Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Preview

By Tom Bramwell Published 28 May, 2009

Adeptus Astartes point.

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is nothing but war. But in the nicely decorated offices of Relic in downtown Vancouver, there is nothing but love. Love for Warhammer. Plastic and lead space marine miniatures are carefully arranged on almost every desk, monitor and cubical divider; there are entire rooms set aside for lunchtime games of 40k; and the lobby's home not only to a giant Blood Raven space marine whose sawblade we all diligently pose our necks against for photos, but a nine-foot statue tribute to the god-emperor of mankind.

So while it's something of a surprise to discover that the largely PC-focused studio is developing a Warhammer 40,000 console action RPG in a similar vein to God of War, it's really no surprise at all.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is a third-person, over-the-shoulder action game with RPG elements. In the grim darkness of the far future, Relic's writing a new story, in which a space ork army has taken over one of the Imperium's Forge worlds - where it manufactures everything that makes up the imperial war machine - and it's up to you, playing as a single space marine in a squad from an as-yet unidentified chapter, to go in and take it back. This you do by taking a blade or a bullet to everything that's green with a pulse.

(Head to EGTV for the HD trailer!) At several points we see a marine planting the Ultramarine battle standard with purpose. Is it a gameplay element? The lead programmer grins when I suggest it, and McFarlane says "we're definitely exploring a lot of stuff for multiplayer"...

During the in-game scenes shown at Relic's offices, space marines from the Ultramarine chapter (placeholders for now) chomp through masses and masses of orks, using jetpacks to propel themselves into the thick of them and spread them out by crashing down with a splash damage attack, before wading in with sawblades and hammers. Up against larger Nobs and Warbosses, they grind their blades against limb armour, or crash them into midriffs. From distance, they rely on their guns, emphasising their versatility, and Relic explains that the control scheme (although, again, just a placeholder) currently spreads melee attacks over face buttons and ranged ones onto the shoulders. Using Relic's new Phoenix engine - custom-built for the game - the enemy numbers, model quality and scale are every bit in-keeping with the 40k image that Games Workshop so valiantly asserts.

One genuine surprise though is the vantage point. Flying out to the studio with scant information to go on, I expected something closer to Diablo III, diverting off the route taken by Dawn of War II's single-player campaign in Blizzard's direction. On the contrary, producer Chad McFarlane almost bristles at the suggestion, and THQ's Sean Dunn emphasises the discretion. Dawn of War II and Space Marine are not seen as two sides of the same coin. "Diablo III is all abstracting combat," he says. "You click your mouse on a guy and your character goes and does his combat moves. Whereas this is a console action game where you're controlling every swing of the sword."

One thing Space Marine will have in common with DOWII though is the latter's newfound love of wargear, and that's where the RPG elements come in. "Definitely we're going to have progression and customisation be a big part of the game," says McFarlane. "So you're going to be able to upgrade your armour and weapons and gain powerful abilities."

Probing the footage Relic's showing, one screen sticks out: a portrait of a marine with three attribute bars, a level count, and various other notes. But Dunn is quick to close that off to immediate interpretation. "The whole purpose of that is just to point out the idea that there are RPG elements," he says. "The design is not complete at this point, so which attributes are being upgraded and which pieces of wargear you're going to have aren't [set], but the idea is that through the canon, through the universe, the idea of the space marines and upgrading their armour and their weapons and the customisation of the gear for your character is really important within that universe, and that's something that's really important to this game as well." Whether you start off with a character and then mould him, or roll your own character, is unknown.

The nature of the combat is also a secret at this point, beyond what you can see for yourself. I ask about combo systems, special attacks and level design, among other things, but McFarlane and Dunn are guarded. "This is not like a Rainbow Six kind of squad or strategy thing," McFarlane will say. "It's high action. We call it 'RPG lite', you know - heavy on the action."

With four characters in the on-screen squad, Space Marine is obvious fodder for drop-in co-operative play, although Relic will only say that it's experimenting with multiplayer options - competitive and co-op. "We want this game to be playable with friends," says McFarlane. "It's a big focus."

