Warhammer 40K: Space Marine - i may be a convert

Totalbiscuit goes berzerk playing the demo, and I think he may have converted me. It looks like this may be a good game after all!

For the Emprah!

Is Emprah a daughter of Oprah ?

Thanks for posting that, Sammy. I never got into thos 40K RTS series, but I might give Space Marine a try. I'm a little surprised that they decided to go with 3rd-person though..

I'm a huge 40k fan and I really liked the demo! Not the most sophisticated gameplay around but it really lets you be as cool as a Space Marine should be -- they don't need cover, they have Power Armour!

JDR: I think they want to emphasize hand-to-hand combat (who doesn't love laying down a good beating on your foes with a Thunder Hammer?) at least as much as shooting, so I guess 3rd person perspective makes sense.

I sense a dark taint running in this thread…

*glares at Alrik!**

Sensing dark taints and calling The Emprah The Emprah? That's heresy! *BLAM*

Originally Posted by xSamhainx
I sense a dark taint running in this thread…

Taint… or taint?

I'm gonna download the demo off Steam when I have time.

someone call down an orbital bombardment already.

I dont even bother w/ a demo for a game like this, it's not really necessary. Pretty much know what I'm getting into here by the looks of it. Plus, as a Warhammer game i'm practially obligated to buy it.

The question is - Can i be strong (like I have w/ Shogun TW2) and not purchase it immediately, forcing myself to play thru games in my library and a price drop before getting it? That's the hard part.

and PC vs 360 is the question too. I sure like kicking back on the couch playing on my television in comfort w/ a beer in my hand, but then again, this monster computer I'm on will probably make it look better and mouse-aim > gamepad stick any day.

Originally Posted by xSamhainx
I sense a dark taint running in this thread…

*glares at Alrik!**

Dark or Chaos ?

The demo is pretty fun. I'm terrible at it though. Still, fun.

Sort of like Gears of War meets God of War? Endless samey carnage in the WH40K universe would bore me to tears after 10 minutes.

But it does look very good for what it is.

Just finished playing the demo for short while. Visuals are nice, despite the resolution being stuck at a strange 1366x768. I assume the full game will have more options. The amount of carnage is almost silly, with obscene amounts of blood flying everywhere.

You get two AI controlled squad-mates in the demo, and they appear to be immortal. At least I never saw one die. Combat is extremely fast paced, with large groups of Orks swarming you in parts. The demo features 4 weapons, one of which is a pistol and chainsword dual-wield combo.

… Well, I played the demo a little bit …

… The result was a cacophony of blood and blueish colours …

I must say that I have absolutely no clue why someone makes a "hack & slay" like this ???

It was like … some kind of bath in blood … If the Dragon Age 1 blood spots had been applied, the Space Marines would have been full of them …

Maybe I'll try it out tomorrow in daylight. Maybe it won't look THAT bloody and doomed, then …

Or maybe not …

… By the way : What are these "Servo-Skulls" about ? Are they kind of cyborgs ? …

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer;
… By the way : What are these "Servo-Skulls" about ? Are they kind of cyborgs ? …

My 40k knowledge ain't that good, but if memory serves, those "servo-skulls" are servitors, sort of robots (or cyborgs), that can perform many functions depending on their "programming" and build. Skull servitors are most often messengers, scout/probes and such.

As to the game, I tried the demo (on PS3) and found it OK. Not great, but OK enough. Will most likely buy it used. There's a solid 40k feel to it, but the combat seemed a bit iffy. Especially melee combat. The controls were sluggish and as the game pits you against hordes of enemies (I'm guessing you'll be swarmed in the game just as you were in the demo) the controls would need to be more responsive and sharper. Maybe I just didn't grasp the melee gameplay fully, but I found it really difficult to hold my own in melee against more than 3-4 orks and you're being thrown against three or four times that many regularly. Granted there is a definite and satifactory weight to the strikes, but I just didn't find it good gameplay-wise. (Or maybe I just suck at it…)

I can see that the devs are trying to push you towards melee combat, and who doesn't like chainswords, but I liked the bolters so much (really good feel to them) it's a shame they weren't more viable in most of the demo. So, after the demo, I'm holding of my purchase until I see a few reviews and even then, I guess I'll wait for a used copy for the PS3 (Boo! Hiss!).

