Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine - Anniversary Edition

It doesn't work.

I had to get a sketchy DLL to hijack its ancient ass security system just so that I can use the product I bought legitimately. If your anti-cheat or anti-piracy measures are so broken that they prevent a game from being played on modern systems, then it shouldn't be sold in the first place.

It's a good game, but I don't recommend buying it unless you want to risk downloading a virus. I have to cease and desist my review here, otherwise I'm going to walk the metaphorical plank for implicitly encouraging readers to take it as a letter of marque.

If one is looking to get into the hobby and overall setting of Warhammer 40,000 then they can't really go wrong with Space Marine; a game that stars Captain Demetrian Titus of the Ultramarines on his journey to save the Imperial Forge World of Graia from an Ork WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Seamlessly blending third person shooting with hack and slash melee combat and taking us through a journey to save a beleaguered world from vile xenos that comes with all kinds of action sequences, twists and turns; Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is the perfect title to dip your toes into the grim darkness of the 41st millennium.

Full Review and Retrospective below:

https://youtu.be/I7b32-nIiaE

The setting/atmosphere/tone of the game is top-notch. For someone with very superficial knowledge of the tabletop RPG that this is based on, the game doesn't make assumptions that you're deep into the lore and doesn't get slowed down trying to cram it down your throat - what's relevant is short and sweet and introduced organically through its simple story - taking place in a more complex fictional universe doesn't mean that you need to study that beforehand.

The gameplay is streamlined and linear though still giving enough flexibility to keep it interesting throughout its 10 hours or so campaign (didn't try multiplayer). The character feels a little tanky controls-wise but that kind of makes sense. The only negative points I'd level here are that at times the map features and objects gets in the way of movement and dodges in ways that feel wrong leading to cheap deaths and this is compounded by the camera being fully-player controlled leading to have to constantly adjust it while trying to keep track of the enemies that you're either trying to prioritize or avoid attacks from (playing on a controller).

The graphics are pretty clean and the art direction is good with the only negative being that there's not a whole lot of variety to the environment. The story takes place essentially during a single military encounter over a short timespan so that's kind of in line with that, and the game doesn't drag on for long enough for that to become a worse issue. I played it on a SteamDeck (you can pretty much max out settings and get solid 60fps with less than 15w TDP) and in the small screen I didn't feel that I was losing too much in terms of graphical fidelity trade-off vs being able to play it on the go.

I'd probably not pay the $40 "official" price just due to there being a lot of other games that I'd probably pick before this one at that price point, but the game is frequently on sale ($10 as I'm writing this, which would is a no-brainer).

Very well scaled for the time of created, the repetitive one button strike mixed w another is a bit tedious. All in all, super challenging, and if your a fan of the lore this should be a must have and play title. At the end you will be rooting for the smurfs and the justice for Captain Titus.

great game and story, worth every penny when discounted under 5 eur

Great game, i have brought this 3 time over the last ten years lol. get game. will be buying the second one

Boy, do I miss the days when video games were just good ass video games. I regret having not played this game when it originally released, but I never even heard of it until a few months ago and I knew nothing about warhammer until a few years ago.

This game released 14 years ago, but it still holds up and is better than all the AAA garbage being released today. No, it doesn't look as glorious as games today, but the gameplay is pure heavy metal masculine violence and I love it. There is a lot of running through long corridors, but it's the game's way of loading assets in the coming sections; this makes the whole campaign flow in a fluid manner from chapter to chapter with hardly any seems at all, which is quite an impressive feat considering it's a game from 2011.

I'm not a fan of steam achievements that require multiplayer, so it sucks that I won't be able to acquire them since the multiplayer is kinda dead because everyone is playing the sequel, but it's not that big of a deal. I was able to find a lobby in the PvE multiplayer mode, but PvP modes are empty. The campaign alone, though, was totally worth purchasing this game; I expect I'll play through it another time or two in the future, but first I'm diving into Space Marine 2.

I got this on sale for $9.99 and it was totally worth the price. I highly recommend giving this game a chance.