One thing it's not doing though is a PC version, and Dunn gives the impression that in the same way THQ didn't feel Dawn of War was a good enough fit for console to warrant a port, it doesn't see Space Marine as a game fit for PC. "It's like, if God of War was on the PC, what kind of an experience would that be?" says Dunn. "And I think it's our idea that it wouldn't be the ideal experience. You could probably make it work, but it's not where the beat is and where the strength of the platform is, so instead of washing the game out so it's appropriate for multiple platforms, it's about building the game to the specific platforms that we want."

And for the moment, that's it. Our first glimpse of Space Marine ends as the orks set off a nuclear weapon on the horizon, hyping their troops in the foreground into a frenzy. The Ultramarines brace themselves against the onrushing wind and raise their weapons under the imperial standard, before diving back into battle and splashing ork blood into the waves of rolling dust. "What we really wanted to capture with this game is the violent, gritty nature of the Warhammer universe," says McFarlane. "This universe is constantly at war."

Although the vast majority of details are still to be revealed - and perhaps even still to be decided - the footage so far attests to that, spilling blood with abandon. And even with so many unknowns, Relic's devotion to the canon, and past work on Dawn of War, will write Space Marine onto a lot of most-wanted lists.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is due out for PS3 and Xbox 360. There's no release date yet, but THQ told us "not this year".

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (73) Latest comment 11 months ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Mooks #1 3 years ago

    One thing it's not doing though is a PC version ... fail

  • Scimarad #2 3 years ago

    I'm definitely keeping an eye on this one!

  • matrim83 #3 3 years ago

    No PC version makes me a sad panda. :(

  • Krelle #4 3 years ago

    Remember a gameplay video of this from pretty long ago. Over a year?
    It looked rather polished even back then.

    No real interest in Warhammer, but definitly looking forward to this.

  • Macross #5 3 years ago

    awesome :D

  • Gnort #6 3 years ago

    @Krelle

    I was actually thinking about that leaked gameplay video a little while ago and worrying that the game had been cancelled because we'd heard nothing (not even an official announcement that the game existed) for so long. Glad to see it's still around.

  • seasidebaz #7 3 years ago

    Best way to defeat piracy: Don't release the game on the platform with the highest rates of piracy.

  • TheJuriel #8 3 years ago

    Awesome.

  • UncleLou #9 3 years ago

    No PC version?

    Next.

  • Gnort #10 3 years ago

    I see they've shifted the game to be against Orks now, the previous development video (which was leaked rather than officially released) had the forces of Chaos as the main enemies. Hopefully you won't just fight Orks the whole way through the game, as even though there is a fair variety of unit types, you'd still be killing big green guys all the time.

  • Ryuken #11 3 years ago

    That early gameplay version was from a different developer apparently, I can only guess their version got canned as THQ says it has nothing to do with Space Marine (according to Shacknews).

    Too bad about lack of PC version idd, hopefully we get to hear more about DoW II stuff at this E3.
    Edited by 1 at 28/05/09 @ 08:59

  • Gnort #12 3 years ago

    @Ryuken

    They're definitely using assets from the THQ game, I watched the release trailer and there's a chainsword uppercut animation that is right out of the old THQ demo. Maybe Games Workshop retains the rights to the work and they transferred it over to Relic when they canned THQ?

  • nickfernando #13 3 years ago

    Is it me or does this sound reasonably similar to Too Human? I mean in terms of the gameplay and rpg lite...

  • Nodebug #14 3 years ago

    Fucking awesome, this universe will make for such an original feeling God of War style action game, cant wait to slice up some orks with my chainsword after doing a jetpack jump into the middle of 50 of them. Shame about the PC version, but I'll be just as happy playing this on 360 or PS3.

  • killuminati2911 #15 3 years ago

    2 words: Fuc**n' awesome!!

  • FooAtari #16 3 years ago

    @baz
    "Best way to defeat piracy: Don't release the game on the platform with the highest rates of piracy."

    Better stop releasing DS games then... Not the highest perhaps but still very high.

  • keender #17 3 years ago

    What is this, Dawn of War 2.5? The Ork and Space Marine assets look like they could have been lifted straight from Dawn of war 2. Also, the shift to action rpg = fail. That leaked footage last year looked way better, like it was Unreal-engine powered or something, this looks like they're using the same cartoonish style like in DoW2.

  • skillian #18 3 years ago

    I don't know why people are complaining about the lack of a PC version - this sounds no more like a PC game than DoWII was a console game.

  • Beek4257 #19 3 years ago

    Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

    A title soooo bad, it's good. Well no, but good for a laugh nonetheless.

