I just saw this. Absolutely shocked they actually came back and made a sequel. I hope they do Tyranids justice and they're not just another patsy for Eldar or Chaos.
Grimskul wrote: I just saw this. Absolutely shocked they actually came back and made a sequel. I hope they do Tyranids justice and they're not just another patsy for Eldar or Chaos.
Kinda hoped they'd lead with GSC so they enemy would be a bit more relatable at first. Ah well.
Should be good, we'll see. Cracking up that Titus is a Primaris Lt tho.
Grimskul wrote: I just saw this. Absolutely shocked they actually came back and made a sequel. I hope they do Tyranids justice and they're not just another patsy for Eldar or Chaos.
On the one hand, if you're going to make a game that has Tyranids as the main enemy, an action game is probably the way to do it.
On the other, Tyranids tend to be a pretty straightforward enemy. You know what you're dealing with. Your options for putting some twists in the plot end up requiring either the addition of a surprise GSC cult uprising, or a third party showing up.
On the other, Tyranids tend to be a pretty straightforward enemy. You know what you're dealing with. Your options for putting some twists in the plot end up requiring either the addition of a surprise GSC cult uprising, or a third party showing up
If there's going to be a third party, I'd vote for either Eldar or Necrons. Chaos is too stereotypical/cliche at this point. I wouldn't also mind a well organized, technologically advanced Ork Waaagh but we had Orks in first game, so.
Grimskul wrote: I just saw this. Absolutely shocked they actually came back and made a sequel. I hope they do Tyranids justice and they're not just another patsy for Eldar or Chaos.
On the one hand, if you're going to make a game that has Tyranids as the main enemy, an action game is probably the way to do it.
On the other, Tyranids tend to be a pretty straightforward enemy. You know what you're dealing with. Your options for putting some twists in the plot end up requiring either the addition of a surprise GSC cult uprising, or a third party showing up.
I don't think Tyranids are any more shallow than any other faction. The story could build from on the ground fighting the grunts early on to getting working your way through the hive mind to invading a hive ship to finding the norn queen to finding out there's some ulterior motive to the attack you're currently fighting against that leads to some final momentous battle which ends on some cliffhanger.
Or as you mention there could be some GSC thing, maybe through a GSC the planet is actually being run by Tyranid pawns.
Grimskul wrote: I just saw this. Absolutely shocked they actually came back and made a sequel. I hope they do Tyranids justice and they're not just another patsy for Eldar or Chaos.
On the one hand, if you're going to make a game that has Tyranids as the main enemy, an action game is probably the way to do it.
On the other, Tyranids tend to be a pretty straightforward enemy. You know what you're dealing with. Your options for putting some twists in the plot end up requiring either the addition of a surprise GSC cult uprising, or a third party showing up.
Alternately, don't go the lazy route and put 'twists' in the plot for the sake of having them? The first one suffered enough for that.
There's plenty of possible content between 'nid assaults and GSC saboteurs targeting important structures (which isn't a twist or surprise, just an expected presence if the tyranid assault is still in the early stages). The biggest problem is that ultimately one space marine doesn't 'win' a tyranid invasion. It pretty much requires a fleet action and concerted mopping up after the main invasion force is annihilated.
I’m curious how they will handle the weird cliffhanger in the last game. One of the points of speculation I have heard (unassociated with the announcement) was the possibility that Titus could have been moved to the Deathwatch. The armor in the trailer seems to suggests otherwise however.
Voss wrote: There's plenty of possible content between 'nid assaults and GSC saboteurs targeting important structures (which isn't a twist or surprise, just an expected presence if the tyranid assault is still in the early stages). The biggest problem is that ultimately one space marine doesn't 'win' a tyranid invasion. It pretty much requires a fleet action and concerted mopping up after the main invasion force is annihilated.
I agree. In my thinking, there could be a goal other than winning against the invasion.
Start with the idea that the planet is already doomed, but there's something that has to be done there before it's all devoured. A rescue? An artifact that needs to be found? Those both feel a bit cliche, but I think that there's potential in not making "winning" the overall goal of the game, especially with something like the tyranids.
Voss wrote: There's plenty of possible content between 'nid assaults and GSC saboteurs targeting important structures (which isn't a twist or surprise, just an expected presence if the tyranid assault is still in the early stages). The biggest problem is that ultimately one space marine doesn't 'win' a tyranid invasion. It pretty much requires a fleet action and concerted mopping up after the main invasion force is annihilated.
I agree. In my thinking, there could be a goal other than winning against the invasion.
Start with the idea that the planet is already doomed, but there's something that has to be done there before it's all devoured. A rescue? An artifact that needs to be found? Those both feel a bit cliche, but I think that there's potential in not making "winning" the overall goal of the game, especially with something like the tyranids.
That's a really cool idea.
And it would definitely sell the idea of the Nids being this giant unstoppable swarm that consumes all in its path. Really, conceptually, they should be the most terrifying foe that the Imperium faces with former occupied worlds left as scoured balls of rock in the hive fleet's wake.
I had a feeling this would be the case. When they were giving away Space Marine for free on Humble Bundle, I speculated they might be checking for interest in a sequel and seeding more fans for the said sequel which worked on me, most certainly. That was back in 2018, I thought it'd be sooner. I'm a bit sad they're not going through the original plan of it showing Titus' time in the Inquisition, then his foundation of a new chapter, but beggars can't be choosers. He's a cool character...for an Ultramarine lol. Nah, I genuinely fanboyed out when he took off his helmet.
Looking forward to this, but not going to allow the hype to suck me in and throw me out as had happened a few times now (CYBERPUNK 2077 **COUGH! COUGH!**)
On the other, Tyranids tend to be a pretty straightforward enemy. You know what you're dealing with. Your options for putting some twists in the plot end up requiring either the addition of a surprise GSC cult uprising, or a third party showing up
If there's going to be a third party, I'd vote for either Eldar or Necrons. Chaos is too stereotypical/cliche at this point. I wouldn't also mind a well organized, technologically advanced Ork Waaagh but we had Orks in first game, so.
Tau are also always a good fit when it comes to Tyranids. And I consider GSC cultists a given, as it provides excellect opportunities both for looted enemy weapons variety - I assume that Titus won't be running around picking up Devourers and Venom Cannons - and plot twists - when the not-at-all-suspicious Inquisitor/governor/Guard Commander turns out to *gasp* have been in on the Tyranid invasion this whole time.
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SkavenLord wrote: I’m curious how they will handle the weird cliffhanger in the last game. One of the points of speculation I have heard (unassociated with the announcement) was the possibility that Titus could have been moved to the Deathwatch. The armor in the trailer seems to suggests otherwise however.
He may very well have spent some penance time in the Deathwatch before returning to the Ultramarines in the 2 centuries since the last game.
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BrookM wrote: Oh man, I never thought this would happen, but yes please!
And please let Mark Strong do the voice of the demoted Lieutenant Titus again.
Also curious to see if one of his two companions is Leandros.
What I would find hilarious would be for Leandros to now rank above Titus - perhaps through promotion to Chaplain or something like that.
Altough realistically, the majority of the chapter would have shunned Leandros and maybe even intentionally sent him on a suicide mission somewhere after his actions in the last game.
Actually, I heard that Leandros‘ actions in the end would have ironically broken protocol. Faults in the chapter are kept inside the chapter, unless you have a situation similar to that in Dawn of War. Seems people use the Ultramarines novels to back this up.
If anything, I would assume Leandros gets a quiet reprimand and a shunning.
SkavenLord wrote: Actually, I heard that Leandros‘ actions in the end would have ironically broken protocol. Faults in the chapter are kept inside the chapter, unless you have a situation similar to that in Dawn of War. Seems people use the Ultramarines novels to back this up.
If anything, I would assume Leandros gets a quiet reprimand and a shunning.
Ah, so he's a hypocrite too. They really hit it out of the park making a character for the fanbase to love to hate lol
SkavenLord wrote: Actually, I heard that Leandros‘ actions in the end would have ironically broken protocol. Faults in the chapter are kept inside the chapter, unless you have a situation similar to that in Dawn of War. Seems people use the Ultramarines novels to back this up.
If anything, I would assume Leandros gets a quiet reprimand and a shunning.
Ah, so he's a hypocrite too. They really hit it out of the park making a character for the fanbase to love to hate lol
Well gaunts and warriors have very different profiles. Warriors move on two legs with a much more upright posture with their tail acting as a balance; hormagaunts are much more forward leaning and in many art depictions are indeed shown running on their blades as much as on two legs; likely the difference for them is marginal so they'll likely use two and four as it suits. So one being more animal and one more human in stature when animated looks fine to me. The only real strange thing is the warrior not really using its middle arms; which might just be a limitation of the complexity of animation for the cinematic.
