Space Marine

Hey folks, just a couple days ago the new Space Marine video game got released, and I wanted to share some thoughts of mine on it.

While predictable, the campaign is solid, and has an ending that was surprisingly good and innovative concerning the relationship between the Ultramarines and the Codex Astartes. I won't go into it more than that, but it was a solid 40k experience, and Relic/THQ delivered.

What I do want to touch on here is the multiplayer, which will be the real test of the game's longevity. What this means is that they set out to make the experience such that people will still come to play it after getting fully decked out in the wargear available from either leveling up or performing feats with the various weapons to show proficiency.

Currently, there are two modes: capture point, and annihilation. If you're looking for quick leveling, play capture point.

One thing that's stuck with me while watching the videos Relic put out concerning the multiplayer is that they wanted to do more Unreal Tournament than the current, very shitty FPS market where dregs like what the Modern Warfare series somehow sell copies. Yet, what is the Unreal Tournament experience, and how could it be implemented in Space Marine?

2004 was a very special year for me, mainly because UT04 was my introduction to the series, and I played that game to death. The game was fast-paced, reflex-based, and the weapons were all balanced against eachother. Even the glossed-over bio rifle was capable of doing massive damage, as well as a one-hit kill, with the right amount of timing and skill involved. Which I did. And it was good. Movement is another thing unique in UT that I haven't seen replicated in its beauty in any other game. Everyone has the capacity to dash in any direction, and everyone has a timing-based double jump. This makes for a fast-paced, relatively balanced shooter that actually takes place in 3 dimensions, rather than just never leaving the ground.

So, Relic/THQ stated that they wanted Space Marine to have a UT-like multiplayer. To begin, we'll just start with the classes and movement for each. You've got the Devastator, Tactical, and Assault Marine classes, respectively the heavy weapons man, mid-range shooter, and melee dude. Of them, the devastator is the slowest of the classes, and instead of rolling, he kinda...lunges? It looks funny, but he hip-thrusts with his heavy weapon to get around the battlefield. The tactical marine has the capacity to roll, which moves pretty far, and he does sprint the fastest of the classes in the game. The assault marine is the second fastest, and has the vertical movement option of jumping with his pack. A simple tap of your spacebar with your direction will give you a short burst of speed, and is quite good for faking out people. Holding the spacebar down will get you your vertical leap, but sometimes it seems as if I hold the damn button down, and the jump pack itself decides not to let me jump up when I know I should be able to. So, it's pretty evident that this game, while it does have a lot more movement options than most video games' multiplayer mode, it ain't UT in this respect.

Now we'll talk weapons. Initially, assuming all the people are just level one, the game modes are pretty balanced in damage output, and risk vs. reward. When people level up and start getting their achievements and perks, then shit starts getting crazy. I have been one-shot several times by some jackoff jumping down on me with the fucking Thunder Hammer in tow. Do not pass GO, do not collect 200 bucks. But hey, the bastard was higher level than me, and after playing and getting up there myself, I found a great counter to their bullshit: the meltagun. It's the equivalent of a shotgun from God, but it has a long time between shots, so you'd best make the first one count. Essentially, countering the assault marine will come down to timing your dodge, then predicting where he'll be so you can fill his insides with your melta-load. Yet, even as you level up and get new gear, the old weapons do not at all become irrelevant. The boltgun stays a very solid medium-range weapon, and when you unlock the weapon-specific perks for it, it is a really good option for medium to long range firefights. This is the aspect I think that they did well in mimicking Unreal Tournament, the weapon balance. Yeah, there are headshots, but they're hard to pull off, albeit easier in Space Marine because of limited movement capacity.

However, everyone I have spoken to about this game agrees that the multiplayer needs one of two things to happen: either the marines get tougher, or the weapons get weaker, because some of them are simply too strong. The lascannon is capable of a two-hit body shot kill, and it requires no set-up time like the heavy bolter, which depends on its rate of fire downrange to get anything done. Next, the plasma cannon is too good, and its charged shot does so much damage that it's nearly impossible to live if you get hit anywhere near the blast, yet its single shots will still kill someone in just a few hits. The meltagun needs to be altered to where it does less damage, has a slightly longer range, and less of a reload time.

Changes like these will make the multiplayer more balanced, and will take a decent multiplayer experience to being a really good one. Nearly-instant respawn timers are worth playing this game for. Also, for the level discrepancy, when someone kills you you have the option to copy that person's weapon loadout, regardless of level, and allows you to compete with people that may be too high level for you.

On a final note, leveling up is just too damn easy as of right now. Two days, and I'm already halfway to level 41, and some people are undoubtedly already there.