EDIT: Watched the Totalbiscuit's video just now and props to him, he really gets into the correct mood for a 40k game! And he's much better at it than I was.

I watched the totalbiscuit fanboy review but Im dubious whether few cööl special effects ("explodes into ball of blood", "finishing move with chainsaw cuts orks to pieces") can keep me interested on a game that its othervice piperun which has been seen million times before.

Id rather play ps3 piperun shooter because in them I can actually use a physical motion control gun which actually brings somthing new into it. I wonder if the ps3 version of this has support <doubts heavily> now that would be cööl

Some of the coming games that have PS3 motion support:
-BioShock Infinite
-Resistance 3
-SOCOM 4
-Sorcery (rpg??)
-Time Crisis: Razing Storm
-Dungeon Hunter: Alliance (rpg??)
-GoldenEye 007:Reloaded

Originally Posted by zakhal
Id rather play ps3 piperun shooter because in them I can actually use a physical motion control gun which actually brings somthing new into it. I wonder if the ps3 version of this has support <doubts heavily> now that would be cööl

I couldn't see myself playing a first-person shooter with the PS3's motion technology for long. It might be cool to experiment with for a short time, but it's still just a gimmick in the end.

Originally Posted by JDR13
I couldn't see myself playing a first-person shooter with the PS3's motion technology for long. It might be cool to experiment with for a short time, but it's still just a gimmick in the end.

Have you ever actually played it? Its not gimmick. It takes little while to get used to but after that I was doing head shots like a vet. Its totally playable. I can easily play the game through with motion controller just like I would with gamepad.

Also my friends who have ps3 with motion controllers agree. If they think it was a gimmick why would they finish the game with it and say its way more fun than with regular gamepad?

The game referred to is the top ps3 shooter (cant remember name).

As for xbox360 motion controller I agree its a gimmick. You cant even get a decent fps game for xbox that has support for it. And halo certainly doesnt support it.

The "sword-fighting" left an odd impression to me … It looked a bit out of place, because everything else just looked like Sci-Fi to me (apart from the Orks, of course).

Originally Posted by zakhal
Also my friends who have ps3 with motion controllers agree. If they think it was a gimmick why would they finish the game with it and say its way more fun than with regular gamepad?.

Because that's their opinion?

Not saying other people can't have fun with it, but I'll always prefer keyboard+mouse for shooters. I rarely play any FPSs on a console anyways, and when I do, I don't want to be waving a peripheral around in the air the entire time.

… By the way : What are these "Servo-Skulls" about ? Are they kind of cyborgs ? …

My 40k knowledge ain't that good, but if memory serves, those "servo-skulls" are servitors, sort of robots (or cyborgs), that can perform many functions depending on their "programming" and build. Skull servitors are most often messengers, scout/probes and such.

Servo skulls are not really servitors, servitors are mind-wiped humans that have been cyberneticaly enhanced, but because there is a ban on AIs in the Imperium, they are "forced" to use humans (or abhumans) instead. Most servitors are (or were) convicts, people who had managed to break the laws in some way (exactly what people have to do to become servitors differs from planet to planet, but you usually have to do something quite bad to be turned into a servitor, like worship false (?) gods, mass murder or similar, but there are also some planets where even minor infringments will result in you being turned into a servitor (unless you happen to be from the right social class). There is an unreasonable high amount of servitors in some fluff texts that seem to contradict a lot of other things that have been said about them). Servo skulls are just small remote controlled drones, that has a very limited AI. Some fluff depicts them as being relatively intelligent, while other fluff makes them seem like little more than programmable drones.

The "sword-fighting" left an odd impression to me … It looked a bit out of place, because everything else just looked like Sci-Fi to me (apart from the Orks, of course).

40k should be viewed as a heroic sci-fantasy setting. rather than a pure sci-fi setting. Technology is rare and expensive, and space marines are massive genetically engineered humans, so powerful that if they throw the grenade at you, without removing the pin, you will take more damage than if they throw the grenade at you and it explodes right next to you (source: Inquisitor, though it might just be a slight rule glitch). Many tabletop 40k games end up with several large melees, and space marines are quite capable melee fighters.
If you want someone to look heroic it is usually easier to make him wade through enemies in close combat, rather than have him stand behind cover with a heavy bolter (or similar).