The hormagaunts move like animals the tyranid warrior moved like a person. I wonder if that is right. I will need to get used to this.
Also has Titus crossed the rubicon primaris?
Unless Titus grew a foot in height, he's standing at least as tall, if not taller (Hard with camera angles) as the two Primaris Intercessors flanking him.
Anyone wanna guess if Leandros is one of the Intercessors guarding him?
Edit: Check the wiki page, it confims GW states he is now a Primaris.
On the other, Tyranids tend to be a pretty straightforward enemy. You know what you're dealing with. Your options for putting some twists in the plot end up requiring either the addition of a surprise GSC cult uprising, or a third party showing up
If there's going to be a third party, I'd vote for either Eldar or Necrons. Chaos is too stereotypical/cliche at this point. I wouldn't also mind a well organized, technologically advanced Ork Waaagh but we had Orks in first game, so.
I suspect it would probably be Necrons, with the twist being this is a Tomb world (If there is one)
That being said, I don't think there really needs to be one. Nids alone should be enough in my opinion, but we'll see.
The hormagaunts move like animals the tyranid warrior moved like a person. I wonder if that is right. I will need to get used to this.
Also has Titus crossed the rubicon primaris?
Unless Titus grew a foot in height, he's standing at least as tall, if not taller (Hard with camera angles) as the two Primaris Intercessors flanking him.
Anyone wanna guess if Leandros is one of the Intercessors guarding him?
Edit: Check the wiki page, it confims GW states he is now a Primaris.
Urgghhhhh... I've really tried to avoid the modern fluff, but it is proving impossible
Wonder if they will make him speak with an echo? This is another advantage of Primaris over 'regular', puny marines.
On the other, Tyranids tend to be a pretty straightforward enemy. You know what you're dealing with. Your options for putting some twists in the plot end up requiring either the addition of a surprise GSC cult uprising, or a third party showing up
If there's going to be a third party, I'd vote for either Eldar or Necrons. Chaos is too stereotypical/cliche at this point. I wouldn't also mind a well organized, technologically advanced Ork Waaagh but we had Orks in first game, so.
I suspect it would probably be Necrons, with the twist being this is a Tomb world (If there is one)
That being said, I don't think there really needs to be one. Nids alone should be enough in my opinion, but we'll see.
Doesn't seem to be too much of a stretch to suggest Necron involvement, assuming there is a twist faction in the first place. Mechanicus, Gladius, and (I think) BG2 had Necron involvement, so they seem to be showing up more frequently at least.
Voss wrote: The environments are much more attractive and engaging (though I suspect there are invisible walls that keep you out of those jungles and cityscapes)
But wow, I can hear my graphics card crying already.
If the game is mostly linear I'm not expecting big system requirements.
With how stunning Horizon Forbidden West looks even with its immense open world, no loading screens between locations and instant Load Game, I don't think Space Marine 2 should have any problem running smoothly as well.
Cyel wrote: With how stunning Horizon Forbidden West looks even with its immense open world, no loading screens between locations and instant Load Game, I don't think Space Marine 2 should have any problem running smoothly as well.
While I have no idea how Space Marine 2 will turn out, there is alot of variety in terms of technical competence on the exact same hardware depending on the talent and skill of the team making the game. One doesn't necessarily affect or predict the other.
My brain still struggles to see cloth physics on Space Marines, especially purity seals. Like.... I get it, but I'm just so used to them being static on models its weird to see them move.
Voss wrote: The environments are much more attractive and engaging (though I suspect there are invisible walls that keep you out of those jungles and cityscapes)
But wow, I can hear my graphics card crying already.
If the game is mostly linear I'm not expecting big system requirements.
Ok, 1) 'linearity' in gameplay isn't a make or break on the load on a graphics card. The big stuff is lots of effects with complicated backgrounds, draw distances and etc is, and we see a lot of that in the trailer (whether it will be in the game is the perennial question of 'how much lying is going on in advertising'). 20 odd nids swarming around in foreground (as actual in-game actors), plus plumes of smoke, falling rubble, fires, large explosions, flocks of 50+ gargoyles off in the background. There's a lot of demand going on there, and stuff like smoke and falling rubble is surprisingly demanding on graphics processors.
2) Optimization is everything. Some studios are pants at it (I'm currently hesitating on the remake of Master of Magic until reports calm down and first patches happen, and because its a surprising system hog for a fairly simple remake).
3) _my_ graphics card is old. It wasn't top of the line when I bought my system 7 years ago, just something that exceeded the 'recommended' requirements of Witcher3 and Fallout4, which were the major 'resource hog' games in genres I care about coming out at the time (which is why I used them as a benchmark). A quick check of games from the last year or so, and its barely over the minimum line (or not at all) (CoD2 or Red Dead 2, respectively, though neither are something I play so it hasn't mattered).
My original plan was to have updated my graphics card at some point in 2020-21 or so, but everything happened and prices were stupid. At this point I might as well wait until the current gen cards settle into stability and lower prices, rather than buy something that's already outdated. But in the meantime, I'm working with a 3 generation-old chipset.
Voss wrote: The environments are much more attractive and engaging (though I suspect there are invisible walls that keep you out of those jungles and cityscapes)
But wow, I can hear my graphics card crying already.
If the game is mostly linear I'm not expecting big system requirements.
Ok, 1) 'linearity' in gameplay isn't a make or break on the load on a graphics card. The big stuff is lots of effects with complicated backgrounds, draw distances and etc is, and we see a lot of that in the trailer (whether it will be in the game is the perennial question of 'how much lying is going on in advertising'). 20 odd nids swarming around in foreground (as actual in-game actors), plus plumes of smoke, falling rubble, fires, large explosions, flocks of 50+ gargoyles off in the background. There's a lot of demand going on there, and stuff like smoke and falling rubble is surprisingly demanding on graphics processors.
It makes a difference because the LOD of objects can be fixed and optimised.
50 gargoyles is nothing if they're all low res textures on a low poly, maybe even 2D, model in the distance during a scripted event.
It's very different if the game allows you to walk up close to an object, see it from different angles, at different times, etc, versus it being at a certain predictable distance from a predictable angle at a predictable time.
With linear games with scripted events, during play testing they can note where frame rate drops occur and go back in to that specific point in time, that specific location, and optimise it as necessary. In an open game with dynamic events, that's so much more difficult and impractical to do.
Dust clouds and falling rubble can be pretty low impact in terms of performance if they occur in the background versus something you can actually interact with, walk through, etc.
2) Optimization is everything. Some studios are pants at it (I'm currently hesitating on the remake of Master of Magic until reports calm down and first patches happen, and because its a surprising system hog for a fairly simple remake).
I'm kind of assuming a similar level of optimisation to the first game. Computers are about 4 times more powerful than they were when the first game came out, and this doesn't really look any more than 4 times nicer, so I'm assuming it'll probably play similarly
Maybe that's a bad assumption, I dunno how much this game will follow on from the first versus being it's own thing. Certainly some games the sequel managed to be worse optimised than the original.
I did load up the 1st Space Marine for a game recently, it doesn't look bad for its age, and has a similar style of linear gameplay but opening up into large areas that you can't actually explore but provide a backdrop that are trying to make you feel like you're in a big battle even though the area you can access is small.
I wonder if the original has had a graphics update because the cut scenes look noticeably uglier than the in game rendered stuff, the cut scenes are both low res and appear to be lower poly than the game itself.
3) _my_ graphics card is old. It wasn't top of the line when I bought my system 7 years ago, just something that exceeded the 'recommended' requirements of Witcher3 and Fallout4, which were the major 'resource hog' games in genres I care about coming out at the time (which is why I used them as a benchmark). A quick check of games from the last year or so, and its barely over the minimum line (or not at all) (CoD2 or Red Dead 2, respectively, though neither are something I play so it hasn't mattered).
My original plan was to have updated my graphics card at some point in 2020-21 or so, but everything happened and prices were stupid. At this point I might as well wait until the current gen cards settle into stability and lower prices, rather than buy something that's already outdated. But in the meantime, I'm working with a 3 generation-old chipset.
Fair enough. 7 years is pretty old. That's a whole console generation worth of time. I saw what was happening at the start of covid and got a new card right at the start of 2020. My only regret is I didn't buy something nicer.
I don't upgrade my PC often, I think I've only had 2 mid ranged GPU upgrades and 1 mid ranged CPU/mobo upgrade since the first Space Marine game.
PS5, Xbox series X and PC, according to the December trailer.
Given the consoles are two years old now, I don't know if that still counts as 'next gen.' But I wouldn't count on developers burning the resources on backwards compatibility anymore.
I dunno some recent games certainly have been because not that many people have the newer generation consoles. I know that the supply chain has improved but even still it's not easy.
