDiddaThing]

@Vince01 some games i recommend are battlesector, chaos gate daemonhunter, and rogue trader as recent greats. Dawn of war if you like rts. book wise the horus heresy has an awesome starting trilogy, and the audio book versions are fantastic!

[@GeremyG]

As a Warhammer newcomer this game did an excellent job introducing me to the world. The campaign was a little short but mostly enjoyable. It did get a little repetitive after a while but still a solid experience.

[@bonecollector5]

I honestly found it to long. I was getting pretty bored of the campaign halfway through.

[@KB-ql8cx]

@@bonecollector5that’s weird especially considering it’s very short

[@requiemagent3014]

Remember the time when we had Halo campaign lengths and everyone was praising the quality of those? A campaign does not need to be long or bloated with nothing. Look no further than any Ubisoft style open world game. A campaign needs to be high quality. That is all that matters and by the Emperor this game delivers

[@michaelschneider1365]

Is it good replay for solo play. I don’t care for multiplayer much or co op. But love a good action fun.

[@rutgerv.6050]

@@bonecollector5 I have the same thing. i wouldn't say bored but after a week I want to play operations, but im still busy with the campaign. so I have a bit of fomo. But I also know that in a while I wish that I can play the campaign fresh again so im taking my time.

[@EthelJung-j5w]

Space marine 2 having PVP reminds me of Bioshock 2 having PVP. It felt so random but was actually entertaining.

[@Psycorde]

Fun fact, Warframe developers made multiplayer for Bioshock 2

[@AstroZombie29]

Meanwhile Blizzard is sitting on the Starcraft franchise doing fuckall with it when they could pretty much have their own space marine shooter

[@Trepanation21]

They probably realize how not-unique Starcraft is, lol.

[@FH-cn3mg]

@@Trepanation21 Well they ripped off 40k...so...yeah they've known all along.

[@andrewkelley3434]

Blizzard tried to make a third person shooter based on the Terran faction of Starcraft. It was never released, it died in development for one reason or another. If you are interested, look up Starcraft: Ghost.

[@LaughingSkull451]

How about Overwatch? Couldn't they just put PVE into it? OH WAIT...

[@realVvD]

EXACTLY

[@bonjoviburneraccount8148]

This game single-handed;y cured my Destiny 2 live service brain

[@SasukeUchiha-vb2vy]

Honestly a few bangers to play alongside a long running game like D2 is such a good break in between seasons.

[@Ian501st]

The emperor protects

[@xanderdaniels8284]

God Destiny 2 makes me so sad. I’ve never played a game that got me as invested as D1 did. It’s such a shame how badly the series has declined.

[@geofff.3343]

@@bonjoviburneraccount8148 By replacing it with SM2 live service brain. Because it is a live service vehicle.

[@Mike_Viola]

Same brother, the Emperor has saved us from Nurgle's Live Service rot.

[@weeabridge_entertainment]

Dear SkillUp, please stop "strongly recommend"-ing these bangers to me... I'm afraid that my wallet cannot take it anymore. 😂

[@Ziggyvu]

For real. Meanwhile he makes Austin review Concord too 😂😂😂

[@diamondhamster4320]

@@Ziggyvu RENT FREE

[@diamondhamster4320]

There are alternative solutions if you only care about Single-player stuff.

[@EEKman71]

My wallet is ralphing money. Thanks Ralph

[@stotgunvsface5092]

Just keep away from actual warhammer. If you think video games are expensive, your wallet would cry trying to buy the miniatures.... as I look at my 3k of minis...

[@gabrielmera6806]

30:25 small correction, every time you win you actually get a cosmetic for your class. It's actually what keeps me motivated to win and I haven't played the objective this hard in a pvp game in a while because of it. Fantastic review though I agreed with everything!

[@peeledapples4176]

Yeah, you feel so motivated to win because it unlocks more cosmetics, which feels like the true endgame. They were so clever to tie everything into the cosmetic unlocks.

[@Ihryk]

KZbin recommended me WTF Is... - Warhammer 40k : Space Marine ? today and it made me sad.

[@Death_Classic]

Crazy to think it's been so long, TB was one of the best to ever do it

[@zavi3rz]

Same here. RIP TB 🙏

[@jonadamson1201]

It hit the feels hard to see his name in the credits for Space Marine 2 - such a nice touch by Saber.

[@NeroDMC-jw6hf]

RIP Total Biscuit! He would have been bigger than SkillUp as a reviewer if he lived today.

[@人参コウゲキ]

I listen to his videos from time to time just to hear his voice again.

[@EthelJung-j5w]

Did you say 6-8 hour campaign? Good lord my experience was nothing like that, solid 12 hours here on just veteran.

[@joejimmy9074]

lol. Was 4 for me.