EDIT: It's worth noting that this game apparently doesn't work with newer CPUs with high core counts like mine (24 Core Intel i9-13900K) BUT it works flawlessly and is super fun on the Steam Deck.

The game definitely shows its age but there's still nothing like killing the absolute crap out of the enemies of the Emperor. 10/10, I cannot wait to play the second one.

A fun, if unimaginative, 8 hours of blasting aliens with big chunky guns of the 41st Millennium.

This Might be 14 year old game I now understand. Why it is a cult classic Highly recommend this if you like warhammer and Ultramarines. Killing orcs Is a lots of fun game offers and good challenge. Just a fun story all round.

Get it on sale.
Very clunky and not worth the 35€.

You can be close to a softlock due to the Hammer. Make sure to swap it for something else before "getting on the titan".

If you want to get into Warhammer, play Part 2 first.
If you like Warhammer, then you do not need my recommendation.

Very fun game. Good story characters, level design is immersive and fits the genre, theme and overall franchise very well. The Orks are fun to fight, as well as Boss Grimskull (Who is just Shrek in his final form). My only complaint is that the Chaos Daemons are not fun to fight against. They remind me of the Promethean Knights in Halo 4. Not too hard, but not that easy either, and they teleport a lot. Other than that, a very good game.

great game but would have been way more fun if you can play the camping with a friend it has co-up thought 10\10 game

Over all good game.
Main 3 things i don't like in any game is automatic save systems where you cant save manually, at times excessive screen shake, and when you can get stuck on objects in the environment which in this game is only occasionally.
Other then that, its definitely worth the sale price and a play through.

Another fantastic gory game from Sega. Truly a blast from the past. For all Gears of war and God of War fans., you will definitely love this game. Happy to see the sequel recently and will definitely purchase that, too after finishing this one.

Like a lot of decent games, Space Marine struggles from being vastly overshadowed by its sequel. SM2 is an improvement in basically every way. While the campaign is pretty fun at its core, with good voice acting and a decent story, the once-tolerable combat is so much worse than the second game's that it's hard to recommend anymore. I loved it once upon a time, but no invulnerability during execution, no shield regen mechanic except cover, and instakill rocket boys from across the map make it a slog, although it's not AWFUL. The balance is severely lacking, and the gameplay is mostly frustrating.

If you're new to the series and like 40k, it's probably worth playing. If you're a fan of SM2, I think you'll find it tedious. As for the MP: it once was great, but it's been broken for years, and it's very hard to find games. Do not get it for that.

I played Space Marine many years ago on the Xbox 360 and had fun with it. Now since I have gotten more into the Warhammer by reading the lore and building the miniatures, going back to this and getting all the references is pretty nice. Make no mistake, this is an excellent introduction to the 40k universe for anyone interested to get into the mythos. The game is that classic Gears of War like with a heavier emphasis on melee combat. The sound effects are punchy and you feel like the space marines fighting these wars. My only complaint is that it does get repetitive after a while and the final boss is lackluster. Sadly, the multiplayer is not active which is a shame since it would be really fun playing with others for the glory of mankind. Pick this game up if you are interested in the 40k universe or if you are already knee deep in it.

If you enjoy mindless action and war with the Warhammer 40k franchise as the theme of the game then you will definitely love this.

It's just fun! It's not especially clever, the storyline isn't particularly memorable, but the combat is great and you'll have a blast!

Very Fun. Game combat is a bit buggy, but overall a much enjoyable play.

This game has aged really well for a third-person shooter from 2011. I played chapters 1-4 in a single setting, it was that engaging. The game feels EPIC. The characters are total bad-a****, wearing bad-a** armour, wielding bad-a** weapons and saying bad-a** things.

Weapons sandbox is varied and features some upgrades along the way. Shooting and gore is satisfying.

Some missions drag out too long. Can become repetitive. This game lacks enough set-piece moments so it comes across as a shallow shooting gallery.