That's fair enough- that's pretty much outside my sphere of interest. What was announced here just seems to be the current ones.
But the further we get from the launch dates, more developers won't bother.
And then there's stuff like the Cyberpunk disaster on older platforms, where the promised backwards compatibility turned into a gak-show.
Something I was watching a gameplay video of (I think it was Hogwarts Legacy, or what I like to call Shadows of Mordor, Wizarding edition), announced that there would be a version for older platforms, but it would be 3-4 months after release. I dunno if that will make people happy or just turn into a problem for a studio's bottom line.
Olthannon wrote: I dunno some recent games certainly have been because not that many people have the newer generation consoles. I know that the supply chain has improved but even still it's not easy.
I skipped the last console generation (xbone and ps4) and was really looking forward to the current one.. but then gave up after about 6 months of trying to get them in stock locally. I wasn't stalking the local retailers nor online stores and I fully admit that I was only casually looking (every time I drove by Best Buy not in a rush then I'd stop inside). Life/pandemic/family issues unfortunately stopped that for a couple of years and now I've been considering it but I feel like I should at this point just wait instead for the inevitable XSXsquared/PS5pro.
Well, he was taken by the Inquisition. Not sure about going over to Deathwatch though I think he was in it before.
I wouldn't say the vs is unnecessary but I put in a lot of hours on it and had a blast with friends. It was structurally quite basic in terms of modes but the core gameplay was a blast.
Ahtman wrote: I don't pre-order often but I will be pre-ordering this.
Is there a benefit to doing so? Are you buying digital or a physical copy?
Generally no but it does show how much support/desire their is for a game and I want to show that I am pleased as punch with this existing.
I don't know if I'll get a physical copy or not but most likely it will be digital. The statue really isn't of enough interest to me to make the collectors edition worthwhile.
Pleasing to my ear that the Captain has a Scottish accent. But given how deep Marine voices are. One must assume he was a proper wee squeaky ned before recruitment.
That said, man what a bummer that you don't get to play a "custom" character for coop! Didn't Titus go over to the Deathwatch or something?
The director for the first game did an interview ages ago and outlined what their plan for Titus was:
So, what would have happened to Titus had his story continued? The ending to his game – and, obviously, there are spoilers ahead – saw the soldier dragged away in chains under charges of heresy after battling the forces of Chaos. “The second part of his story was to focus on a ‘Titus Unleashed’ plot … basically there were forces arrayed against him that would see his loyalty to the Adeptus Astartes pushed to its limit, and his reaction would be to kind of ‘go rogue,'” van Lierop said. “He would survive, and come back even stronger in the third game, where other Space Marines still loyal to him would rally around him and he’d return to ‘clean house,’ but as the head of a brand new Chapter that we would build around him.”
Adeptekon wrote: I will get bored if it's only co-op, but I get they have story line to follow rather than it being an open world.
The co-op is optional but like the first game, it will live or die by its multiplayer features. An Exterminatus mode is a must and it really needs to have a PvP aspect though the current lack of CSM in the game means that might be unlikely.
I hope multiplayer outside of coop is not in the game, it's a waste of resources best spent on other aspects of the game. IIRC they said as much for the first game, it has a multiplayer mode, but it wasn't the meat of the game.
Why is it a waste of resources if I may ask?
SM 1 MP might have been sparse in the beginning but it was still fun and Exterminatus was really good. The MP for DoW 2 was one of the reasons I bought the games in the first place after watching it on YouTube while painting.
Certainly some people have enjoyed a singleplayer game which later gets a sequel where the singleplayer part is almost a bare-bones tutorial and the whole focus is on the multiplayer.
So I can appreciate some not wanting MP to be present incase its development ate up money and resources that would have otherwise been spent on a richer singleplayer experience.
At the same time they could round out the MP even more; perhaps even build in bots and solo options.
Just my opinion but if the game is just the campaign, it won't be worth it, not unless it's an open-world scenario (which I highly doubt).
The campaign for SM 1 is good, no doubt there but the game's continued play value came from the MP, especially Exterminatus mode and even then that was hampered by modes being paid DLC *cough*Dreadnoughts*cough*.
But at modern prices (£50-60) SM 2 is going to be a solid pass for me if there isn't any MP content beyond the co-op campaign.
Well I do need some space to buy new Codex, new Tyranids, a new Series X and for my wallet to recover from that, so I'm fine with an early 2024 release date.
Will it be available on the Xbox upon first release unlike Dark Tide? Apparently slimming things down for the lower spec S as mandated is difficult for some developers.
Yeah, it was a great incentive to be aggressive and get stuck in, though I do hope they better balance some of the encounters, the late game Chaos sections were anything but fun sometimes. But happy that the over the top kills are still in, the finishing move where you dodge, grab a 'gaunt by the tail and simply slam it into the ground? That's the kind of silly, over the top violence you want in this game.
It's a great use of the World War Z engine, right down to the wall climbing antics, the game itself is so-so, but the ability for it to crank out hundreds of enemies bearing down towards you in a swarming tide without any slowdown or stutter is amazing.
I have high hopes for this one, only minor complaint I have is.. no Mark Strong this time around. 😭 But from what I've seen so far, they're building on the core elements of the first game and I love it, just like with Boltgun, they're keeping it simple.
The period of 2022 (Darktide) - 2023 (Boltgun and hopefully Space Marine 2) - 2024 (Rogue Trader) might be a good time for 40k games at long last hehe.
Interesting that the secret Chaos threat is going to be Thousand Sons. Hopefully they don't follow the same formula of "xenos initial threat, evil chaos the real final boss" that they've done several times. At least it won't be Khorne or Nurgle this time around.
Grimskul wrote: Interesting that the secret Chaos threat is going to be Thousand Sons. Hopefully they don't follow the same formula of "xenos initial threat, evil chaos the real final boss" that they've done several times. At least it won't be Khorne or Nurgle this time around.
I just wish they'd made it so Tyranids was the actual threat, the whole "Orks.... but actually Chaos!!!" and "Tyranids... but actually Chaos!!!" thing isn't as interesting as having a proper deep dive into Orks or Tyranids.
Grimskul wrote: Interesting that the secret Chaos threat is going to be Thousand Sons. Hopefully they don't follow the same formula of "xenos initial threat, evil chaos the real final boss" that they've done several times. At least it won't be Khorne or Nurgle this time around.
I just wish they'd made it so Tyranids was the actual threat, the whole "Orks.... but actually Chaos!!!" and "Tyranids... but actually Chaos!!!" thing isn't as interesting as having a proper deep dive into Orks or Tyranids.
I was going to post about how I thought it was great we haven’t seen any hints of a secret chaos plot in on of these threads on the game, glad I didn’t make that post.
Just tyranids would be cool, involving maybe some orks or eldar but still Tyranids as the big threat, would have been super cool.
But chaos needs some benching until GW can write them again, just gets annoying.
Also zombie engine, but no plague zombies is kinda irony in a way.
Let’s hope for massive insane horrors crazy at least.
Personally I think it would be a shame to exclusively focus on one enemy. One of modern gaming's biggest issues is a lack of enemy variety in general and if we're only going to get one of these every other decade, it'd be nice to get some other stuff in there.
Watching the trailer, my one gribe is just that the Tyranid palette doesn't really pop off the backgrounds particularly well. Definitely excited for this one, but in some ways I feel like I need to go back to the original and tear up some orks more than I'm concerned with Nids.
Hopefully the Chaos threat will just be something that provides a change of pace mid-game, before being resolved so that you can get back to slaughtering Tyranids.
LunarSol wrote: Personally I think it would be a shame to exclusively focus on one enemy. One of modern gaming's biggest issues is a lack of enemy variety in general and if we're only going to get one of these every other decade, it'd be nice to get some other stuff in there.
Watching the trailer, my one gribe is just that the Tyranid palette doesn't really pop off the backgrounds particularly well. Definitely excited for this one, but in some ways I feel like I need to go back to the original and tear up some orks more than I'm concerned with Nids.
I think Space Marine 2 wasn't intended to be a decade after the first, wasn't it that the publisher crashed soon after? I don't remember, long time ago.
Having a bit of variety is fine, but it's just a typical 40k storytelling trope that there's some initial enemy but the "real" threat turns out to be secret Chaos. Even though in the fluff that initial enemy is fully capable of being the threat in and of themselves.
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Eumerin wrote: Hopefully the Chaos threat will just be something that provides a change of pace mid-game, before being resolved so that you can get back to slaughtering Tyranids.
I'd be fine with that... but I doubt it'll be the case.
LunarSol wrote: Personally I think it would be a shame to exclusively focus on one enemy. One of modern gaming's biggest issues is a lack of enemy variety in general and if we're only going to get one of these every other decade, it'd be nice to get some other stuff in there.