[@Vesperon]

We all play games differently I would probably be on the longer end of the spectrum. I like to stop and smell the flowers.... Or the dead bodies

[@GetMyNerdOn]

I literally didn't care for or know anything about 40k besides that space marines looked cool until I got this game to play with a friend and now I'm probably 40 hours of Warhammer lore videos deep and playing Rogue Trader on the side. Space Marine 2 has been incredible lol

[@SledTillDead]

Rogue Trader is fantastic, especially for world building

[@acceptablecasualty5319]

It really is incredible what established lore and worldbuilding can do for a game as a project

[@GetMyNerdOn]

@@SledTillDead I'm only a few hours in but absolutely loving it so far. I feel like I know a lot of the overarching large plot points of the Warhammer timeline in general, so seeing the more minute details has been super cool

[@xavierpeele4048]

The emperor protects!

[@MapllTree]

The same thing happened when I played Darktide the first time with a friend who's deep in the lore! Also been playing Rogue Trader for more lore!

[@rd-um4sp]

Black Myth: Wukong launches with resounding success, _AAA_ quality and without nickel-and-diming its players Space Marines 2 launches with resounding success, _AAA_ quality and without nickel-and-diming its players AAA publishers: "No stupid battle passes? No overpriced skins? Not broken at launch? These are not real AAA games."

[@TheHighborn]

The real AAAA games lol.

[@travelingspartan2035]

SM2 actually does have a battle pass.

[@philbarton2832]

Don't forget Astrobot! It's honestly been a very good year for gaming

[@fentanylfrog8403]

Don’t forget about Astro Bot, which launched with resounding success, _AAA_ quality and without nickel-and-diming its players, despite being essentially a playable ad for Sony. Just shows that amazing things can happen with passionate developers and no BS.

[@mekilla1788]

Add the DnD game to that list.

[@Phrosnite]

Space Marine 1 did the glory kills that heal you in 2011... Modern Doom came out in 2016...

[@nickochioneantony9288]

Lifesteal has been a thing since the original Warcraft 3. The consumable restoration is probably obsolete, like in 2007. That was when game like Prototype, Infamous, and Skyrim allow Lifesteal in a 3rd person combat. SM1 and Doom 2016 only make it as a mean to an end with extra brutalized moves. And it's a great formula since the game is heavily combat oriented. Although it is sad that this feature is marketed as "innovative", "engaging", "Doom-like" by some journalist... it's like they don't have anything better to say.

[@Brioshie]

Had immense fun and joy from this game, feels like something made a decade+ ago. And has so much content. VFM 100%. Get it brothers!

[@requiemagent3014]

Yeah no idea what people are on about content wise. I have 110 hours in this game and only have four classes at 100% progression. If you want all six classes, I strongly recommend not playing Bulwark or Assault they are so bad right now, you are looking at 200 hours minimum. But yeah no content. Absolutely laughable what some people say about this game

[@cirescythe]

​@@requiemagent3014yea same. Its just fun. I got roughly 80 hours. And i only played when i wanted to. Because other than in D4, Tekken, mk1 and so on, i dont HAVE to play non stop.

[@whenallelsfails21]

​@@requiemagent3014 I just clutched on the hardest difficulty as an assault so youre just ass. Also bulwark is broken in a good way, his ultimate has saved my squad like 100 times already. Unless you're talking about pvp which I do not care about in the slightest. And yeah this game has barely any content. Could have gave us 12 operation missions and I would have been good for a year but no.

[@requiemagent3014]

@@whenallelsfails21 You clearly don't play this game in any serious capacity. The current meta is pretty clear cut. Tactical with Melta and Sniper with Las Fusil are must picks. The third slot is usually reserved for Heavy with heavy Melta. But Vanguard with Melta also works. Third slot is personal preference. With a Melta or Las Fusil you can heal to max health with even the tiniest sliver of contested health. This is an intended game mechanic. So Bulwark is absolutely useless. It lacks firepower and the healing factor doesn't make any sense when Melta heals more reliably and faster. Assault is just a joke. No idea why this class isn't deleted from the game. I have absolutely no defense for that thing. You can play whatever you want but those two classes are not considered viable right now and nobody wants you in a serious team comp. When lethal gets released next month expect getting kicked from teams constantly

[@selectionn]

@@requiemagent3014 most people arent playing the multiplayer stuff, it has literally no content if you arent interested in multiplayer stuff. the campaign can be finished in one sitting, and then thats it.

[@adityam7866]

There's so many references to the tabletop. When Titus said: "Raise your Armor of Contempt" when facing the Thousand Suns I legitimately got goosebumps

[@Ghouleh3133]

The sons of Magnus have no chance when their AP is reduced by 1.

[@StrikeNoir105E]

Just a note: the Campaign itself is also playable in Coop, where two other players take control of Chairon and Gadriel. The "Coop PvE" this video often mentions is more officially referred to as "Operations" to differentiate it from the Campaign Coop.

[@11679MRT]

Bolt Gun Space Marine 2 ...40k bringing back the good ol days

[@Vince01]

@@11679MRT Nice, you just described at least 50% of what 40K is all about.

[@The_Wailing_Doom]

The Emperor protects his faithful!