  • UncleLou #20 3 years ago

    I don't know why people are complaining about the lack of a PC version - this sounds no more like a PC game than DoWII was a console game.

    I don't really see what's platform-specific about an action-RPG.

  • rudedudejude #21 3 years ago

    Modded DoW 2 engine game to be released on consoles to get some cash for the studio.

  • TheRealBadabing #22 3 years ago

    @Adam_T: They can release as much fluff as they like as long as it pays for Homeworld 3.

  • w00t #23 3 years ago

    Ooooooooooooooooooooh.

    Please co-op, PLEASE.

  • YobRenoops #24 3 years ago

    FUCKING WANT! Stick GeOW up your arse!

  • skillian #25 3 years ago

    I don't really see what's platform-specific about an action-RPG.

    Well it doesn't exactly have to be platform-specific and I'm sure some people would buy it, but it's no accident that THQ made an RTS for the PC and an action game for the consoles.

  • penhalion #26 3 years ago

    No PC in this case is definitely a no sale. Some games simply belong on a PC (though I'm doubting this is one of those games).

  • Slim #27 3 years ago

    Wooo!

  • the_dudefather #28 3 years ago

    Hope it plays lieka mix of God of war and Gears of war

    or 'Gears + gods of war war' as I would call it (GgowW)

  • General_Zod #29 3 years ago

    No PC version, no sale.
    If they want to argue about designing for a controller that would be fine, I have the widest range of controllers to choose from and I have no problem using them. Apart from that I cant think of one reason why they wouldnt release it for PC.

  • anomagnus #30 3 years ago

    this.
    will.
    be.
    AMAZING.

    AVE IMPERATOR

  • paketep #31 3 years ago

    Meh.

    And Relic pissing on the PC gamers that put them there.

    Nice, Relic, nice. It seems the abysmal support of your games won't be the reason gamers will be angry with you anymore.

    As for piracy: it will be nicely pirated for the 360, like every other game. Every publisher who says PC is cause for piracy and provokes less console sales is just plain stupid or lying. They know better.

  • spekkeh #32 3 years ago

    Console version makes me a happy panda. For all the "grim future" stuff this game does look a bit cartoony though. Still looking forward to this massively. WH40k is an amazing setting. Too bad it's not based on the Space Wolves, which I played with back in the days.

  • the_dudefather #33 3 years ago

    After tons of PC games, one console game and suddenly they are teh evil

    Hope they do bring out a PC version though

  • Bleh #34 3 years ago

    Hopefully it will be good, please let it be good. Although with Relic I'm sure it will be. Phew.

  • the_inchworm #35 3 years ago

    This has nothing to do with the game, but on a masochistic whim, I watched through the entirety of the unfeasibly annoying HTC Magic ad that's on the site. It's as bad as I feared it would be, if not worse, and I now want to kill someone. Preferably someone who owns an HTC Magic phone.

    Games don't cause violence, crappy adverts do.

  • Enosh #36 3 years ago

    "And for the moment, that's it. Our first glimpse of Space Marine ends as the orks set off a nuclear weapon on the horizon"

    it's a lance strike -.-

  • des #37 3 years ago

    No PC...not interested

  • Rictor001 #38 3 years ago

    @Ryuken & Gnort

    you do know THQ own Relic and are the sole holders of the Warhammer 40k license, right? The game way have shifted to fall under Relics watchful gaze but that's simply cos they have worked with the lore for so long.

    It's the same game, a year on, with a lot more work having gone into it.

    Oh, and WANT!

  • General_Zod #39 3 years ago

    @farticusmaximus

    Oh yes I completely forgot that Relic have had zero success on the PC market......................

  • curtlikesmeat #40 3 years ago

    I wonder if you'll have to install Steam on your xbox and wait a few days for it to patch....

    /snipe
    /runaway

  • Inquisitor #41 3 years ago

    Sounds brilliant but I can't understand the lack of a PC version.

    Dawn of War II is a perfect fit for consoles too. It's the first RTS I've seen that almost looks made for consoles from the ground up yet there's no sign of it ever showing up on them.

  • Gl3n #42 3 years ago

    Hooray!

  • Snidesworth #43 3 years ago

    Shame about the PC call. It's not hard to plug a 360 or PS3 controller into a USB port and use that. Hell, several cross platform games come preconfigured to work with console controllers.