I am experiencing insane difficulty spikes. Like the difficulty goes from 50% to 300% at certain areas that don't even have special enemies and it's jarring

The final boss is all quick time events. I wouldn't have minded if it wasn't repeating the same animations 50 times for 5 minutes.

7/10 - a fun 8 hour campaign

It's quite a short game but to be honest, a couple of hours in I was hoping it was a short game. I can see it being a good game back when it was made but I don't think it holds up. The controls feel very slow and janky. I felt like I was in mud at times and the enemy movements were very awkward.

As for the gameplay, it is very repetitive with just going through the same kinds of things over and over again but with a slight variation with enemies. It can be a challenging game which is good but for me it felt challenging because I felt like I couldn't move the way I wanted to move. The camera angles were rough to say the least. Oh and some of the restart points when you die are very poorly placed. For example, there are a few places where there is a weapon swap and ammo reload station and if you die, you have to do the exact same weapon swap that you did before instead of it already having the weapons you switched to. I don't mean that they shouldn't let you switch the weapons again, I just mean it should remember the weapons you just switched to so you don't have to do it over and over again if you die to certain parts. It's even worse when there is a cut scene or a walking scene that you have to do repeatedly if you die.

not a game for everyone. slow paced, repetitive with clunky controls (i get that its an old game but still). obviously a decent game for when u really dont have anything else to play but its definitely not worth the price even when its on sale

I've completed the story mode one or two dozen times now on the hardest difficulty. Really fun game.

not bad but not great. combat feels virtual and doesn't connect. theres no impact.
repetetive and boring.
feels trapped with character unable to climb or jump over even tiny ledges.
unable to change key layout.
outdated graphics of an era that is not charmingly retro.

The story mode is very enjoyable and has decent replayability. The multiplayer mode (divided into PvP and PvE) is decent, but the lack of dedicated servers and the glitches that sometimes ensue while playing due to a loss of connection or lag make it a almost unplayable at times. However, the grittiness of the gameplay and the adrenaline filled encounters make up for it. For these reasons, I recommend this game. FOR THE EMPEROR!

Not as polished as the second one, but its still fun.

Very fun, fairly easy and mindless. Great game to relax with.

old game, but still fun. finished it 2 times. love the story. and much prefer the controls in this compared to the new 2nd game.
(can be finished in 3 evenings after work)

The game is incredibly fun to play, although it’s unfortunate that the campaign is so short. Its not a negative per-se. I just wish it had lasted at least half as long again as what I’ve already played, because it is so fun to play.

So, what makes this game so fun? The action! Shooting orcs and chaos forces—it’s as simple as that.

There’s not much more to it, because when you start looking at other aspects of the game, they don’t stand out in the same way. The environments are quite bland, lacking detail or interesting features. Too often, you’re running through these unremarkable empty corridors for several minutes, not talking to anyone or encountering anything interesting. No, you just run. I think, these parts of the game served a purpose though. Though invisible for us - players. I think they were meant to give the game time to load assets. However, while the environments are underwhelming, the meticulously designed Space Marine armors make up for it. You can’t help but admire their detail as you dash through those empty corridors.

The story is simple but effective. There are some lore pieces scattered across the levels in the form of audiologs, but these are easy to miss, which can take away from the already sparse lore on top of the simple main narrative. What's particularly frustrating to me is that some of these audiologs are tied to important character in the main story. Not wanting to miss them, I often found myself wandering around levels hunting for them instead of focusing on decimating more orcs. That said, it wasn’t a huge issue, since the story isn’t the main draw of the game.

Now, I realize what I’ve written might sound more critical than positive. And yes, there are definite flaws. But, honestly, none of that really matters because the action - the core of the game, is just so much fun. It completely overshadows any negatives you might find.

Played it primarily for the story before the second game. Story is good enough. Combat is fun and looks quite cool. Only movement is a bit clunky and I got stuck quite often by an obstacle that seemed like it shoudn't stop me at all.

A perfect "7/10" experience.

