Yeah! It's one I'd never heard of at all until Epic gave it away for free, and I'm super happy that I managed to catch my friend playing it, or I would've totally missed out on one of the most fun times I've had with a game this year~ ^w^
Games Beaten 2026
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PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2026
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
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ElkinFencer10
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Re: Games Beaten 2026
Games Beaten in 2026 - 18
* denotes a replay
January (2 Games Beaten)
February (1 Game Beaten)
March (3 Games Beaten)
April (2 Games Beaten)
May (2 Games Beaten)
June (5 Games Beaten)
July (3 Games Beaten)
18. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II - PlayStation 5 - July 6
I never got into Warhammer or Warhammer 40k. I always thought it looked super cool, but I was never really into tabletop gaming until the past couple of years, and I knew I'd bankrupt myself on minis if I let myself get into it. I do, however, love wanton violence against invading aliens, so I played through the remaster of the first Space Marine game not too long ago. Long story short, it was awesome, so I picked up a copy of the sequel. After giving myself a little bit of time to play other games to cleanse my palate, I dove in and found that this sequel is every bit as glorious and addicting as the previous game.
Like the first game, you play as the ultramarine Titus and are sent to the planet of Kodaku in response to a distress call. When you arrive, you find that the planet has been overrun by Tyranids and fight a desperate last stand battle for survival. Titus holds out valiantly, but in the end, his is overwhelmed and slain...or is he? By nothing less than the will and mercy of the Emperor, Titus clings to life just long enough for the techno priests to perform some insane operation to save his life and put him back in the fight. As his entire squad was wiped out, he is given command of a new squad with a new mission to fight the Tyranid invasion of Cadia. The story perfectly nails the grimdark tone I obsess over with a seemingly unwinnable fight, religious fanaticism, and a glimpse at the inner political workings of the Imperium.
The gameplay is basically the same as in the first game but refined. The balance between and seamless integration of swordplay and gunplay really make this game stand out from the crowd of shooters. I'm not sure I'm going to say that it feels smoother than Gears of War, but it does do a better job of putting melee in an equally important position to ranged combat than Gears does. The most metal part of the game is when you have literally hundreds upon hundreds of Tyranid enemies swarming you and trying to climb whatever wall you happen to be on top of. Whether it's a melee weapon or a grenade, it's immensely satisfying to watch dozens and dozens of bodies just fall.
Multiplayer has a few different game modes to choose from with most being cooperative but a few being your more traditional player vs player matches. More worth noting than the multiplayer, however, is the presentation and the visuals. Cut scenes and music are well crafted to deliver a sense of gravity to the narrative situation, and the game is absolutely beautiful. You've got the typical two modes to swap between - Performance at 1080p60 and Quality at 2160p30 - and as usual, I went for performance. Always prioritize frame rate over resolution. There are some noticeable drops in performance mode with the frame rate targeting 60 fps but often staying in 40s or 50s whereas quality does a much better job at keeping a stable target 30 fps, but with the frame rate only very rarely dropping below 40 fps and only briefly at that, I still thing performance is the mode to go for. I am absolutely not one of those guys who say "30 fps is unplayable, it has to be 60," but when the option is there, I will usually go for the higher frame rate even if it doesn't quite manage to hold 60.
For fans of Warhammer 40k, Space Marine II is an absolutely non-negotiable must-play. For fans of third person shooters like Gears of War or Helldivers, I would consider this game a must-play unless you're one of those losers who refuses to play single player games. If you're just a fan of military sci-fi settings, it's still worth playing. Basically, unless you're a gaming pacifist who won't play games with any realistic violence at all, you should play this game. It's not perfect - there are some frame rate issues, objectives do get pretty repetitive now and then, and the game's level design is completely linear with no real side paths to take - but the game's strengths far outweigh its weaknesses.
* denotes a replay
January (2 Games Beaten)
I never got into Warhammer or Warhammer 40k. I always thought it looked super cool, but I was never really into tabletop gaming until the past couple of years, and I knew I'd bankrupt myself on minis if I let myself get into it. I do, however, love wanton violence against invading aliens, so I played through the remaster of the first Space Marine game not too long ago. Long story short, it was awesome, so I picked up a copy of the sequel. After giving myself a little bit of time to play other games to cleanse my palate, I dove in and found that this sequel is every bit as glorious and addicting as the previous game.
Like the first game, you play as the ultramarine Titus and are sent to the planet of Kodaku in response to a distress call. When you arrive, you find that the planet has been overrun by Tyranids and fight a desperate last stand battle for survival. Titus holds out valiantly, but in the end, his is overwhelmed and slain...or is he? By nothing less than the will and mercy of the Emperor, Titus clings to life just long enough for the techno priests to perform some insane operation to save his life and put him back in the fight. As his entire squad was wiped out, he is given command of a new squad with a new mission to fight the Tyranid invasion of Cadia. The story perfectly nails the grimdark tone I obsess over with a seemingly unwinnable fight, religious fanaticism, and a glimpse at the inner political workings of the Imperium.
The gameplay is basically the same as in the first game but refined. The balance between and seamless integration of swordplay and gunplay really make this game stand out from the crowd of shooters. I'm not sure I'm going to say that it feels smoother than Gears of War, but it does do a better job of putting melee in an equally important position to ranged combat than Gears does. The most metal part of the game is when you have literally hundreds upon hundreds of Tyranid enemies swarming you and trying to climb whatever wall you happen to be on top of. Whether it's a melee weapon or a grenade, it's immensely satisfying to watch dozens and dozens of bodies just fall.
Multiplayer has a few different game modes to choose from with most being cooperative but a few being your more traditional player vs player matches. More worth noting than the multiplayer, however, is the presentation and the visuals. Cut scenes and music are well crafted to deliver a sense of gravity to the narrative situation, and the game is absolutely beautiful. You've got the typical two modes to swap between - Performance at 1080p60 and Quality at 2160p30 - and as usual, I went for performance. Always prioritize frame rate over resolution. There are some noticeable drops in performance mode with the frame rate targeting 60 fps but often staying in 40s or 50s whereas quality does a much better job at keeping a stable target 30 fps, but with the frame rate only very rarely dropping below 40 fps and only briefly at that, I still thing performance is the mode to go for. I am absolutely not one of those guys who say "30 fps is unplayable, it has to be 60," but when the option is there, I will usually go for the higher frame rate even if it doesn't quite manage to hold 60.
For fans of Warhammer 40k, Space Marine II is an absolutely non-negotiable must-play. For fans of third person shooters like Gears of War or Helldivers, I would consider this game a must-play unless you're one of those losers who refuses to play single player games. If you're just a fan of military sci-fi settings, it's still worth playing. Basically, unless you're a gaming pacifist who won't play games with any realistic violence at all, you should play this game. It's not perfect - there are some frame rate issues, objectives do get pretty repetitive now and then, and the game's level design is completely linear with no real side paths to take - but the game's strengths far outweigh its weaknesses.
Patron Saint of Bitch Mode
Re: Games Beaten 2026
You can't just hide that in your intro without going into details of what army of tiny men you've started painting.ElkinFencer10 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 6:36 pmI was never really into tabletop gaming until the past couple of years
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.