[@TheAgentmigs]

As person that follows 40k through the books and tabletop game..I can fully say that the visual tone and quality is everything the universe is supposed to be. The scale of everything makes you feel small, even as a 10 foot talk genetically modified dude. Everything is dirty and dark. The architecture is ornate and ancient juxtaposed by technology interspersed throughout. The developers getting this right is such a fresh breath of air in a industry that tends to recreate intellectual property with such a heavy hand.

[@diamondhamster4320]

Nah, it is sadly not 100% lore and cannon accurate.

[@YouCanCallMeReTro]

I remember playing World War Z being amazed at the cinematics and scale of the enemies. I didn't know that it was the same developer but I wasn't surprised when I found out later and its no wonder Warhammer's aesthetics are amazing, it was the perfect team for the job.

[@StunningModelAaliyahAustin-l1d]

You actually unlock each PVE mission when you reach certain sections of the campaign, like usually they say something like "we need to do this but can´t" and then the other squad appears in the hangar showing that you now can do the mission in between the campaign missions

[@vivamexico254]

Thats how i did it ! So i never got the whole campaigns is too short complaint.

[@IAmDaDumb1]

You don’t have to beat the campaign missions to unlock the operations. I beat all the operations before beating the campaign. The details will just be hidden and if you click on it it’ll warn you of spoilers but you can then just proceed anyway

[@userjatto1603]

@@IAmDaDumb1that’s crazy, I had no idea. I assumed because it’s hidden I couldn’t click on it

[@shadowmich]

what the fuck is up with ur username and profile? :p

[@shadowmich]

Are u a bot? XD

[@jakstheoneandonly]

About the campaign: pump the difficulty to veteran, it vastly improves the enemy encounters and drives you to learn the parry mechanics and make more substantial decisions about your loadout. Other than that, the Emperor protects.

[@Asriel_Cypher]

Game that makes people say : Hell yeah.

[@hussar5695]

Hell yeah

[@XSAGA87]

Hell Yeah

[@aleczanderg8765]

I STRONGLY recommend playing operation missions before the corresponding champaign missions when they come up. You get the full story in order this way. As opposed to waiting until after the champaign to play all the operations. They are not stand-alone, they are tied to each other.

[@zeeochance]

There are missions that have you drink champagne? Sounds interesting.

[@GamingRobioto]

🥂

[@jw7500]

Thanks Sabre interactive, most Space Marine kits in the hobby stores are now sold out lmao. But seriously, this game is good

[@MrCovi2955]

I don't know why everyone reviewing Space Marine 2 credits Doom with the origins of "push forward combat." In the era that Gears of War was cementing "just sit behind the wall for the entire firefight" combat, Space Marine 1 implemented the first "executions heal you, so push forward" combat. But every review of Space Marine 2 seems to think Doom made it in 2016, when Space Marine 1 had it 5 years earlier in 2011

[@robizunreal]

As a 40k fan, the beginning of the campaign took a bit to get into and I was going to put it down, but as soon as the 3rd mission came in I was loving it and standing up and yelling “hell yeah brother” like an excited Hulk Hogan. There were a couple of bits that contained small snippets of some of my favourite scenes and lines in gaming. Some of the most epic words since “I am Davian Thule … and I shall be your death!”

[@Bookish1995]

It seems repetitive

[@arksolaire28]

How did the deathwatch intro not immediately get a warhammer fan hyped I’ll never know

[@Lucky-sh1dm]

@@arksolaire28bro fr first 2min of the opening cutscene I was LOCKED IN

[@nhanon67as]

@@Bookish1995that’s how I feel. I just know it’s something I’ll put down after like 6 hours

[@thenute4087]

My personal GOTY this year. Knew nothing about Warhammer and never played one before. Now it’s got me watching Warhammer lore videos. For the Emperor!

[@CMA777]

The perfect sequel. Basically “more of the same” but with enough twists on the original game’s formula to force a pleasurable change in the combat puzzles. And yes, SM1 pioneered the “glory kill” before DOOM did it.

[@animegaming4057]

Also, for those who care about offline mode, I’ve tested this, both the coop and campaign can be played without internet connection. PvP is the only thing lost. This purchase is well worth it due to this.

[@Turnoutburndown]

Yeah like I picked up Anthem for 3$ the other day. You can't even load into the main menu of that game without an internet connection!

[@Cipher_X_x]

Are you able to gain XP in offline operations? I read that wasn’t going to happen

[@esaedvik]

You can also disable Easy Anti-Cheat for solo/offline. I don't wanna paste it here, but it's on page 3 of TechPowerUp's performance analysis article.

[@TheBlueGoldenHawk]

Is it possible to leave a solo PvE mission halfway and continue later?

[@Trepanation21]

In my experience, progress is NOT saved if you're in Offline mode. I got over 5 levels, unlocked a bunch of cosmetics, etc all solo w/bots in Offline Mode. When my friend logged on, I switched SM2 back to Online mode the way it tells you to, and all of that progress was lost/not recorded. This is in line with what the developers had stated, AFAIK.

