How Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 aims to revitalize a forgotten gaming genre

Thirteen years is a long time to wait for a sequel, especially in a medium as fast-moving as video games. When Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine released in 2011, linear third-person action games were in their heyday, with genre stalwarts like Gears of War and Uncharted crowding the shelves. In hindsight, the original Space Marine was one of the last major games to capitalize on the genre’s popularity, to the point that it was considered somewhat old-school even at the time.

What does this mean for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, which—more than a decade later—stands virtually alone, with action games having shifted towards large open worlds or live-service multiplayer? Does this make it irrelevant in today’s gaming market, a relic from a previous age?

Tim Willits, Saber Interactive’s Chief Creative Officer, doesn’t think so. “I think this works to our advantage,” he says. “Space Marine 2 stands out precisely because it offers something different in today’s landscape.”

And although Space Marine 2 maintains the broad structure of its predecessor—delivering bloody action against typically ostentatious Warhammer 40,000 backdrops—it makes significant changes to how the experience plays, updating its combat system with new technologies and folding cooperative multiplayer into its story.

“While Space Marine 2 is the second game in the series, it’s a completely new experience,” Willits emphasizes.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 continues the story of Titus, the Ultramarine Captain who battled armies of Orks on the Forge World Graia in the first game—though his heroic victory was undermined by accusations of heresy from his own squadmate. In Space Marine 2, those accusations see Titus demoted to Lieutenant. After two centuries spent serving in the Deathwatch, Titus is assigned to lead a new squad of Ultramarines against the Tyranid invasion of an Imperial star system.

Given the time gap between the two games, I asked Willits why Saber chose to continue Titus’s story rather than start fresh with a new protagonist. “Titus is far from your typical Ultramarine,” says Willits. “His struggle with perceived disloyalty, identity, and the burden of his experiences makes him a fascinating character to develop further.”

One of the more distinctive elements of Space Marine 2’s story is Titus’s relationship with the two Ultramarines he leads, Gadriel and Chairon. “Titus’ past is shrouded in mystery, and that element gave us the opportunity to create a dynamic between him and his squadmates,” says Willits.

Far from being comrades in arms, Gadriel and Chairon are skeptical of their new Lieutenant from the start. As the campaign progresses, their doubts and suspicions become increasingly vehement, barely contained behind their adherence to Ultramarine command protocol. It’s a convincingly frictional relationship, one that lends an unusual edge to their teamwork even as they fight for the Imperium.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 plays at a considerably larger scale than the original. This is evident enough at a glance, with the campaign thoroughly embracing Warhammer 40,000's maximalist architecture and depictions of war. Fights often take place among the towering gothic spires of colossal Hive Cities, with battlefields crisscrossed by laser fire from Imperial guardsmen.

But scale is also baked into the game mechanically. At the heart of this is what Saber refers to as Swarm Technology, which actually debuted in one of the studio's previous games: World War Z.

Swarm Technology plays a key role in Space Marine 2's depiction of the hive-minded, insectoid Tyranids, enabling the sequel to support battles against dozens—or even hundreds—of foes.

“Swarm Technology enables us to simulate both enemy groupings that react in unison, and individual entities with their own AI systems," Willits explains. "The Tyranids can initiate attacks as a large group and then break apart to act independently, creating a dynamic and realistic battle.”

Space Marine 2’s combat encounters are remarkable to behold. You’ll often see the Tyranids well before you fight them, pouring over distant hillsides in their hundreds. As they approach, they’ll clamber over one another to overwhelm Imperial defenses, with smaller enemies attacking in groups as larger foes try to single you out for combat.

The Tyranid swarms make for complex, busy battlefields that could easily become confusing. As such, they require an equally involved combat system to deal with them. Space Marine 2 retains the original's blend of melee combat and ranged shooting (as well as its grisly executions) but places extra emphasis on crowd control and countering enemy attacks.

One of the most interesting new combat features is the Gun Strike, which lets players follow up a perfect parry or dodge with an auto-aimed snapshot from your sidearm. “This adds an extra layer of strategy and rewards players who master the timing and flow of combat,” Willits says.

Willits has an extensive background developing action games, particularly in the first-person shooter genre, with his years working at id Software on games like Doom, Quake, and Rage. Though he isn’t lead designer on Space Marine 2—that role belongs to former World War Z director Dmitry Grigorenko—I was curious how Willits’s experiences influenced his approach to overseeing Space Marine 2 and how his knowledge of the FPS genre translated to a third-person action game.

“My background in FPS game development has provided me with a solid foundation in engaging, fast-paced experiences regardless of where the camera sits on the character,” Willits responds. “With Space Marine 2, I emphasized the importance of nailing the core mechanics and perfecting the moment-to-moment gameplay.”

“A tight gameplay loop is the foundation of any great game," he adds. "Once that’s solid, you can build on it, adding layers to enhance the experience. My experience in action game design has taught me that what players do repeatedly—and how fun that is—will define the entire experience.”

Aside from its swarming Tyranids, perhaps the most significant addition to Space Marine 2 is that you don’t have to fight alone. “Space Marines are known for fighting together as a unit,” Willits says. “We wanted to bring that teamwork to life in Space Marine 2, so cooperative multiplayer became a core focus for the team. Cooperative play adds a layer of depth and strategy that makes the game more engaging and replayable, especially when you play with real people.”

The Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 campaign can be played either in singleplayer or with up to two other players taking on the roles of Gadriel and Chairon. On top of this is a separate, dedicated cooperative mode called Operations. Here, players select from a range of Ultramarine classes, each with different abilities and specializations, to take on a range of individual missions. These missions are similar in scope and structure to those of the campaign but with more dynamic, unpredictable combat encounters similar to a game like Left 4 Dead.

Willits says that facilitating both singleplayer and cooperative play was one of Saber’s biggest challenges with Space Marine 2.

“To tackle this, we developed an updated AI Director that constantly analyzes the battlefield and adjusts enemy behavior and numbers based on your performance," says Willits. The Director's presence is noticeable in cooperative campaign play, with bigger and more intense Tyranid swarms assaulting the Ultramarines—and even more obvious in Operations, triggering swarms of varying intensity as you push on through its six missions and spawning powerful Tyranid foes like the Lictor, which can turn invisible and ambush unsuspecting Ultramarines.

An interesting quirk of Space Marine 2’s cooperative functionality is that it supports a maximum of three players rather than the more common four. Willits says this decision came down to the overall balance of cooperative play. “Through extensive testing, we found that three players provided the ideal balance when facing the Tyranid swarms. It offers a challenge without being too easy,” he says. “Plus, it’s easier to find two friends to team up with rather than three.”

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 was originally intended to be released near the end of 2023 but ended up being delayed by nine months. As with three-player co-op, Willits says that balance was the key factor here.

“Balancing the action across solo, PvE, and PvP modes required a ton of effort and time,” he says. “You know the saying  ‘A game is only late until it releases, but it can be bad forever.’”

Early in Space Marine 2’s campaign, Titus undergoes a procedure known as the Rubicon surgery, transforming him into a larger, more powerful, and more durable Ultramarine. This, in many ways, reflects the character of Saber Interactive’s sequel, an old warrior rejuvenated for the modern age—refreshed, renewed, and ready for battle.

Pick up Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 on the Epic Games Store today.