Stone-faced Captain Titus of the Ultramarine is the bad asses' bad ass.

​Relic Entertainment tapped a goldmine when they landed the rights to the Warhammer 40,000 IP. Beginning as a humble tabletop wargame, 40K, as it's known by adherents, has grown into a massive multimedia franchise encompassing collectible card games, board games, pen-and-paper role playing games, novels, comic books, animated films, and of course, video games. The original Dawn of War is what drew me into the 40K tabletop world, and Relic's video games have kept me invested in the 40K universe more than anything else over the years.

Space Marine is the first time we've been this up close and personal to the 41st millennium, outside of the forgettable first person shooter Fire Warrior. This newest title is the best example yet of just how suited the 40K universe is for video game adaptations. This may even be the best medium of all to showcase the texture and depth of this well-defined science fiction world. Once we get past the fan service that Space Marine represents, however, its appeal to a broader audience is an open question.

Space Marines tower over ordinary humans.

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Right from the title screen, Space Marine announces a lack of pretension as to its identity. It is bloody, intimately violent, and unrelenting. Stone-faced, the Space Marine takes no pleasure in the slaughter and carnage that is his purpose, and players will be handed a heaping portion of both over the 8-hour campaign. The very first level has our hero, Captain Titus, diving out a Thunderhawk gunship high in the atmosphere with only a jet pack, pistol, and combat knife to take on an entire Ork spacecraft. That's how Space Marines roll.

Space Marine leaves no doubt that we are meant to hold these characters in awe. When on the run, their thunderous footsteps shake the screen. Dying Imperial Guardsmen, the regular human troops of the Imperium of Man, can be heard to say "I got to see a Space Marine before the end." Midway through the campaign, beleaguered Imperial Guard positions are rallied to the cry "Hold the line! The Ultramarines are here!" Relic makes sure we understand just how revered and powerful the titular characters are, and for a 40K fan, particularly one who actually plays as the Space Marines in the tabletop game, the power of these moments cannot be overstated.

The tide of Orks never ceases, and you'll have to think quick to not get drowned in Greenskins.

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The biggest surprise about Space Marine is that it requires some thought. As bad-ass as a Space Marine Captain is after all his psychological conditioning, physical alterations, and in Captain Titus's case 200 years of service, he can't just wade into a gaggle of Orks and come out alive. I had expected a mindless but fun bloodbath, cutting swaths of destruction through Greenskin hordes, but allowing myself to slip into button-mashing equated to death every time. I played on the default medium difficulty, and died plenty. Played on Hard, I'd wager that Space Marine is challenging to the point of frustration.

Ranged combat is also a much larger part of the picture than I expected. As much as Space Marine is running on a narrative of "cover being for pussies," standing in the face of withering enemy gunfire simply isn't tenable. Sniping enemy gunners with the Stalker-pattern Bolter or, later in the game, the preposterously-powerful Lascannon, before moving in to engage the melee hordes is essential in the later levels. And when it's time to "get stuck in," the Chainsword, Power Axe, and Thunder Hammer offer varying attack styles of equal worth and bloody fun.

Space Marine requires plenty of shooting, and the ranged weapons are all unique and enjoyable.

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Ammunition is plentiful to the point of never being a concern, and all the weapons were fun in their own, unique fashion. Meltaguns are devastating in close quarters, functioning like shotguns that vaporize their targets. Plasma weapons are effective against armored opponents, and charged plasma shots stick to their targets before detonation, which carries tremendous splash damage. Vengeance launchers fire mines which can be exploded remotely. Even the default Bolter assault rifle is extremely satisfying, as its rocket-propelled explosive shells will literally blast enemies into a cloud of pulpy gore.

Many of these weapons are delivered onto players for the first time from within small temple-like structures scattered about the factory Forge World which the Ultramarines have been sent to defend. Space Marine goes to such lengths to immerse us in its universe that it felt a shame to break the illusion with these sorts of conveniences, especially when there were plenty of other opportunities to get new weapons into the player's hands. It's also a shame that, for a game with such obvious cinematic aspirations, the mouth animations during dialogue sequences are worse than wooden puppets'. It's a distraction that I really wish hadn't presented itself, again because it yanked me straight out of the story.