[@IshikawaMusicPalette]

Going to give a shout-out to Exoprimal here, rest in peace. Good ol' PvE horde shooter that took a lot of chances, some good, some bad. There was some mild PvP flavor, minimal monetization, and had a generally excellent gameplay loop with good character kits and a shit ton of dinosaurs. Like space marine 2 and kinitsugami, I hope publishers keep giving these "riskier" games a chance!

[@bucketboyjr]

You can unlock all of the cosmetics in the game playing exclusively PvP. It is said in the video that you do not unlock anything via performance in the "Eternal War" PvP mode. This is incorrect. You unlock the cosmetic armor sets by both beating PvE missions AND winning PvP matches. Because the PvP matches are so much faster than operations you can unlock all of the cosmetics for the PvE classes quite quickly. For example, I only play sniper in the PvP gamemode but when I play operations I have a level 1 sniper with all of the cosmetic armors unlocked. The weapon leveling system, however, is tied to game mode and does not crossover. Awesome video, just wanted to let people know there is an inncentive to play PvP as you will unlock drip to please the emperor.

[@VGMFan20XX]

GOTY Make sure to vote for it when the opportunity arises! Let the devs know "yes, more of this." Playing on "Ruthless" difficulty is a game changer. Such an incredibly satisfying experience. You have to think fast and every decision matters. Highly recommend for people that are starting to feel like it's repetitive.

[@03dashk64]

Look, it’s a pretty good game. Fun time with serious flaws. But this is NOT GOTY, not even close.

[@VGMFan20XX]

@@03dashk64 Taste is subjective you silly goose. Totally cool if you don't feel that way :D What game are you hoping makes GOTY? [Genuine curiosity]

[@whatifindbeautiful]

Nah...Concord is GOTY. In fact I'm just sitting in the lobby waiting for a few more players to drop in and game. Should be any time now..... Any time...

[@VGMFan20XX]

@@whatifindbeautiful Ayyyyyyyeeeee *finger guns* XD

[@makasete30]

I think with a metacritic score of 83 is too low to since it’s the reviewers who are judges and ultimately decide the GoTY, not the players. Wukong is rated in the low 80s, too, but since it sold the most this year will probably be nominated for the impact it had. Astrobot is the highest rated game so far, then FF7 Rebirth. I think they have more of a chance of winning realistically. Has a game with a metacritic score below 90 ever won GoTY?

[@Villain_in_Glasses]

"Really disruptive weather event", man has played Space Marine so much he's starting to think like one.

[@jesuseduardoroldan]

2024: sooo? Is this a Video Game?? 2012: This is what a Video Game suppose to be.

[@Legion1620]

Real quick, PVP is 6v6 and winning a PvP match does count towards unlocking a class cosmetic as if you have completed a coop mission. Weapon unlocks for PVP are also handled by an account level that increases no matter which class is played.

[@harrisonnguyen5432]

Yes it does

[@shootinbruin3614]

From Saber CEO Matt Karch himself; “… All I wanted was a throwback game. We had the chance to work on something which by its nature was ‘old school’… We worked on Halo back in the day, and that game could be distilled down to the simplest of shooting loops, but it was entirely addicting. That is what we wanted to recapture. I hope that games like Space Marine 2 and Wukong are the start of a reversion to a time when games were simply about fun and immersion.” I think the team at Saber nailed it!

[@Monumentum616]

Fake comment mate.

[@combatwombat2134]

Please stop sharing this. Just do a teeny tiny bit of verification before you go around posting stuff you've seen online. It literally takes two seconds but I suspect you've seen this from Asmongold who didn't check, either.

[@joshuayung5158]

​@@combatwombat2134No, I'm the Fabricator General of Mars and I can confirm his content is totally true. There is no Void Dragon sleeping under Mars.

[@combatwombat2134]

@@joshuayung5158 that's just what the void dragon would want us to believe.

[@IndoG117]

dunno if the comment was fake, but saber most definitely did work on halo: mcc and they were the ones behind halo: ce anniversary

[@alexelectricx]

Inquisitor - Martyr, Dark Tide, Rogue Trader, Space Marine 2. Warhammer hasn't released a bad game in years now!

[@superhumantrueman]

I enjoyed Mechanicus too! And needless to say Total War.

[@Chadsgamesonline]

Don't forget Boltgun!

[@punani_slayer4209]

Half of those games are only good for fans. They are objectively not good

[@justdracir8197]

Chaosbane was abhorent. And the smaller ones were whatever.

[@SledTillDead]

​Learn what objectively means, bozo. Guarantee you haven't played any of them. @punani_slayer4209

[@b130610]