    I am very excited for this, though I suspect the RPG element is being focused on too much. From what's said here it sounds like the upgrade system might be similar to that of Demon Stone; gear gets upgraded and replaced, the occasional new piece gets added and so on. Hell, God of War and DMC have "experience" in the form of red orbs which get spent to upgrade you and nobody calls them psudo-RPGs.

  • Azazel #44 3 years ago

    a Warhammer 40,000 console action RPG in a similar vein to God of War

    /came

  • TSYNDMonkfish #45 3 years ago

    Looks great, ill almost be tempted to get a console just for this game. almost.

    This will be out on the PC at some point im sure - I hope they sort a console version of DOW2 while they are at it, theres a big market for 40k games.



  • shamblemonkee #46 3 years ago

    most wanted list - *click*
    add *click*

    /waits.

  • Spekingur #47 3 years ago

    So, when can we expect the Warhammer 40k MMO?

  • GundamJehutyKai #48 3 years ago

    I would prefer a more squad orientated, semi-turn based system. Maybe like valkyria chronicles...

    Scrap that... a NECROMUNDA game in the vein of valkyria!!!

  • Seoh #49 3 years ago

    oh my various gods!

    not too fussed about the lack of PC version as it shows focus which is what these games need. With any luck this will be what too human was supposed to be, namley fun!

  • Salaminizer #50 3 years ago

    so, SEGA makes Creative Assembly put out crap, now is THQ time? bah

  • Rubarack #51 3 years ago

    Not sure what they think they are doing, abstracted combat is really where Relic shine, I suspect all this will do is tarnish their names to the Xbox crowd.

  • skillian #52 3 years ago

    abstracted combat is really where Relic shine, I suspect all this will do is tarnish their names to the Xbox crowd.

    How many games featuring abstracted combat have been successful on the 360 so far? Relic are doing the game in this style precisely because it's what they think Xbox players want (and most likely they are right).

    Everybody's commenting in this thread like people playing on consoles and PC don't have different tastes and there is no need to change games for the different audiences.

    Of course there are exceptions, but you only need to look at what sells well, or what the big companies decide to release on each format to know that is the case.

  • MaxiSleep #53 3 years ago

    Looks awesome. Really looking forward to it.

  • hiddenranbir #54 3 years ago

    This would be best on PC.

  • ZuluHero #55 3 years ago

    Just like all the other made for console games? Oh wait.

  • Wastelander #56 3 years ago

    Mirror's Edge, Burnout Paradise and DMC4 :p
    Edited by 1 at 28/05/09 @ 16:08

  • Gnort #57 3 years ago

    @Rictor001

    About five minutes after posting I saw the box of my copy of Dawn of War 2 with the THQ logo on it and had to facepalm myself.

  • ZuluHero #58 3 years ago

    @Wastelander

    are they best on PC? I play Mirror's Edge with a 360 pad on the PC...

    I can't imagine that they do best from a sales point of veiw either...

    Edited by 1 at 28/05/09 @ 16:55

  • thepiedpiper #59 3 years ago

    will i have to be good at painting through a microscope to play this?

  • sneetch #60 3 years ago

    Dunno about the "this would be best on PC" statements, it's a shame that they don't have a PC version but this kind of button masher, combat-fest is well suited to consoles.

    If it is the same game as last time then I hope they've upped the enemy count (and weakened them, a single bolt should shred a human, orcs might take two or three).

    Thankfully you seem to be from a "real" chapter in this one; Blood Ravens me arse.

  • Stickman #61 3 years ago

    They make a fuss about the canon, then make the squad size four marines? Good effort.

  • ZuluHero #62 3 years ago

    well you could have units of 5 - but that might not translate so well into a computer game? I don't remember any game with a squad of 5 (Project eden, Brute force all spring to mind)

  • Sycopat #63 3 years ago

    Woot!

    Can't wait for this.

    Honestly, I would rather buy this on a console than a PC.

    PC is great and better for lots of things, but for playing mindless action games feet up on a recliner in front of the TV, xbox wins.

    Just once though I'd like a properly "grim dark" 40k game. Still, this will do me nicely.