Satisfying combat, both ranged AND melee, amazing setpieces, solid voice work and sound design. Loses a bit of steam in the second half but I believe everyone who enjoys action games and/or W40K should play it to completion at least once.

The Emperor Protects! This game, though a decade old, is still loads of fun. It hearkens back to a previous era in gaming, where third-person hack n'slash and shooter games dominated the gaming landscape, a la God of War and Gears of War.

Holy sweet Jesus, I wet myself while playing this game. THAT'S HOW AWESOME IT IS! 10/10 - Wish there were more campaign world missions.

It's worth a playthrough when it's on sale. Core gameplay is fun but doesn't change or evolve in any meaningful way, and controls can, at times, feel a bit slow and clunky (though not enough to be a deal breaker). The only thing that actually annoyed me is that all cutscenes aren't skippable and enemies can still hurt you while you execute an enemy (which also is the only way to recover health). Outside of that, there's not much to the plot that makes it memorable, and the two boss battles are a bit underwhelming. Overall, it's a fine game and I enjoyed it, but it's nothing remarkable.

Not a terrible game by any means though the combat becomes a bit repetitive towards the end of the campaign. If you remember that this was an Xbox game it is bad by no mean and it is like a 7/10.

for 10 buck it was an amazing play story wise

Fun game. Disappointed he never wears his helmet. Solid 7 out of 10 game and runs good on Steam Deck.

Can't even play. Crashes to desktop on startup. Tried running process lasso to limit cores, but that didn't help.

Update:
Had to copy a DLL file to the root install folder in order to get this to work. Still leaving this as a negative review since a fix isn't actually incorporated.

Es un buen juego, da mucha accion y peleas epicas, lo que si quiero criticar es la falta de lore, ya que no tiene una historia profunda, ya que si no sabes del lore de 40k, dudo que entiendas mucho de lo que dicen los personajes, ya despues de eso, el juego es entretenido.

My first exposure to Warhammer 40K was actually Space Marine 2 which I finished 2 weeks ago. I enjoyed it so much I decided to play the first game. It's delightfully simple to play. No skill trees or leveling up. Just different guns and a single ability that gets stronger as you go along. It works great with a controller and for less than $20.00 it is an awesome deal.

Pacing can be a bit dull, and combat unfair at times. But the story and many of the moments that join offer a great game you can't help but get from start to finish.

Fun game, but extremely repetitive. Combat is fun and satisfying, but the level design is very linear and the enemies are pretty braindead.

Good Warhammer game though

Get it on sale, this shit ain't worth 40 bucks

I just finished the game, what a trip !!!

I usually dont enjoy basic combat games, but one in 40k + being a space marine + playing as the legendary Titus, its just too epic !

Highly recommend

Amazing game. Graphics are amazing for how old the game is.

The combat is very interesting, its a mix of melee and shooting that works very well, the only bad thing are the visuals since they did not age very well

Really do recommend. It does get repetitive midway but thankfully things change enough to keep it fresh and pull the game to the end. Which the ending is absolutely worth it. Controls are pretty standard, story is pretty good, gameplay really fun although a bit challenging but as long as you get used to the mechanics you'll be fine. If you wan to play this before the second one (or third one or who knows how many in the future) then go ahead. This is 2025 so if you read this in 2050 I'll most likely have kicked the can but I would still give it a bony thumbs up.

This game holds up shockingly well. And not just in terms of gameplay. For a game that's about 10 years old at this point, the visuals are actually not bad. I would recommend to anyone who's thinking about trying out Space Marine 2 to make sure to play this game first. Not simply to get the beginning of Titus' story, but also because it's really just a solid game.

I was suprised at how good this game is while playing. I saw the trailer for this game earlier this year and thought it looked cool but most of the other Warhammer 40,000 games seem a little weird. so i bought it on sale for less than ten bucks and actualy found it to be enjoyable.

Still the same clunky piece of shit it was on release back in the day. Repetitive, doesn't run amazingly well on modern hardware, and the multiplayer is dead, but for the first decent 40K game, this shit was great and still provides a lot of fun.