Life can be truly strange when you think about it; I mean if you had asked me anything about Warhammer years ago I would have probably recalled memories of having my tie ‘peanutted’ and being resigned to the geek crew in school. Playing this with a closetful of outcasts who shared similar experiences, arguing whether chess was better than Dungeons and Dragons – this was the age of what could only be called the ‘original tabletop RPGs’. Now here it is brought dynamically and almost eagerly up to date on the latest console hardware and many would fail to agree that in the trailers at least it looks good – real good. Turning this into a console game is bound to bring positives and negatives. Gone are the cards, the dice and the makeshift boards that take an hour to put together and bring to life, gone are the 100+ interpretations of different rules, but do the positives of late nights and hardcore action remain? That’s exactly what I wanted to find out.

Warhammer Space Marine, takes the transition from board game to a visceral brutal third-person shooter/beat ’em up that has blood, more blood and monsters which I will fondly refer to as ‘greenies’ which you will blow to bits – yes with more blood. Yes, no dice and scorecard needed here to tell you whether you are going to hit or miss, all you need is the R2 button, and hey in this environment you don’t even need a cover button because this game is geared towards consistent ‘lets take them on from all corners’ type game play that even ‘Team America’ would be proud of. So table-top RPG this is not, and world of Warcraft this is not, but what Warhammer removes, it replaces with action and above everything else it captures the spirit of the universe epitomised in the board game.

A fantastic opening sequence sets the pace nicely, looking like it could have been pulled from a summer blockbuster and it really looks amazing, but once you press the start button any delusions you may have had that you are playing a game with in-game graphics the quality of God of War quickly dissipate. That’s not saying the graphics are poor, they are just standard fare and to be honest at times – below standard.

The Ultramarines’ are gung-ho, nicely voiced and still wearing the same huge armour from their board game counterparts years ago. The storyline is hardly worth going over and is almost non-existent – ‘humans versus aliens’ is about right. Aliens aren’t nice and the good guys aren’t nice enough not to shoot anything that gets in the way of getting the job done.

Gameplay is pretty straightforward too; stepping into the boots of Captain Titus – a member of the ultramarine squad it is your job to basically kill the alien forces and that it is really. The action is a mix of third-person shooting and melee.  You have guns, you have chain-swords and later you have rocket packs; all which carve a path of destruction through the enemy hordes. You fight in trenches, on the alien’s machinery, and you basically work your way up through the food chain until you get to the big fry, which in this game are aptly called ‘the forces of Chaos’.

I would be lying if I said the action was not satisfying; you do get the feeling that you are up against the odds.  When you take down the enemy forces and emerge victorious, the feeling of success in the initial stages at least is solid. It is a shame then that the game falls into a repetitive pattern. When the big cheese of the enemy arrive – ‘the forces of Chaos’ – it’s almost too late as at that point you have been subjected to a multitude of sequences each feeling like the one before. There’s just too little to break up the pace. The boss fights are few and far between, with only the final boss fight offering something different.

Online Multiplayer should extend the game’s longevity and appeal but it doesn’t. I honestly think that the melee combat approach here isn’t too well suited for competitive online play. The ranged combat ‘lets get a bigger gun’ idea though, works just fine, as does the game class and goal objectives. Needless to say Warhammer doesn’t try to re-invent the wheel or bring anything new to the table when it comes to online play which, considering the sheer number of fans out there I would say is a total shame.

My Verdict

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is a fair attempt at crossing a genre and bringing a franchise to life. The result is a likeable title, but one that falls foul of repetitive play. When I think of all the other titles being released this week such as Resistance 3, Star Fox 64 3DS andDeadIslandI know which one I would rather spend my money on. But fans of the original and gamers that decide to take that plunge and splash out their pocket money on this one will find a solid third-person action/shooter at its core. Just don’t expect miracles. Smart gamers will wait for the price drop.

7.5 / 10

How does this game compare to others in its genre?

Equal to: Lost Planet: Extreme Condition

Better than: Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team

Worse than: Vanquish, Red Faction, Resistance 3, Resident Evil 5, Dead Space