Space Marine 2's Old School Multiplayer Is Also its Best Kept Secret
The newest Warhammer 40,000 game is a throwback in the best way.
There’s a lot to love about Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. It’s an approachable, grounded introduction to the wildly complex lore of this 40-year-old science fantasy world. Its stellar three-player campaigns are fun, bloody affairs that practically beg players to run through them a second time. And the game is a stunning graphical showcase on all current-generation hardware.
But among all of the praise it deserves, the game’s humble but unexpectedly robust multiplayer suite is what has surprised me the most. And there’s a very strong chance that it will keep me coming back for more in the months ahead.
Space Marine 2 is one of the most complete gaming packages I’ve seen in games in a while. Not only do players get a 12-hour campaign that can be played in single-player or co-op, but they also get a wave-based horde mode that provides interesting scenarios across a few different maps, as well as competitive multiplayer.
Space Marine 2 is as feature-complete as it gets.
While this checklist of modes and features was standard some 15 years ago, seeing this today feels unique. Likely due to the rising costs of game development, it's far more common to find games that are very clearly putting all eggs into one well-crafted playable basket. And it's understandable. Why pour additional resources into a Helldivers 2 single-player campaign when the core of its co-op multiplayer is so compelling? For something like Cyberpunk 2077, why add development time to a mode that won’t hold a candle to the mainstays players can’t put down?
Space Marine 2, however, is an exception to the rule that I’m glad exists for a multitude of reasons. The main reason is that developer Saber Interactive seemed to have zero interest in emulating the standard for multiplayer modes today. Booting up Eternal War, the in-universe name for Space Marine 2’s PvP mode, immediately subverted my expectations. After a brief message explaining what to expect, it swiftly loaded me into a match with 11 other players and let me get to the action. When my team lost, it brought us all back to a results screen followed by a menu and a prompt for the next match.
There were no notifications reminding me to check out the microtransaction shop. There were no ads for battle passes or tiers of membership to keep track of. Armor pieces used to deck out your Space Marine didn’t have price tags, but little messages that told the player what level they needed to be to earn the cosmetic. This was as barebones a multiplayer mode as you can get. And as a result, I immediately lost hours of my night.
Space Marine 2’s multiplayer is a breath of fresh air.
Even how it plays is so refreshing. There isn’t an unlimited combination of guns, player perks, and side arms and levels for each of those aspects. This is a pared-down take on multiplayer. One with just six Space Marine classes that each have a single special ability. There’s something for everyone: nimble marines with grappling hooks, marines with a jetpack that can attack from above, shield-carrying heavies, and more.
The limited variety of options means you can find what works for you in just a few matches. The limited classes also mean that things have been balanced to ensure everyone’s mostly on a level playing field, making it easy to stay focused on the fun. Thankfully, it's also very easy to tell what’s going on at all times thanks to its large legible characters that don’t move lightening fast.
Space Marine 2 might not be the best multiplayer I’ve ever played. I could argue that Black Ops 6, which just wrapped a second-weekend beta test, is technically the stronger of the two offerings thanks to the world-class foundation and smooth gameplay that Call Of Duty has built over 21 years. But there’s a certain honesty to Space Marine 2’s multiplayer that makes it less of a headache to engage with. It’s energizing to play something that’s not constantly reaching for my wallet.
It’s nice that it isn’t jam-packed with superfluous additions that do nothing to enhance the experience of actually playing it. Space Marine 2 isn’t asking me to download a useless client like the Call Of Duty HQ that wastes my precious hardware space. Nor is it promising me weekly episodic cutscenes that will unnecessarily bog down the development team. It isn’t blatantly laser-focused on trying to get me to play it, and hopefully for its publisher, nothing else available on the market.
Customization is there if you want it, but doesn’t feel like the driving force behind why Space Marine 2’s multiplayer exists.
Instead, Space Marine 2 seems focused on building a fun multiplayer offering, one with a small selection of guns and a meta that is easy to pick up and understand for players of all skill levels. This is multiplayer as I remembered it. Multiplayer as I prefer it. While there is a season pass available, it only offers a handful of cosmetics that hardcore fans of the tabletop game will appreciate. As someone who’s just starting his Warhammer journey, I’m totally fine unlocking my armor pieces the old-fashioned way.
Had Space Marine 2 dropped at the height of the Xbox 360 era, there’s a solid chance it would’ve been written off as a tacked-on mode that had some thrills worth experiencing, but wouldn’t compete with the big boys like Halo 3 or Call Of Duty 4. However, so far removed from the days of a straightforward competitive multiplayer mode, one not ride with today’s standard live service features, Space Marine 2 ends up being the breath of fresh air that I wish more developers were brave enough to provide.
Sometimes, I don’t need incentives to keep me playing. Sometimes, the multiplayer speaks for itself.