Watching the trailer, my one gribe is just that the Tyranid palette doesn't really pop off the backgrounds particularly well. Definitely excited for this one, but in some ways I feel like I need to go back to the original and tear up some orks more than I'm concerned with Nids.
I think Space Marine 2 wasn't intended to be a decade after the first, wasn't it that the publisher crashed soon after? I don't remember, long time ago.
Having a bit of variety is fine, but it's just a typical 40k storytelling trope that there's some initial enemy but the "real" threat turns out to be secret Chaos. Even though in the fluff that initial enemy is fully capable of being the threat in and of themselves.
Yeah, its definitely not an intentional delay. Still, typical 40k storytelling is the entire point of something like this. This is the kind of thing that is the first 40k story for quite a few people if done well.
The writing for the delay was definitely on the wall, we're this far into November, there's no way they would have announced releasing it last minute before Christmas.
I'm guessing late spring to early summer for their official release date.
It could be that they want it to launch during a seasonal high for customers. So if there's enough work that it won't hit the early part of 2024 then they might well have said "eh push it to the September market increase and lets do extra work.
Grimskul wrote: Yeah, the release date is way further ahead than I thought it would be. Are there any major games it's avoiding to compete with in the summer/spring?
Not really. The PC games release schedule for next year is still largely up in the air.
A lot of it is other games that slipped from this year (or even 2022), and the 'big stuff' hasn't committed to a release window yet. Even the endless advertising from the Game Awards last night only produced a couple dates.
Sounds like something significant has gone wrong, they had playable demos for media a few months ago, and it seemed like they were trying to tie it in with 10th edition and the Space Marine board game they released, to be a whole year off seems like something has gone awry.
$70* to play the game. The more expensive versions just give you a four day head start and unique cosmetics, none f which are remotely necessary. This isn't like Ubisoft where quests are locked behind different versions and the season pass.
*or region equivalent so probably 30 gbp and $684 Australian.
The $250 is for the Collectors edition is for the statue and making of book. If you want a resin statue of half of a Space Marine.... this is an option.
$100 is for the season pass whose contents are basically unknown as far as I can tell. Just being $10 over the Gold edition that doesn't give you a season pass is pretty suspect.
The Gold Edition doesn't seem particularly worth it. Some costume stuff. Nothing gameplace based in either this or the pre-order DLC.
I don't see any reason to pick up anything other the base version unless you want the statue and artbook. None of the special editions seem particularly worthwhile.
The Season Pass wil grant you more cosmetics, while new content like missions, enemies, and weapons will be available through free regular updates
Depending on how much you yearn for power armor customization will determine if you want to pay the extra but not buying one of the more expensive editions won't keep you from any gameplay.
We want Space Marine 2 to be an experience tailor-crafted for the players. Hence, we’re happy to confirm that there aren't any microtransactions in Space Marine 2. No in-game cash shop. All gameplay content and features will be free to all players. Any paid DLCs will be cosmetic only.
As long as there are still ways to get cosmetics and it doesn't feel like Halo Infinite and you get stuck with nothing but a colour palette until the devs are forced to change things.
Gert wrote: As long as there are still ways to get cosmetics and it doesn't feel like Halo Infinite and you get stuck with nothing but a colour palette until the devs are forced to change things.
As far as I can tell there are still ones you unlock from playing the game it is just that there will be seasonal cosmetics as well. There are six different marine classes (Tactical, Assault, Vanguard, Bulwark, Sniper, Heavy) and each has a slightly different armor to customize. For example onene of them has a shield and Vanguard (and I'm guessing Sniper) is in Phobos. Maybe the Heavy will be in Gravis? The 6v6 shows Chaos marines so I can see having a base Chaos marine and them different cosmetics to upgrade them and make them fashioonable. Of course there are weapon ornaments as well so it appears there is a lot of room for both in game earned as well as SP and microtransaction (ugh) options.
gianlucafiorentini123 wrote: Having fallen out of playing regular video games over the years. Will this game likely get a release on PS4 at a later date?
Unfortunately, no. The generation cycle has gotten past through COVID enough that most of the more modern games that aren't aimed to be backwards compatible through live service are basically now only being released for PS5, Xbox Series X and PC. Space Marine 2 is included in this, they usually don't bother releasing it for weaker platforms for the same company, normally its the other way around, doing upgrades for next gen consoles instead.
I'm hoping it doesn't force you to start with a combat knife and a pistol again, as a CAPTAIN.
Although it looks like Titus is an LT now? Still, give me a power sword and a plasma pistol please.
Also, since BOLTGUN is canon now, and plays along side this entire silliness, does that mean Titus will get a grav gun, and take out terminators with a chain sword.
So far it's looking good but the proof will be how it plays on release. I'm looking forward to it and got my co-op group sorted.
Of course my biggest concern is how many bugs are going to cause problems with the game, so many games nowadays seem to be released full of bugs which means players get annoyed by having to report them and then wait for a fix.
It's happening so often it looks like games aren't tested before release. The companies seem to assume players will do that for them. So they don't have to fund play testing and make more profit.
It takes resources and time to make a dedicated demo or beta build, I feel it's better to just focus on the final product than to divert resources so close to release, 69 days to go as of typing this.
I have semi-high hopes for this one, aside from continuing the story of Titus, World War Z wasn't a half-bad game, the horde mechanic in particular throwing waves of zombies at you without making the game chug or slow down is amazing. Also, coop mode can be played solo it seems, hope for me yet.
Honestly, whenever I hear a game has a beta as a "preorder bonus"? Immediate red flag. Beta's a term that has been altered to mean "demo", because for some reason "demo" gets a bad perception these days.
If someone wants you to pay to play their demo build? Something's up.
People who signed up for the beta should be getting an email today or somesuch:
Dear player,
You have created a beta account and shown interest in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 in our closed beta testing space.
Space Marine 2 is almost ready. Our teams at Focus and Saber have been truly blown away by your passion, and excitement for the game! We are now entirely focused on optimization, polish and fixing remaining issues ahead of the launch on September 9. This means we will not run a public online beta, as it would take the development teams away from preparing for the full launch, and our priority is to ensure the best possible experience at release.
We know this is disappointing news for some of you. As a thank you to those interested in participating, if you registered via the online signup before June 28, 2024 (midnight, Paris Time), you will receive the Bolt Pistol Skin below as a subscription gift. The code for the skin will be sent to you on October 1st, 2024.
BrookM wrote: For those who have, please don't post any spoilers or the like, thanks.
Well, too bad.
In a shocking twist, early in the game a small band of Orks who are related to the Orks from the previous game find Titus and Leandros. They brutally kill Titus in front of a restrained Leandros, but leave him alive after incapacitating him. They then return whence they came and Leandros sets off in a quest of vengeance once he gathers his wits.
Character control will change between the Ork leader and Leandros at various stages of the game. A violent, but emotional journey culminates in a showdown between the leader of the Ork group(who is the last survivor) and Leandros. They then battle it out, but Leandros has mercy on the Ork and lets it go.
This was a beta, so actual gameplay/story may change in the real release.
BrookM wrote: For those who have, please don't post any spoilers or the like, thanks.
Well, too bad.
In a shocking twist, early in the game a small band of Orks who are related to the Orks from the previous game find Titus and Leandros. They brutally kill Titus in front of a restrained Leandros, but leave him alive after incapacitating him. They then return whence they came and Leandros sets off in a quest of vengeance once he gathers his wits.
Character control will change between the Ork leader and Leandros at various stages of the game. A violent, but emotional journey culminates in a showdown between the leader of the Ork group(who is the last survivor) and Leandros. They then battle it out, but Leandros has mercy on the Ork and lets it go.
This was a beta, so actual gameplay/story may change in the real release.
We’re only 41 days away from the release of Space Marine 2; it’s the perfect time for our monthly Community Update! (got it? 41 days? 41st Millenium?😉😉) We can sense the excitement growing as the release gets closer, and even more, since we announced that
SPACE MARINE 2 IS OFFICIALLY GOLD
For those unfamiliar with the gaming industry, this means that the game has been approved by Microsoft and Sony and that we’ve been given the green light for the production of our retail boxes. Though we’ll continue to work on polish until the release, this essentially means that the game is ready.
This is a huge milestone for the teams and another major step towards the game’s full release on September 9, so we’re very proud to share the good news with you all.
I'm sorry, I know this is small and terribly nitpicky, but I HATE the Picatinny Rail on the "Sniper rifle" I know this is incredibly pedantic, but I have to believe that this would have been improved upon by our SUPER FUTURE overlords. Also, by definition, those rails are for quick swapping attachments. I would hope the Astartes would be wise enough to build an integrated scope mount to the chassis of the rifle.
