Video games love to show off their technical prowess, whether it’s throughgraphical capabilities, complex AI behaviors, or in many cases, sheer numbers. Real-time strategy games have long held the title for this, with some able to boast thousands of units engaged in battle at once. However, it has clearly been a goal of action games to catch up in this regard, with games as far back as theDynasty Warriorsseriesand 2005’sSpartan: Total Warriordoing their very best to create that feeling of the player being one of many soldiers engaged in massive battles.
While certain games, like Valve’s fantasticLeft 4 Deador the innovativeMiddle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, have undoubtedly furthered what is possible in terms of representing the numbers the player is up against, the engagements often felt more like a large skirmish than taking part of a larger battle.Space Marine 2does a fantastic job at creating the sense of scale required to make the player feel that they are engaged in a full-scale war much larger than themselves and a big part of this is the huge numbers of enemies it manages to throw at the player via its horde technology.
5Xenos Hordes Are Better Than Zombie Hordes
Space Marines Beat Out “Survivors”
Xenos hordes suit the universe. While the technology on display was used previously in Saber Interactive’sWorld War Z: Aftermath, which is itself an adaption of the Max Brooks novel, there is a good argument that it is better suited to theTyranids of Warhammerthan the relatively new trope of fast zombies.
It is certainly a spectacle to see the vast hordes of xenos flooding over the horizon and it feels more appropriate to be playing as a bulky killing machine boldly facing off against them rather than some schmo who happened to survive the apocalypse and also just happens to be a fearless sharpshooter with a machine gun.
Rip And Tear
Bothmelee and gunsare applicable and satisfying ways of tackling the hordes. In most other instances of player vs horde combat gameplay, once the horde reaches the player, it’s all over. However, inSpace Marine 2there is the simplistic but satisfying option of slicing and smashing the opposing force until nothing but meaty chunks remain.
While other classics of the genre such asLeft 4 Deadalso have a melee option with which there is undoubtedly fun to be had, it doesn’t carry quite the same satisfaction or offensive capabilities of a Space Marine and his chainsword.
Shock And Awesome
Space Marine 2hits just the right level of difficulty between allowing the player to feel like anabsolute powerhouseand demonstrating how quickly tables can turn should the player find themselves surrounded and panicked. A lapse in concentration during these close encounters can be deadly and creates a nice balance between the Ultra Marine power fantasy and Tyranid horde horror.
Through this, it also creates a very faithful adaption of the miniature wargame and the two armies represented. No doubt a very difficult and daunting task to have surmounted.
Blood For The Blood God
It looks nice (in a really nasty way). While it’s an unlikely trend to be seen on the runway during Paris Fashion Week, blood and guts can be beautiful. Saber Interactive clearly gets this. Titus can (and will) get covered in blood over the course of a level. Even his little cape can become completely sodden with claret. So can his squad mates. So can the Termagant next to the one currently being ripped in half by a chainsword. Traumatizing for him. Delightful for the player.
In many otherplayer vs horde gamesenemies just fall like dominoes, while there can certainly be satisfaction in thatSpace Marine 2really generates fantastic feedback to the player on just how much destruction they are creating and the mass of wet, red earth left behind after a battle stands as testament to the players hard work.
Over The Hill With The Claws Of 10,000 Termagants
This may seem redundant but it actually makes all the difference. Few games deliver the on screen numbers that they initially promised but here there are no lies being told. That insanely large looking swarm in the distance, that actually exists. Should the player fire a shot amongst them they will see the little red “X” that indicates one down, hundreds to go.
And they probably should get shooting because moments laterthat swarm will be descendingupon them and their team and that universal truth of the Warhammer world, “In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war”, will really start to impose its honesty upon the player.