I feel like we played 2 completely different campaigns lol. On the gameplay end, I felt forced to take a more cautious approach because I was playing solo, and it felt like a coinflip whether I was going to get enough executions to sustain in a close quarters brawl, and the AI companions were worse than useless a lot of the time. The weapons absolutely felt impactful to me because the stalker bolter, and the sniper were excellent for picking high value elites before the horde got to me so there was this rhythm of taking out dangerous ranged enemies, clearing as much horde as I could, then having to find more cover to take out the next wave of elites. With the auto guns, and especially the heavy bolter, it felt like they had their place in the more sustained battles where the horde never stopped, and needed to be cleared faster than my melee could do it, and instead I had to rely on the plasma pistol to take out elites. Surely I didn't find the optimal way to play the game in just a few hours, but I definitely felt like my weapon choices were important to getting through the encounters. As for the story, I groaned every time the brothers rehashed the exact same character drama from the first game, with absolutely no interpersonal growth, or introspection from Titus on his situation with warp resistance until the very end. I was really disappointed about this because Titus supposedly spent another 100 years in the deathwatch for his suspected crimes, but he shows no curiosity, or will to prove his innocence... just more blind denial, and pushing the plot point to a future game or dlc. The larger plot with the scheming adeptus mechanics, his naive apprentice, and the forces of chaos was much more compelling for me especially because of how it forshadowed future encounters that paid off big time with some of the set pieces in the back half of the game. Nothing ground breaking, but I though it was really effective as a skeleton for the game's level progression. I agree that it was a bit of a mixed bag, but definitely still glad to have played it just because of how stunning the presentation was.

[@wayneswirl]

Your hype the last few weeks was the reason i bought it day 1. I have not been disappointed. Waiting on a friend to get it so we can do co-op.

[@cumfarticus]

I'll team bbro

[@Rastamike808]

I remember gears of war being criticized because it was a “video game”. Now they’re praising Space Marine for doing the same thing.

[@kirkginoabolafia3650]

You know what sold me on this game? Crossplay on launch. I can play with my PC bros and my Xbox bros. Just being able to do that satisfies me enough. FOR THE EMPEROR!

[@acceptablecasualty5319]

AND with no Asterisk. We can only hope Sony, Microsoft or Epic don't decide to kneecap the game with some egotistical attempt to capitalize on the Playerbase.

[@kirkginoabolafia3650]

@@acceptablecasualty5319 *cough* Helldivers

[@jwash87]

Wow! no game does that nowadays.

[@chadparker6120]

As a tabletop player, seeing the imperial guardsmen's reaction to seeing the space marines made me tear up. The part with the dreadnought, absolute fing class. Like chefs kiss good.

[@requiemagent3014]

Easily the best 40k game ever made. Also the combat is just phenomenal. I have 110 hours in this game and only have completed four classes to 100% at this point. If you want everything you are looking at a bare minimum of 200 hours. This game is just absolutely fantastic and filled to the brim with content. It's also high quality content

[@syncopaint_minis3016]

If you are happy doing the same thing over and over. For me it’s getting boring very quickly. Servers are frustrating too.

[@TheAgentmigs]

Easily! The sky is the limit with the amount of content they can add to the base game.

[@blakehorsfield3379]

Rogue Trader is the best. DoW and DoW 2 easily clear this as well. More variety is sorely needed and the servers need fixing. It is fun though.

[@jwash87]

Darktide has much better combat.

[@requiemagent3014]

@@jwash87 No it has not. I have an ungodly amount of hours in Darktide and only play Auric damnation or Auric Maelstrom. Darktide literally cheats and just deletes players from the map when you are performing too well. Yeah you need to be actually good to notice this. Space Marine 2 combat flows like a waterfall. Nothing better than getting a perfect parry, followed up by a gun strike and an execution. With a Melta, which is a meta gun right now, this combat flows so well. Cannot remember a combat loop this satisfying for ages now

[@somemistakes6091]

The push forward and heal mechanic comes from the first game, not from Doom 2016, inspired the other way round I say

[@Damocles3]

And this is the point of the video where I stopped watching. The glory kill nonsese ruined Doom for me and this implementation seems especially dull. Melee is fine as an option, but not when forced.

[@jwash87]

First game did it much better.

[@Sir_Robin_of_Camelot]

I've always disliked that mechanic, especially in Doom. I don't want to finish the enemy off by watching a cutscene I've seen a million times already, I want to blast his head off with a shotgun. It's a power fantasy, don't wrestle control away from me.

[@Desmond-Dark]

@@Damocles3 I don't like the animation locking of glory kills, but I was still able to enjoy 2016. The sequel however... no I do NOT want to keep spamming animations to get ammo from enemies

[@claytonrios1]

This definitely feels old school in the best way. Multiplayer is so much fun and Titus will be in Secret Level so I'm interested in seeing how Warhammer continues to grow in the gaming space.

[@barontk]

I found the best campaign experience was doing the coop missions right when they became available, made it feel much more organic. Also, don't sleep on PvP. Sure it's barebones atm but it's the fastest way to unlock armor pieces/cosmetics (don't know how you missed it but THEY ARE shared between PvP and PvE) and I found it just so damn fun and addicting. Can't wait for them to release more content and expand on what's there with the success they're having.

[@AidenR19]

I actually needed a 40 minute skillup review after your very short astro bot review, thank you.

[@tlotlisomabelane5025]

shoutout to Saber for making such a sick 40K game.

[@TalentedTacoTrex]

While I thought this game was great I really wish the PvP and PvE progression wasn't so painfully slow

[@JOHNNY5GMG]

Painfully slow? ive heard the main game is like 8 hours long bro.....