The system of regaining health primarily through executions on stunned enemies became problematic when the action was especially hairy. With so many enemies crowded around Captain Titus, landing a stun move, the necessary precursor to an execution, on just the right target became far more challenging than it should have been. Leaving a few weak enemies alive until the very end of each encounter, when no distractions presented themselves, often became necessary for survival.

Titus is vulnerable during executions, which can become a real problem when applying one to a powerful enemy that takes longer to finish off. The executions also are accompanied by the gameplay slowing down, which does give the player time to plan their next move, but stutters the flow of taking down a large group of opponents, and that interruption of rhythm can easily get one killed. And in portions of the game where opponents are primarily at range, this health regeneration system can force players to dart in and out of cover, which is entirely not in the spirit of the game.

Space Marines feel decidedly less cool when they're only fighting other Space Marines, and dying quickly.

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Where the campaign is all about feeling the epic power of being a Space Marine, the multiplayer portion feels tacked on and completely unnecessary by comparison. Robbed of the chaos of taking down hordes of opponents, the game's basic textures and dull environments become much more apparent. Whereas comparisons to Gears of War are completely inappropriate to the campaign, the multiplayer immediately brings the idea to mind. I'm not a fan of third-person multiplayer, but Space Marine's online offering struck me as a little boring in just how straightforward it is, and certainly nothing to compete with all the multiplayer options coming down the pipe in the next few months.

The wide range of armor customizations were interesting as a 40K fan to flip through once, but unfortunately they all need to be unlocked through gaining experience, and the high level of 40K fan service this customization represents wasn't nearly enough to keep me interested in the extraneous multiplayer mode.

It's a real shame that Space Marine didn't ship with the "Exterminatus" co-op mode, which will tap into the "against all odds" spirit of the game, while taking a friend along for the ride. I imagine it's going to be a blast to see a buddy pulling off multitudinous gory executions while trying to survive never-ending waves of enemies, but I wonder how many of my friends might still actually be playing Space Marine once Gears 3 hits shelves in two weeks. I'd have rather been given co-op than multiplayer.

When you see Chaos Bloodletters coming at you, break out the big guns immediately.

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I don't know if anyone who isn't familiar with the 40K universe can ever appreciate all the little details that make games like Space Marine so much fun. When Chaos Bloodletters first appear from out of the Warp, it's a moment that will give 40K fans pause, because we've never seen them up this close in a game, and we realize just how deadly they are. For the average gamer, a Warp gate won't be seen as a terrifying entryway into a daemonic realm. It'll just be yet another teleport mechanic, and Bloodletters might come off as just another variety of target to kill.

Things like the running discussion of the Codex Astartes among the Ultramarine characters, the importance of the Warp, Chaos, and the temptation of heresy against the Imperium, I can't help but think that all of this will be lost on the wider gaming audience, and so those players are left with what is a competent third person action game, but I'm not sure they'll feel the need to revisit it past a single playthrough. The game does get awfully repetitive outside of the enjoyment of seeing a Space Marine do his thing live and up close after only reading about it in books or imagining it on the tabletop.

The debate about "which Space Marine came first" is rather pointless, but the fact remains that for the average gamer, they've seen the lone hero facing impossible odds time and time again. If I divorce my 40K fandom (which would add an entire point onto my final score) from the equation, I'm left with a game that is certainly competent and fun, but also a little underwhelming. I'd have liked more variety of opponent factions and environments, and there were plenty of sizeable, empty stretches while I ran through the levels to find the next batch of enemies.

The campaign ending is almost a telegraph for a follow-up title, and Relic has laid all the foundation they need with Space Marine to craft an excellent sequel. The 40K universe is huge, and there's plenty of room for equally-sized adventures to come.

The Official Verdict: 3 out of 5

This review is based on an Xbox 360 copy of the game provided by the publisher.