  • Smugglarn #64 3 years ago

    I JUST WANT A TACTICAL SHOOTER SET IN THE 40K UNIVERSE

    RAINBOW 6 F**KING SPACE CRUSADE FFS!

  • seasidebaz #65 3 years ago

    I don't remember any game with a squad of 5

    Errrr........

    Gears of War 2 ring any bells?

  • Gnort #66 3 years ago

    @thepiedpiper

    will i have to be good at painting through a microscope to play this?

    Yes. You also won't be able to play it if you don't live in your parent's basement or if you've ever had sex with a woman.

  • Grayvern #67 3 years ago

    Has it not it occured that perhaps Relic just wanted a change of pace, and therefore started work on an action game.

    The only thing that annoys me is the fact its orks vs space marines in relics games im bloody tired of orks and chaos space marines.

    Why not imperial guard vs Chaos humans, which is after all the vast majority of the combat that the empire faces. Or anything just not more bloody annoying orks.

  • neorapsta #68 3 years ago

    shame about console only, i'd like to play Diablo 40k :(

  • YourMessageHere #69 3 years ago

    Controller differences and piracy concerns are bullshit reasons and I don't buy them at all. I'd much rather hear "we can't afford to develop it for PC", really.

    I love space marines and so on but I want a little more variety. Actually, this seems a somewhat wasted opportunity - where is Warhammer 40,000 Musou? Seemed popular with Gundam, would work nicely with the universal war theme, allows for plenty of overdone combat vs. giant hordes, could work for all armies...where can this go wrong?

  • fuyuki359 #70 3 years ago

    OMG this is like Mechanic Stereotype!. If it is true that people think "PC is turning into a MMO only platform" then they are down right stupid. I mean PC have Counter Strike, TF2, L4D, and comon this is right in their face, THEIR OWN WORK! Dawn of War I and II !!! the popular RTS game that many die hard Warhammer fan fell in love with. Its only fair that any Warhammer 40k related game should be for the PC stand as DoW related sequel...what were they thinking? There are no benefit from doing this , releasing exclusively for console would only enraged fan! I mean people got to know Warhammer 40k IS BECUZ of DAWN OF WAR and DAWN OF WAR IS PC!!! trust me when this game is release not alot of people going to buy, why? becuz most wh40k fan are PC gamer, and some might not own a console. I just don't get wtf is wrong with big cooperate these day...like are they high on crack? becuz they all starting to make complete utter retarded decision, I got nothing to say left...becuz this is pissing me off, trust me I love Relic games but this is just so stupid.
    Plus I really don't care if this is button smashing, people just want to be able to play on all platform, it make everyone happy... Do Relic really think of gamer as baby? I play all kind of game on the PC and it all work out perfect! HUMAN CAN LEARN TO ADAPT PEOPLE! have they seen RTS gamer play? RTS is actually more button smashing then any other game, the only different is they have 104 keys to smash.

  • Astartes #71 3 years ago

    That's not a nuclear explosion, that's an orbital bombardment, meaning the orks didn't do it. You can clearly see it on the warboss's face, in what was obviously a "what the gentle caress was that OH SNAP--", and the Marines bracing for the shockwave. For all of you who don't know what orbital bombardment is, it's basically their (Space Marines) huge-ass spaceship floating over the planet raining direct energetic death onto the orks.

    Oh, and anyone who says "plays like God of War" as if it was anything remotely like a selling point should be thrown in a cubicle and never let out until the game is a giant success and it can all go to hell without retarded PR mucking it up. That, and no more Blood Ravens "Spesh Mareens" bullshit. They were okay for the first two games, now they're just annoying. A Republic Commandos adaptation would also be a hell of a lot better than, say, a Call of Duty 4 play-alike or GOD FORBID ANOTHER FIRE WARRIOR FFFF
    Edited by 1 at 30/05/09 @ 21:50

  • gmjapan #72 3 years ago

    With the myriad of weapons in the 40k universe and the diversity of the foes available, they could have an exciting and varied combat game within their rpg-lite. Or i'm suspecting another mash 1-button until Quick Time Event dullfest whether ur using a chainsword, hammer or powerfist.

  • uk_john #73 11 months ago

    Between this, Red Dead Redemption and L.A. Noire, all PC style games, coming out on consoles only, I am not at all certain that games like GTA V, the follow-up to Skyrim or Half Life 3 will be on PC either. Dark days for PC gamers.