[@TalentedTacoTrex]

@@JOHNNY5GMG the pve and pvp progression specifically is slow. Like I've played 25 pvp matches and am only level 7 and for PvE it's taken like 15 individual missions to just get one class to level 10 and there's still more levels. If you want to try new classes you'll be spending a ton of time replaying the exact same mission ad nauseam

[@requiemagent3014]

Put in the hours. It's not like this game isn't excellent. Also ignore PvP. This is not a real game mode.

[@bumponalog5001]

It’s not. I did like 12 operations and got my Heavy to Max already.

[@truecaliber1995]

​​@@TalentedTacoTrex I believe there are specific missions you can grind in the co-op mode. As for which ones yield the most optimal results, i.e. XP rewards, I can't say. There should be some guides up by now, though. 👍

[@michaelandrews117]

The amount of praise this game gets in this video for 'not being a live-service game' when the game has season passes laid out through to 2025, and has an update schedule like any other live-service game is genuinely kind of hilarious

[@agentcoriolis9208]

Seeing imperial guard and their vehicles in action in this game gives me nerd joy

[@Max_Gooch]

My friends and I have enjoyed it a lot when we do get to play together, but our big gripe with it right now is that the servers seem to be broken. That joining server bug turns every load screen into a roll of the dice if we’re going to stay together or not. Thankfully, campaign missions let us start from a previous checkpoint, but Operations are especially annoying since it’ll replace the dropped player with someone else almost instantly. And since there are no private lobbies at launch - for some weird reason - we’ve largely avoided that mode. Just warning others who plan on playing with their friends. You might want to wait until they fix all of this. It’s been incredibly frustrating for the three of us. It’s great when it works, but sometimes it takes an hour for us to actually start playing together.

[@sevendaysin8374]

Seconded. I had found a good fireteam finally during ops and was randomly disconnected joining my next round w/ them - it made me super sad to see that happen. That and poor matchmaking in terms of unique class selections at the first go, and those pesky chaos hordes need quite a bit of tuning, too...

[@requiemagent3014]

That is just a lie. Plain and simple. I have 110 hours in this game and had the infinite loading screen three times. They already put out a patch for this and it didn't happen even once since then. The game works just fine for thousands of people cross platform but you in particular cannot play. I call BS on that

[@Skishe]

@@requiemagent3014 it's probably a region server problem

[@tak4043]

@@requiemagent3014 Why you would claim so adamantly that anyone would lie about this issue is bizarre. I've seen hundreds of people complain about it. Just go argue with everyone in Steam discussion about it. They'll love you. I have 38 hours and failed to load close to a 100 times. Usually before the operation but never have I made it past 2 runs with the same group. Disabling crossplay helped a lot. Last few days it just disconnects me if I try to launch alone(warning sign being that I can't quickly find a team), which is a better problem since I don't have to wait hoping to load and then force close. Just exit to title screen and try again.

[@Max_Gooch]

⁠​⁠@@requiemagent3014 “Since it isn’t happening to me, it couldn’t happen to anyone else” 🙄 I was just trying to warn people, man. Not enough people are talking about the connectivity issues. I have video evidence of all three of my friends having the “Joining server” bug on the same night every time we’ve played together. PS5 players are talking about it frequently. And that patch was just a hotfix for crashes. What are you talking about? I wasn’t even saying this game is bad. Some people get so defensive. I REALLY enjoy this game, alright? Happy? Calm down, buddy.

[@BigDogBarnhart]

RIP TotalBiscut. He would’ve loved this.

[@cowmath77]

I disagree about the executions. It’s a nice 2-3 second break from the fire fight and you strategically map out your next execute during the existing. It’s a cool system.

[@NejiTheSaint]

The point on saber doing their homework is huge; I have 0 experience with warhammer, but had a great time just taking in the campaign. Meanwhile, I played with friends who were deep in the lore, and they were giddy pointing out crazy details, like soldier uniforms showing how long they were in service, or how significant certain characters glowing was. Awesome having a game that's a great time for both kinds of players

[@mishield1234]

This is why Evil West is so good! It feels like a 360 game in all the best ways

[@Libert1n3]

Evil West was also a great throwback game. Super under rated. Shadow Warrior 3 also

[@nhanon67as]

Played like 2 hours and dropped it

[@deusex3124]

As an indicator of how well done the customisation is the colours are named after and basically same as the actual paints you can buy from GW, so you can have the same colour scheme as an army you've painted. Not an overstatement to say this game looks amazing, never really seen the point of a Photomode in games before and then I played this. Screenshots can look so good they're like actual art from a 40K codex. I don't think any game has ever captured a 40K war zone so well, the scale and the unrelenting horror of it. The environmental world building is distinctly impressive, stumbling across a Cadian captain stood on a tank giving a rousing speech to a platoon of soldiers is the kind of background detail that they really didn't have to add but did just to flesh out the environment.

[@joeparas]

Ghost of Tsushima is the closest I can think of to this in terms of business model/value proposition rather, instead of PvP it's a longer campaign? Wasn't at launch though.