FezzikDaBullgryn wrote: I'm sorry, I know this is small and terribly nitpicky, but I HATE the Picatinny Rail on the "Sniper rifle" I know this is incredibly pedantic, but I have to believe that this would have been improved upon by our SUPER FUTURE overlords. Also, by definition, those rails are for quick swapping attachments. I would hope the Astartes would be wise enough to build an integrated scope mount to the chassis of the rifle.
You're talking about the same Marines and Imperium that blesses vehicles with Holy Oils; performs maintenance whilst burning incense and considers innovation, invention and changing designs to be heresy?
It's more the fact that a picatinny rail has been added to weapons in 40k recently to make them look more "modern" and give the impression that (in this instance) the Primaris kit is more high tech.
Really dislike it. Same with the pouches and ludicrous clutter added to minis to make them look more realistic. Bollocks to it. I don't care it's just a chore to paint.
It's actually added as an opposite to what you're saying Overread. Fezzik is right, why would that be a thing. In mini design it wasn't before it's only put in for us as players.
Back on topic, I'm keen to play this. The PC requirements just announced today and I can just scrape by with mine. Won't be ultra settings but maybe won't be low either.
Influencers have had early access and I skimmed some of the PVE content that's been uploaded today, mostly to avoid spoilers, but seeing it in action, I have high hopes for this game, as it looks amazing and looks like a lot of fun to play.
It looks fine, I'm looking forward to the game. I've got my team of 3 ready to go. No intention of playing PvP. I've yet to find any multiplayer online game where the vast majority of players aren't toxic. That's only my experience but others have said it's just a gaming version of twitter, toxic cesspool.
But hopefully the narrative 3 player section will be worth the. Money.
BrookM wrote: Influencers have had early access and I skimmed some of the PVE content that's been uploaded today, mostly to avoid spoilers, but seeing it in action, I have high hopes for this game, as it looks amazing and looks like a lot of fun to play.
Yeah, I watched Valrak's video on it. He loved it - especially, of course, because he was able to make his marine an Imperial Fist.
Each class comes with a selection of pre-made armour sets that you’ll have to unlock in PvE or PvP game modes. You can also decide to create your own custom armour set. This is where your creativity shines! Various designs of helm, pauldrons, breastplate, wargear, gauntlets and greaves can be unlocked by playing in multiplayer modes.
From what I've seen, it can all unlocked through either game mode, so no need to miss out due to some cosmetics being locked behind a "play X amount of PVP to unlock" requirements.
I'm somewhat disappointed that the jump pack on the assault-class functions more like a "special attack" rather than the jump pack in idk Helldivers 2(The games are different I know, but this could function the same without any issue). I wonder if they're going to change it so you can fly anywhere with it, not just "go in the air-> charge your attack". it doesn't really feel like a proper jet pack to me..
andrewbioform wrote: I'm somewhat disappointed that the jump pack on the assault-class functions more like a "special attack" rather than the jump pack in idk Helldivers 2(The games are different I know, but this could function the same without any issue). I wonder if they're going to change it so you can fly anywhere with it, not just "go in the air-> charge your attack". it doesn't really feel like a proper jet pack to me..
I’ve not played Helldivers, so can’t speak for how they are treated there.
in 40k (and the original Space Marine computer game) marines have jump packs, not flight packs. They were never supposed to be for full flight. Just boosted jumps and slowing your decent when stepping out of a thunderhawk. I think the game does a good job presenting them as such. You can still use them to get places, but not just hover or loiter in the air forever.
The Porphyr Shield Chainsword skin will be available as a Twitch Drop from September 4, 12:00 AM CET to September 16, 11:59 PM CET. To earn this skin, you will have to watch one hour of Space Marine 2 content.
The Porphyr Shield Bolt Rifle skin will be available as a Twitch Drop from September 17, 12:00 AM CET to September 30, 11:59 PM CET. To obtain this skin, you will need to watch one hour of Space Marine 2 content.
The Porphyr Shield Powerfist skin will be obtainable from September 4, 6:00 PM CET to September 30, 11:59 PM CET. To get this skin, you will have to watch one hour of Space Marine 2 content made by the Twitch Streamers with VIP drops activated (list available on this website) during that time frame.
Please note that it should be one hour in total, meaning that you won’t have to do it in one sitting. You can watch 20 minutes a day, 40 minutes the next, and it will count!
The bolt pistol skin can only be gotten through one of the following options: Signing up for the beta in the past, subscribing to Warhammer + or gifting two subs to a streamer who has drops enabled.
in 40k (and the original Space Marine computer game) marines have jump packs, not flight packs. They were never supposed to be for full flight. Just boosted jumps and slowing your decent when stepping out of a thunderhawk. I think the game does a good job presenting them as such. You can still use them to get places, but not just hover or loiter in the air forever.
I may have expressed myself wrong. What I meant is not a flight pack, but something that lifts you off the ground, keeps you in the air for a few seconds allowing you to freely move, then slowly descend to the ground, like an astronaut on a low gravity planet. This is how it works in helldivers , I imagined it would work the same in space marine 2(i've seen some couple of videos, whenever he uses the ability he just lifts off the ground for a bit and is stuck in the "flight animation" , then he is forced to imediately attack somewhere, it doesn't have that "room of movement/descent".
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andrewbioform wrote: I wonder if they're going to change it so you can fly anywhere with it, not just "go in the air-> charge your attack". it doesn't really feel like a proper jet pack to me..
Fly as in:
use the jumpack to get in the air, then glide to your location while slowly falling
But basically what you want is a jet pack, wh40k often makes a distinction between jump packs which are used for jumping and jet packs that are used for more controllabe flight.
in 40k (and the original Space Marine computer game) marines have jump packs, not flight packs. They were never supposed to be for full flight. Just boosted jumps and slowing your decent when stepping out of a thunderhawk. I think the game does a good job presenting them as such. You can still use them to get places, but not just hover or loiter in the air forever.
I may have expressed myself wrong. What I meant is not a flight pack, but something that lifts you off the ground, keeps you in the air for a few seconds allowing you to freely move, then slowly descend to the ground, like an astronaut on a low gravity planet. This is how it works in helldivers , I imagined it would work the same in space marine 2(i've seen some couple of videos, whenever he uses the ability he just lifts off the ground for a bit and is stuck in the "flight animation" , then he is forced to imediately attack somewhere, it doesn't have that "room of movement/descent".
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andrewbioform wrote: I wonder if they're going to change it so you can fly anywhere with it, not just "go in the air-> charge your attack". it doesn't really feel like a proper jet pack to me..
Fly as in:
use the jumpack to get in the air, then glide to your location while slowly falling
We’ll obviously see what we get when it releases. IIRC from the original you didn’t need to rocket into the ground to smash your foes. But it was just so much FUN to do. Jump Pack and Thunderhammer together was such a joy.
Been playing it and it is certainly a vast improvement over 1 (but 2 generations later, i would expect it to be).
But two quite severe criticisms. Firstly, the dodge seems to be a suggestion at best. It's a complete coin toss if it actually works or not. Secondly, the collision is broken. During the carnifex boss, getting stuck on multiple instances of nothing got me killed multiple times. These need to be fixed.
I've been stun-locked to death a few times myself and yeah, the dodge / counter mechanic is really iffy at best, I have yet to properly get it to work on a Nid Warrior, the most common chunky enemy out there.
The Dreadnaught killing a Helldrake via tossing a giant rock at it was awesome and hilarious in equal measure. I am just looking at the thing and “In the name of The Emperor, I cast you down” Boom! Boulder to the face.
They put the photo mode in for a reason alright. That massive statue of Sanguinius is just 👌🏻 and that's just a prop in the background of a mission.
I feel the same way hehe, they made Marines cool again, as the game just goes out of its way to recreate some really cool events you see in art and books all the time.
Like..
Spoiler:
grabbing the standard and having a last stand a-la Rogue Trader Crimson Fists was just awesome. Calgar coming in to save the day was just awesome.
Also, for those who have beaten the game..
Spoiler:
Leandros is still a dick ha!
Glad I went in spoiler-free, some things were spoiled due to socials, but most of the late-game stuff I went in blind on.
Now I do hope private lobbies for Ops drops soon, as I want to play with bots, not randos.
BrookM wrote: They put the photo mode in for a reason alright. That massive statue of Sanguinius is just 👌🏻 and that's just a prop in the background of a mission.
I feel the same way hehe, they made Marines cool again, as the game just goes out of its way to recreate some really cool events you see in art and books all the time.
Like..
Spoiler:
grabbing the standard and having a last stand a-la Rogue Trader Crimson Fists was just awesome. Calgar coming in to save the day was just awesome.
Also, for those who have beaten the game..
Spoiler:
Leandros is still a dick ha!
