Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 Is Meant To Feel Like An Xbox 360 Game

Summary

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2is finally here after more than a decade between releases, and the title from Saber Interactive isn’t just a blast from the past. Those who’ve jumped into Space Marine 2,including superfan Henry Cavill, have all taken note thatthe game plays like an Xbox 360 game in a more modernized setting.

It turns out, that was exactly the intention when a sequel to 2011s original Space Marine was pitched. The team just didn’t think the elements would be that obvious.

Space Marine 2 Is A Throwback In The Best Way Possible

In an interview with GamesRadar+, game director Dmitriy Grigorenko shared that the team wanted to make sure that Space Marine 2 was a perfect sequel. To do that required going back in time and emulating the features of games from a decade ago.

“We wanted to make a perfect sequel [to Space Marine] – that was in the original pitch,” Grigorenko said. “The ‘perfect sequel’ implies it’s the exact same game – a 360 game with a story campaign, some PvP, and a horde mode to accompany it. We wanted to make a classic experience.”

Indeed, Space Marine 2 is a “classic experience” in all the best possible ways. It boasts a tight campaign that doesn’t overstay its welcome, and is more focused on quality than length. And just like the games of decades past, it also has a fully functioning multiplayer mode that is equally competent and fun.

Given the landscape of most AAA releases, a game like Space Marine 2 does stand out because of how similar feeling it is. “I didn’t know it was thatobvious,“Grigorenko said. “But that was the intention.”

That feeling was echoed by creative director Oliver Hollis-Leick, who shared that they had recently gone to a friend’s house to relive the nostalgia of what it was like playing olderGears of Wartitles. “I went back to his house last weekend, and we played Space Marine 2 from start to finish,” Hollis-Leick said. “It was just this amazing flashback experience!”

Perhaps Space Marine 2 will push studios to try and capture some of those feelings that gamers truly treasure.