[@gamedone735]

Ghost of Tsushima sucks though

[@breaddoppio]

@@gamedone735 lunatic level take

[@scifigeezer5271]

​@@gamedone735🤡

[@gamedone735]

@@breaddoppio lol Ghost of Tsushima is just a ubisoft game made by sony

[@robtibbetts890]

I worked with Saber for a while in 2006. Inventing tech that kinda shouldn’t exist was their bread and butter even back then.

[@Astartes-6969]

PC Gamer gave this a 60%. But gave Star Wars Outlaws a 73%

[@funkrobot9762]

Yeah. There are these things called “opinions”.

[@Filthyy1]

And that tells you everything you need to know about pc gamer

[@makasete30]

@@funkrobot9762that’s also known politely as the outlier opinion. Skill Up also called it out as a surprisingly low score.

[@antonkirilenko3116]

They gave Gollum a 62 or 63.

[@joehynes2964]

Outlaws is a good game. Stop trying to compare it to this title. They are not remotely the same.

[@EKk8819]

Lets get this straight, no game in the 360 era had hordes this massive and smooth and just amazing looking! This game literally takes my breath away sometime.. The graphics in random spots in an online co op sometimes, I just stop and look around and smile.. It's that type of game..This game is all balls! 10/10

[@somemistakes6091]

One of the most satisfying games I’ve played or watched in a long time, great sequel and a great game

[@anthonynicholson5193]

I hope they develop this into a good PVE campaign system, for many years to come. They could do so much with the 40k universe with the skeleton of a system they already have

[@DipsJ]

Fantastic video! Just a small correction, you CAN in fact unlock Armor customization by playing PVP, the same customization is shared between PVP and COOP.

[@INMATEofARKHAM]

Courage and Honor!

[@thegamersconclave8709]

A thing to keep in mind is that the Devs have said that the campaign is just chapter 1 on an ongoing story.

[@Drasoini]

"Why do we have to slog through overmonetized slop" *glances at the Destiny 2 player narrating the video*

[@jwash87]

He's just virtue signaling. He knows gamers like hearing that type of rhetoric.

[@Drasoini]

@@jwash87 I was mostly just poking fun at him, not supporting whatever hate-boner you've got.

[@MythofJoy]

This is the same company that made Wwz. That’s why the melee combat and hordes feel so good and familiar for those who have played that

[@gunnarragnarsson9563]

One of the first time I don't agree. I found this game way too short for the asking price and everybody is saying how this goes back to the 'good old days'. In those days the focus wouldn't be redoing the 6 same missions over and over again to fill live service style progress bar to unlock a skill point or recolor. The Gears Of War games had 12 hour long campaigns and had more setpieces like turret sections, driving, the kyril section with the bat swarms etc. instead of 'push button for elevator and defend while it is coming' 50 times.

[@CriticalComplainer]

UMMM CORRECTION. Warhammer minis are pretty much all polystyrene plastic NOT metal. The age of metal miniatures is largely long since abandoned and even resin has been left behind with the exception of 3d printers.

[@BearToeWasTaken]

Ah yes, my opinion has arrived

[@Mister_Know_Name]

I'm over 90 hours in, I forgot the game released on the 5th. The operations pve missions are awesome and challenging. I can't get enough.

[@getyourbrainback]

I very, VERY rarely buy games at full price. The last two games I did that with delivered such differing returns; Elden Ring punched holes in my social life; Diablo 4 punched holes in my patience. Space Marine 2 came out when I had some extra scratch and I really took a risk but luckily I already had two other friends that bought in. I’m not even a third of the way through the main campaign and I’m simply giddy at the thought of the hours of dumb, pure fun to come with my battle brothers. I understand the apprehension that comes with shelling out AAA money for fresh releases because these days it’s a cruel gamble on how much respect for your time some of the publishers these days actually have. For whatever my frugal word is worth, please buy this game. It’s been rare when a game comes around with little to no buyer’s remorse attached to it, but I believe this is one of them. The Emperor needs more fearless warriors. I don’t even really know Jack shit about the lore but damn it, this game is indoctrinating me.

[@njsteere]

The Emperor decreed this game be a giant middle finger to the industry

[@polerli18]

A breath of old air...my favorite.

[@hughmac7423]

As someone who has been into Games Workshops Warhammer 40k since 1990's, has a massive collection of models that I've painted; I'm really enjoying this, I'm playing the campaign solo, and then also joining two friends to play it coop, it is great fun.

[@shd4618]

A modern game for the actual audience.

[@kato1kalin]

I don't know why more games don't use the ninja gaiden 1 for the xbox system of rewarded aggression. Yellow orbs- currency Blue orbs- Health Red orbs - nimpo Charging your heavy will do certain atracks but charging that attack while absorbing any of those orbs will super charge it and you get a completely unique attack. That system was the absolute pinnacle in rewarding aggressive play. Making second to second choices on wether to obsorb health or unleash a devastating attack was amazing. No glory kills needed.