Glad I went in spoiler-free, some things were spoiled due to socials, but most of the late-game stuff I went in blind on.
Now I do hope private lobbies for Ops drops soon, as I want to play with bots, not randos.
Spoiler:
I disagree about Leandros. He's the chapter's spiritual watchdog, previous animus aside. Titus failing to communicate and trust his brothers is one of the big themes of the story of SM2.
Had my first ops mission with some friends, the AI director does not hold back from time to time, throwing whole groups of warriors at us if it looks like we're doing a bit too well hehe, but damned fun nonetheless and just as cinematic as the main campaign.
Gert wrote: Oof I was not expecting to get bodied in the tutorial mission but damn. I'm really enjoying this so far.
Yeah, I jumped in at Veteran and decided to drop down to normal until I get the parry flow down. Those swarms rip through armor extremely fast. Veteran is absolutely exhilarating though. Definitely lookng forward to it once I've got the mechanics figured out.
Gert wrote: Oof I was not expecting to get bodied in the tutorial mission but damn. I'm really enjoying this so far.
Yeah, I jumped in at Veteran and decided to drop down to normal until I get the parry flow down. Those swarms rip through armor extremely fast. Veteran is absolutely exhilarating though. Definitely lookng forward to it once I've got the mechanics figured out.
I'm on easy to just experience the story and visuals after trying it on Veteran, myself.
Nevelon wrote: Kinda feel like I’m button mashing my way through. I guess I just don’t have the reflexes or rhythm for the reacts and combos.
Still having fun.
The heavy and light attacks being on the same button is throwing me off. It's kind of hard to time swapping to heavies. This was what I realized was my main issue on Veteran, as Normal doesn't overwhelm you quite so badly and lets you see why you need the heavy attacks instead of just spamming light. I can't say I've got the count down for how many lights trigger which Heavy though.
Owlcat Studios (Rogue Trader) has posted a congratulatory message on X to Saber Interactive due to the success of Space Marine 2, and for properly capturing the feel of the 41st Millennium.
Eumerin wrote: Owlcat Studios (Rogue Trader) has posted a congratulatory message on X to Saber Interactive due to the success of Space Marine 2, and for properly capturing the feel of the 41st Millennium.
That’s cool. They did a good job too, though in a much different way.
Ran through the tutorials for each class, earned enough Req to burn it all on unlocking the Deathwatch parts so I can dive into multiplayer in proper attire
There's parts obnoxiously scattered around at the end of a bunch of obscure chapters unfortunately, but of them, the other one that's a nice addition is the leg inquisition symbol. There's also the right knee kill team stripes, though you get one along the path that gets you the arm (which is a brighter silver than painting it with the Iron Hands colors and matches better) that looks great so its not crucial to chase down the others right away.
I forced myself to play through a few of the tutorials until I got enough requisition to get the missing part, my armours all have a shiny arm and pauldron now, everything else will have to be unlocked in due time.
And agreed, the unlock system is awfully annoying how everything is laid out and done. If I want to be a Space Shark, I need to unlock the entire tract, including the unrelated Deathwatch part, to get the full skin set. 🤨
Nevelon wrote: Where are the tutorials? I’m working through the campaign, but any time I select the other game modes it wants me to just drop into the matchmaker.
And I’d rather not go into group play blind. Or with a basic trooper skin.
Playing on PC.
Select a game mode, but don't select a mission type. Then exit the game mode selection screen. You'll get a prompt asking you to confirm that you want to change the game mode. If you accept, then you should be on the Battlebarge, but not placed into a group.
Then go talk to the magos to select a character class, customize your character's appearance, and find the tutorials.
Nevelon wrote: Where are the tutorials? I’m working through the campaign, but any time I select the other game modes it wants me to just drop into the matchmaker.
And I’d rather not go into group play blind. Or with a basic trooper skin.
Playing on PC.
Select a game mode, but don't select a mission type. Then exit the game mode selection screen. You'll get a prompt asking you to confirm that you want to change the game mode. If you accept, then you should be on the Battlebarge, but not placed into a group.
Then go talk to the magos to select a character class, customize your character's appearance, and find the tutorials.
Ok, thanks for that. Found the magos, looked at the options, was able to select class/cosmetics. But still no tutorials.
*What* a game. That intro section gave me goosebumps, this has to be the coolest 40k game ever made, and just the graphics, the production values, ooze quality. If this doesn't persuade GW management that there needs to be a live action film or series (and the potential for it) they need mind wiping and turning into servitors.
My only criticism so far is I'm not sure they've got the standard difficulty level quite right, in solo mode. My Titus may be 200 years old but a bit embarrassing having to be rezed by his squadmates (who are already dubious about him) 9 times during a mission. Is it more straightforward playing alongside real people?*
For reference while I'm not a Golden Joystick winner, I'm generally ok at games: have completed the dark souls games/Elden Ring etc, Spelunky, can get off the first level of Ghouls 'n Ghosts
The main complaints so far across the board are how squishy you are as a marine and how janky the combat can be more often than not, with little to no chance to recover lost health. Something that gets thrown a lot as a fix would be to regain some lost health through executions, like you had to in the first game.
I play on easy (I am a gaming tourist) and still get my arse handed to me when I lose control of the combat flow and lose all my armour and most of my health in an instant. Being stun-locked to death by ranged enemies isn't jolly either.
In coop you will still get piled on a lot, the operations mode uses a director to randomize encounters and keep you on your toes, so don't look too surprised if all of the sudden you are swamped by hordes of smaller bugs backed by.. eight warriors?! Will say, operations mode is damned rewarding to play through so far, with the same massive set piece moments and battles like in the core campaign.
Still a great game that oozes the right stuff and I love how people who go in blind, knowing nothing of the franchise, see how cool it is and delve into the setting further from there.
We've been eating good game-wise as of late, YMMV obviously, but both Boltgun and Rogue Trader have been bangers and Mechanicus 2 is also on the horizon now, the first one being an ace experience. Now if only those fethers running Darktide would get their gak together already..
BrookM wrote: Have private lobbies been implemented?
It'll put you in with bots if you don't get anyone matchmade with you.
That's a no then, I'll wait for the official release.
If you go into multiplayer without selecting a mission (like when you do the trials) you can click on your profile and get a 5 digit invite code to your session to send to friends. I was playing over the weekend with my friends on a mix of PC and PS5 using it.
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Pacific wrote: *What* a game. That intro section gave me goosebumps, this has to be the coolest 40k game ever made, and just the graphics, the production values, ooze quality. If this doesn't persuade GW management that there needs to be a live action film or series (and the potential for it) they need mind wiping and turning into servitors.
My only criticism so far is I'm not sure they've got the standard difficulty level quite right, in solo mode. My Titus may be 200 years old but a bit embarrassing having to be rezed by his squadmates (who are already dubious about him) 9 times during a mission. Is it more straightforward playing alongside real people?*
For reference while I'm not a Golden Joystick winner, I'm generally ok at games: have completed the dark souls games/Elden Ring etc, Spelunky, can get off the first level of Ghouls 'n Ghosts
It's really about understanding the health system. You constantly need to be looking for the opportunities to heal. I can't say I went down too often on the normal difficulty, but it took a bit to get into the flow of things. Some tips though:
- Hordes will remove your armor very very quickly and need to be thinned. Depending on your loadout some rifle fire followed by a grenade or a grenade followed by some melta helps a lot.
- You can also do pretty well using your armor to get off executions to keep it topped off and rely on Synapse bursts to kill swarms. This involves trying to get a couple headshots on the way in, losing your armor in melee and getting it back with the execution.
- Parries are an opportunity to recover. Every time you see the blue, start tapping Parry as a leaping Gaunt is a great way to get back an armor segment.
- In single player, Titus's ultimate recharges fast enough that you should absolutely use it to recover health if you're at 50% or less. It's combat effect is relatively minor, IMO.
In multiplayer most of the same applies, but its a bit easier since your squadmates aren't all generalists. A heavy goes a long way to make sure that the swarms stay thinned and a sniper can put multiple enemies in execution state for a melee class to chain regen armor from. It still really helps to understand the game flow though and multiplayer is relatively harder than single player. I'd definitely stick to the easiest setting at first to learn the levels and unlock early perks, even if you beat the game on standard.
When Roboute Guilliman came back and took over, his first order of business should've been to make sure every password on every terminal wasn't the same 3 digits.
Terrible security protocols. No wonder everything has gone to gak.
BrookM wrote: Have private lobbies been implemented?
It'll put you in with bots if you don't get anyone matchmade with you.
That's a no then, I'll wait for the official release.
If you go into multiplayer without selecting a mission (like when you do the trials) you can click on your profile and get a 5 digit invite code to your session to send to friends. I was playing over the weekend with my friends on a mix of PC and PS5 using it.
I just want to play solo, unlike you fine peeps I have no friends and don't want to play ops with randos. 😉
BrookM wrote: Have private lobbies been implemented?
It'll put you in with bots if you don't get anyone matchmade with you.
That's a no then, I'll wait for the official release.
If you go into multiplayer without selecting a mission (like when you do the trials) you can click on your profile and get a 5 digit invite code to your session to send to friends. I was playing over the weekend with my friends on a mix of PC and PS5 using it.
I just want to play solo, unlike you fine peeps I have no friends and don't want to play ops with randos. 😉
Oh, that you can do as well, but its not super obvious. If you set a mission and then Leave Squad, it won't attempt to do further matchmaking and you can just start the mission with the other two players being controlled by bots.
It should be there! Or at least was when I got it a few days ago? My biggest problem was trying to find the "base' game, and it kept pushing me towards the £95 version.
LunarSol - thanks for the tips! On playing a few more times I think my mistake is trying to play it like Doom, or the first game for that matter, and being a bit more circumspect. Now Titus is only going 6-7 times a mission, rather than a dozen, as my squad mates roll there eyes and rez me yet again
nels1031 wrote: When Roboute Guilliman came back and took over, his first order of business should've been to make sure every password on every terminal wasn't the same 3 digits.
Terrible security protocols. No wonder everything has gone to gak.
LunarSol wrote: Oh, that you can do as well, but its not super obvious. If you set a mission and then Leave Squad, it won't attempt to do further matchmaking and you can just start the mission with the other two players being controlled by bots.
Tried it, doesn't work for me, womp-womp haha! But oh well, I'm going to sit tight and wait, shouldn't be too long, Sabre is really passionate about this one, so the update will hopefully drop in a week or so. 🤞🏻
I know there's a way to play in Offline mode. I get the option whenever put my Playstation to sleep, but I haven't tried running an Op that way.
Honestly, I don't think there's much difference playing with bots and other players. I play almost no online games due to a general distaste for the experience, but I really haven't had any issues. Very little mic chatter, you just kind of run the mission together just as if the other players were NPCs.
Off-line mode also bars you from logging any progress and XP gains sadly, but I can wait, rather the feature was available at launch, but oh well, they're not Fat Shark at least.
I just don't like playing with randoms, you can blame Darktide in part for this, where random fethers run through the maps triggering everything and spamming waypoints urging others to hurry up.
BrookM wrote: Off-line mode also bars you from logging any progress and XP gains sadly, but I can wait, rather the feature was available at launch, but oh well, they're not Fat Shark at least.
I just don't like playing with randoms, you can blame Darktide in part for this, where random fethers run through the maps triggering everything and spamming waypoints urging others to hurry up.
One of my least favourite parts of online gaming. It has been the case for as long as I can remember, even back to early mmorpg days of Ultima Online, Everquest etc. "CMON CMON CMON" as they run forward bunny hopping. At least in the case of Ultima, you could just wait for them to aggro a bunch of monsters, die and then loot their corpse
Ok the other hand, playing with a group of friends who have not been chain-drinking cans of Monster,.and killing stuff together, can be awesome!
I'm playing through on easy mode at the moment and have to say it's probably at the right level for me - and a termagent dies when hit in the head by a bolter shell, as it should
How do people feel about all the flavors of bolters? I found myself preferring the Marksmen rifle in the campaign. Although I spent a lot of the final 3rd running plasma.
Also loved the heck out of the HB whenever I got my hands on one.
Pacific wrote: One of my least favourite parts of online gaming. It has been the case for as long as I can remember, even back to early mmorpg days of Ultima Online, Everquest etc. "CMON CMON CMON" as they run forward bunny hopping. At least in the case of Ultima, you could just wait for them to aggro a bunch of monsters, die and then loot their corpse
Ok the other hand, playing with a group of friends who have not been chain-drinking cans of Monster,.and killing stuff together, can be awesome!
I'm playing through on easy mode at the moment and have to say it's probably at the right level for me - and a termagent dies when hit in the head by a bolter shell, as it should
Same here, I am a gaming tourist haha, I prefer to just have fun and not sweat, though we are playing through the story and operations on normal, which makes things challenging enough without becoming a massive sweatfest. The director the game uses for operations loves to throw some meaty challenges our way every now and then (eight warriors, why game, why?! ) but with a little coordination and timely used abilities it becomes a fun challenge to tackle. Having an assault marine and the heavy tackle an assault while I as the tactical hold off an ambush to the rear, that's good fun.
Nevelon wrote: How do people feel about all the flavors of bolters? I found myself preferring the Marksmen rifle in the campaign. Although I spent a lot of the final 3rd running plasma.
Also loved the heck out of the HB whenever I got my hands on one.
Heavy bolt rifle is my weapon of choice, has a nice kick and bite to it, also using it in operations a lot. We've agreed to give any heavy bolter we find in the campaign to just one player, who loves his heavy weapons and is quite handy with one as well hehe.
That said, I like that the game makes every weapon viable and you can take whatever you want and still have fun with it. Sure, the power sword is the best all-round melee weapon, but sometimes, the combat knife is rewarding in its own way, same with the pistols, the plasma might be the "best" option, but I much prefer the heavy bolt pistol, which again, has a nice kick and bite to it.
Nevelon wrote: So finished the campaign. Bit short, but good.
Started doing some of the trials. Man do I suck.
If you started with the Tactical, just know that those are absurdly hard for some sick reason. I was able to A rank almost all of the trials for the other classes, but I can't even get a C rank on the first tactical trial.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
BrookM wrote: Same here, I am a gaming tourist haha, I prefer to just have fun and not sweat, though we are playing through the story and operations on normal, which makes things challenging enough without becoming a massive sweatfest. The director the game uses for operations loves to throw some meaty challenges our way every now and then (eight warriors, why game, why?! ) but with a little coordination and timely used abilities it becomes a fun challenge to tackle. Having an assault marine and the heavy tackle an assault while I as the tactical hold off an ambush to the rear, that's good fun.
Unlike story mode, Operations really wants you to play through Easy first to learn the levels and more importantly, get to around level 5 where each class unlocks a passive team buff that makes Normal mode significantly easier.
For the most part I've been pretty happy with the online experience in terms of the power gaming. I think it helps that the power games have to explore every nook and cranny for armory upgrades and the like so they're not really pushing the team to get through the level any faster than they probably can naturally. The game has a good flow and for the most part doesn't demand too much from players until Veteran level so people can kind of do their thing without harming the experience.
Nevelon wrote: So finished the campaign. Bit short, but good.
Started doing some of the trials. Man do I suck.
If you started with the Tactical, just know that those are absurdly hard for some sick reason. I was able to A rank almost all of the trials for the other classes, but I can't even get a C rank on the first tactical trial.
I did try some if the others with better results. But yes, it was a little disheartening to try what is naturally the first ones to try and just get stuffed.
I was wondering if you need to level up the guns first? I’m probably not using the ausepx right as well. But that’s why I was in the trials…. I’ll work on the others for now. Hopefully we’ll get bot lobbies and I can get more practice in before I saddle other players with my incompetence.
Nevelon wrote: I know the powersword is nice and balanced, but once the thunderhammer found it’s way to my grubby little hands, it never left.
Sometimes you just need to swing for the bleachers and turn things into clouds of gore.
Everything is a nail with a hammer that size! I've felt that way about the power sword myself, the hammer is a bit too clunky for my tastes, but that's because it has an awesome weight to it that makes it really live up to the hype of it being a massive thunder hammer, plus that way it's not a complete replacement of all the other melee weapons.
LunarSol wrote: Unlike story mode, Operations really wants you to play through Easy first to learn the levels and more importantly, get to around level 5 where each class unlocks a passive team buff that makes Normal mode significantly easier.
For the most part I've been pretty happy with the online experience in terms of the power gaming. I think it helps that the power games have to explore every nook and cranny for armory upgrades and the like so they're not really pushing the team to get through the level any faster than they probably can naturally. The game has a good flow and for the most part doesn't demand too much from players until Veteran level so people can kind of do their thing without harming the experience.
Sadly no easy in this household with how my brother is! 😅 It's one of the reasons I am eagerly awaiting solo lobbies, as I am dying to do some solo-levelling and get my passive already.
And yes! Some of the challenges are diabolically evil, while others I aced without even trying.
Nevelon wrote: How do people feel about all the flavors of bolters? I found myself preferring the Marksmen rifle in the campaign. Although I spent a lot of the final 3rd running plasma.
Also loved the heck out of the HB whenever I got my hands on one.
I got fairly hooked on the melta myself, but in terms of Bolters I liked the stalker in campaign. I think the Auto is the only one that's kind of bad all around, but the grenade launcher variants are probably my favorite overall.