[@moondancer89]

I'm sure this has been said already but just for my own sake, you can regain armour from doing gun counters, and it also regens if you don't get hit for like 30 seconds so the whole "you can't get armour back unless you go into melee" thing is just wrong

[@philbattiste9649]

Unfortunately, gun counters don't give i-frames or stagger resist. So if you're already overwhelmed, you're quickly gonna get put on your backfoot again.

[@obliviouscrab3125]

​@@philbattiste9649Hold melee to stagger around

[@Jackson-gf1cv]

50+ gunstrikes/QTE for meaningless armor per ruthless run is super fun. It DEFINITELY won’t get old at all.

[@quietwulf]

Sabre absolutely delivered. What a fantastic experience. Finished the campaign, turned right around, ramped up the difficulty and played it again. Top shelf and a pleasure to throw money at these guys. Bravo!

[@braevinmaund1210]

so you're not reviewing black myth wukong?

[@acceptablecasualty5319]

"I like Waffles." "I can't believe you hate Pancakes!"

[@braevinmaund1210]

@@acceptablecasualty5319 not funny and not applicable cuz he's reviewed so many games already that released way after wukong

[@SpectreAdept]

It came out around the time he was preparing and travelling to Gamescom so he probably didn't have time to do it.

[@braevinmaund1210]

@@SpectreAdept ok, thanks, that's the response i was looking for

[@bobbo8074]

I really love these reviews where Ralph gets to gush about how much he loves a game. Seriously some of the best writing on YT. He’s so good at articulating what makes that make a game enjoyable and the reasons it should be celebrated. Well done!

[@noah9942.]

Game is fun, for a few hours. It doesn't evolve at all throughout the game, the combat is really repetitive. Like by the end of the first hour, you've done everything that there is to do. If you're a big fan of 40k, go for it. Otherwise wait for a sale.

[@fizzyshellfish5439]

It's still in the Honeymoon phase. I'm sure it's a Good Game, but so often big splashy games like this release, and the Internet explodes with "Masterpiece!" "GOTY!" "10/10!"... wait a few weeks and the more realistic takes set in. I wish it ran better on the PS5. I'm hoping maybe they'll optimize it better, but it likely will never run smoothly on PS5.

[@SledTillDead]

Short attention spans are a modern epidemic. Hope you work through it man

[@Metranomix]

I disagree, but to each their own.

[@noah9942.]

@@SledTillDead has nothing to do with short attention spans. it's a common complaint of the game, even among it's fans. outside the short jetpack sequence, the game just doesnt evolve past the 1 hour mark.

[@jameswoodruff7095]

Skill up strongly reccomends this game, and then spent the next 35 minutes convincing me to not get this game.

[@jimelliott8931]

the games seriously not fun dont believe the hype

[@Soft_Cannoli]

The game was too hyped up and everywhere people are overstating its quality.

[@thetexasdolly7885]

Nothing better than the heaviest Scot accent saying “that beast is not yet dead”

[@EKk8819]

I love the source material, they didn't need to invent guns, they had warhammer, same with armor, same with enemies, bosses, etc! They just had to implement it right, and be creative, and they did! They did a perfect job recreating it!

[@scottdixon4366]

I'm starting to think we never realised how good we had it in the PS3 360 era

[@aledantih6524]

Space Marine 2 is definitely the first Warhammer game that should be nominated for GOTY. I'm not a Warhammer fan but this game single handedly got me looking into the universe. Just absolutely solid.

[@ItsJeff_]

They just did it right. I’ve been wanting this older style of video game to come back. Everything is there at launch, you’ve got your main story then pve and pvp for after. No drawn out, half baked game or drip feeding content. It’s just simple, as it should be. The fact that the battlepass is purely cosmetics and will be used to give us more content in the future for free is just a bonus. THIS is the kind of game we should be supporting because it will send a message to other companies that this is what people want. I’m glad I gave this game a shot🔥

[@danielalvarezarribas4660]

I very much appreciate the recent 4K uploads. The lower-res formats started to feel a bit outdated, especially with high-quality visuals. 4K makes it easier to appreciate great visuals, especially on large screens.

[@Hoboboots]

One correction at 29:00 You DO unlock cosmetics through PvP. The cosmetic pieces you see in the armory require successful Operations (PvE) OR PvP victories! However weapon cosmetics are locked to the individual modes. This game rules.

[@DrRipper19]

The last time I was involuntarily taking screenshots constantly while playing a campaign was New Colossus. SM2 is Jaw-Dropping visually, I never thought I'd see the setting represented so perfectly. Also I ADORED the pvp in space marine 1, so I probably would have bought it even if it was JUST a pvp mode.

[@Alextafur1]

One of the things that I think is helping my enjoyment of the campaign (and I'm loving it) is that I'm playing through the offshoot missions IMMEDIATELY after I play the story mission they shoot off from - and it's a blast to go back and forth between the "zoom and booom" vanguard with grapling hook and melta gun and Titus's more measured playstyle! it gives the experiecne a really welcome variety.

[@philbarton2832]

The way Ralph is describing the PvP mode gives me Uncharted 4 vibes, that games PvP mode was surprisingly so much fun and really didn't need to be there too.