Nevelon wrote: So finished the campaign. Bit short, but good.
Started doing some of the trials. Man do I suck.
If you started with the Tactical, just know that those are absurdly hard for some sick reason. I was able to A rank almost all of the trials for the other classes, but I can't even get a C rank on the first tactical trial.
I did try some if the others with better results. But yes, it was a little disheartening to try what is naturally the first ones to try and just get stuffed.
I was wondering if you need to level up the guns first? I’m probably not using the ausepx right as well. But that’s why I was in the trials…. I’ll work on the others for now. Hopefully we’ll get bot lobbies and I can get more practice in before I saddle other players with my incompetence.
I really don't know. The bolters in Ops feel very underpowered until they get some levels, but I'm not sure if upgrades carry over. Certainly it would be weird if Tactical was the only one that needed upgrades to A rank.
Automatically Appended Next Post: In terms of melee, I generally don't like Block weapons outside the Thunder Hammer. I tend to play the Bulwark a lot and definitely favor the Power Sword, but the Chainsword is very good as well. Fencing is probably unnecessary in the long term, but feels really nice.
Maxed out the Heavy class and getting close on the Bulwark. Ruthless is really fun with a coordinated team, but luckily you only need to clear a few missions that way to max out a character.
Probably work on a Tactical next, though Assault looks very tempting and many teams could use a good Sniper....
Hopefully tomorrow the private PVE servers will be implemented, they have maintenance scheduled then, as I am itching to do some grinding with my Tactical.
BrookM wrote: Hopefully tomorrow the private PVE servers will be implemented, they have maintenance scheduled then, as I am itching to do some grinding with my Tactical.
And they have!
Looks like a great patch overall. Going to need to try it out and see but lots of good fixes and the few nerfs seem pretty reasonably thought out.
Pleasantly surprised by this all and already enjoying it a lot. Bots are no real substitute for real players, but this is so much better than running with randos and the cheaters that are rife in the game right now.
I haven't had a problem with the playerbase honestly. Played quite a few games with random matchmaking and while its no where near as effective as playing with friends on voice chat, I've had maybe 2-3 wildly incompetent runs total.
Servers are a bit gak at the moment though, only managed to get two solo games in, every other was interrupted by a server failure, losing all progress unless I go off-line, which means no XP or progression.. 😒
fething hell the Heldrake boss battle is an unfun mess, nothing like running around dodging fire attacks while hordes of ranged enemies are spawned in around you as you try to find the three right symbols to weaken an enemy for a split second so it can take damage..
Got the game last week, it's decent enough, but I dunno, maybe its just me not getting excited about games anymore. Or maybe I am just useless when it comes to gaming
BrookM wrote: fething hell the Heldrake boss battle is an unfun mess, nothing like running around dodging fire attacks while hordes of ranged enemies are spawned in around you as you try to find the three right symbols to weaken an enemy for a split second so it can take damage..
The spawns and hellfire attacks really only come in if you pick the wrong symbols. If you stick to the right ones it's a pretty simple fight. It is the one place where randos who don't know the mechanics can absolutely ruin a run though and I really wish the tutorial button for this included an option to make the wrong choice so people might learn.
Bit annoyed that whenever I pick an ops to play solo the game switches it to another without any warning or prompt.
Loving the Bulwark a lot, more than the Tactical. Not super ideal in every situation, really struggling against Zoanthropes due to the AI doing diddly damage against them, but really enjoy this one, managed to get to level 9 playing it solo thus far.
Yeah, the private mission switch thing is super weird. I have no idea what's going on there other than it being an obvious bug. It doesn't ever happen in public games.
I've maxed out the Bulwark and Heavy and really enjoy both to the point I'm not sure what I want next. Currently doing a bit of work on Assault and Tactical and they're fun but less my style.
I've been having a great time playing. PvP is actually not too annoying, seems a little more refined than space marine 1.
I'm enjoying the operations, just levelling up my tactical marine currently. I need to get to level 3 difficulty to unlock those purple upgrades for weapons. Myself and a couple of pals played the first mission last night and got rinsed about halfway through.
I find it a little amusing that they went for the "firstborn" naming conventions as it were rather than daft Primaris ones. I guess to make sense to non-tabletop players!
My only issue is the loading times, for whatever reason it takes 8 minutes to load me into the game. It was worse before that patch they did recently. Then a couple of minutes each time I load a mission. Don't see why it does when comparable spec games run much better. I know my PC isn't great but it's not dreadful.
I love the game. I've got Tactical, Assault, and Vanguard up to level 25. I don't much care for the other classes. I would have liked Bulwark were it not for how weird parrying is with that class. I can do it just fine with any other kit, but the parry windows on Bulwark are just weird. I think Sniper is very effective but just not my style. Heavy not having a melee weapon is an instant turn off for me. I have way too much fun mixing it up in close quarters.
In regards to the load time complaints, I must agree. I play this on PS5. There is no reason this machine can instantaneously load the massive, gorgeous photo realistic environments of Horizon Forbidden West and Ghost of Tsushima and yet take such a long time booting up the tiny arenas of SM2. I think it's just poorly optimized. Not a deal breaker, but certainly obnoxious.
creeping-deth87 wrote: I would have liked Bulwark were it not for how weird parrying is with that class. I can do it just fine with any other kit, but the parry windows on Bulwark are just weird.
Parry is based on the Defense stat. Were you playing with a Block weapon? I find myself pretty spoiled once I unlock Fencing weapons.
There also seems to be something odd about the Bulwark perk that creates a damage pulse when you parry (not the one that drops a shock area, the one at level 10 I think). When its on, the damage pulse seems to break enemies out of the gun strike, making it feel like you're missing the parries constantly. If you've gotten that far, try switching it back to the level 2 perk in that column that makes you more durable when your armor is gone and see if that helps.
So I've only put about 10 hours into SM2 so far, which honestly is far less than I expected this far into release.
The campaign was fine but somehow felt long but also short at the same time?
The final boss was just annoying, it felt like I was just rolling around waiting to shoot at a hovering enemy while doing more rolling to dodge attacks.
Operations is OK but it just feels lacking with the number of missions.
I'm not enjoying PvP but then I didn't enjoy it in SM1 either so that's kind of just par for the course.
I like the level of customisation, what I don't like is paint schemes being locked behind having to play more of the game.
Doing it for armour doesn't bother me that's just how armour progression works but the fact I had to progressively unlock colours, and then emblems for a Chapter and not just have a selection of badges and colours irritated me.
I'm sure it's something I'll pick up every now and then but it's not something I'll put hours and hours into.
If you run the trails for the different classes you can unlock most of what you need to buy customization stuff. You get enough resources progressing naturally that you don't need to horde it, but I do really wish you got something when you fail a mission as it can feel really punishing early on when you get the XP to unlock perks but not the resources to buy them.
New mission and difficulty released today. Looking forward to taking on the Bio Titan!
They nerfed stuff way too hard, but fixes are on the way.
Hope they bring in engine fixes as well, a weird I am having is the game freezing for a second, then resuming but every enemy no longer moving or attacking, not doing anything until I make a move again.
Absolutely love it. Maxed out a couple characters, working on a couple more. Gameplay just hits a great sweet spot for me with the ranged/melee mix. You can see all there is to see fairly quickly, but I've put in hours just because the core gameplay loop is really fun to replay.
So I played a bit after the update because they said they'd fixed some performance issues.
I got halfway through the new operation mission before it absolutely krumped my computer. It was one of those crashes that nearly fried the computer. Loaded up another game, was getting 1fps. Had to reinstall the graphics drivers to fix it.
Same thing happened to a pal of mine before the patch.
So long story short, guess I'll not be playing Space Marine for a while until they properly fix the performance issues.
Haven't had a problem on PS5, but I do keep it in performance mode. Not familiar with the PC options, but I'd probably turn down some of the lighting. The new mission went a little nuts with bloom effects.
Yeah, I've been crossplaying with my friend who is on PC and you can definitely see that it wasn't optimized compared to consoles, there was a few vids he shared with me where me and the rest of our team came off 144p claymation marines from his POV.
I think it was actually better, but the last patch added a bunch of graphic options for PC and I suspect a lot of people have them configured poorly. I don't really mess with that stuff much anymore so I can't really over any advice, but I suspect its not as well vetted as the base game.
Titus feels really ponderous, and the lock on seems wonky.
Quick time and combos are all fine and well, but when the bugs are moving far faster than I can, I’m just not finding it satisfying, as too many scatter before I do a big move.
I will say that the player vs player mode feels very one sided. I think there are groups that play together a lot? I haven't played much and so I'm still low level, I always seem to end up with some nearly full level teams. I do still enjoy the PVE operations though, its been fun trying to level up different equipment and classes in that mode.
