Is anyone excited about Space Marine?

[Stark]

Luckily, I can buy by renting. :V Without having played the demo yet, I'm not sure, but with only a few weeks to go to Gears, I doubt I'd spend money on another third-person shooter unless I knew I could get the money back if it isn't any good. Particularly considering it's likely lack of SP/coop replayability, unless the MP has a large population and is actually good (which are big asks for any new game) there may be little point in having it on the shelf.

[Mr. Coffee]

It's pretty damn fun. Goes from shooting with a bolter to shredding the fuck out of Orks pretty much seamlessly. Also, those wacky bastards over at the relic forums have already started modding the damn thing. Just different chapter skins for the most part, but also cosmetic things for Captain Titus' and his great big fucking chin. Seriously, when did Bruce Campbell become the primarch of the Ultramarines? This dude's jaw is so massive it probably has a powerfield or something. It's fucking obscene. I can't help but stare at the damn thing and wonder if the Ultramarine's symbol is really a representation of the Emperor's jawbone instead of an Omega.

But yeah, fucking hilariously fun so far.

[Feil]

Seriously, when did Bruce Campbell become the primarch of the Ultramarines? This dude's jaw is so massive it probably has a powerfield or something. It's fucking obscene.

One can hardly blame Relic. It's Warhammer 40,000. Giant chins, like hands, feet, and pauldrons, are mandated by Games Workshop's IP regulations. I think he's actually on the handsome-and-reasonable end, as Relic's Force Commanders go. Which is a pretty backhanded compliment, but there you go.

This would be a game that I would buy. Seeing as I have preordered it.

[Zixinus]

I just finished the demo.

Crushing orcs was fun.

It took me a while to get hold of the "stun and execute an enemy to gain health" angle and the fact that the stun button was not a "heavy attack". But once I got behind that and the fact that I had to manage the hordes, the game could be quite fun.

The demo is promising definitely.

Though, just to ask: is there a difference between the chainsword and the power axe? I am not sure there is.

[Stark]

Its a shame tapping health is associated with a dramatic slomo effect; otherwise, combat would be a lot more rapid and Dynasty Warriors combo-based, cheesing the attach range on health to skate around. Oh well; the demo has hardly any non-trash mobs anyway, so maybe the actual fights will be harder/more interesting.

It sure looks a fuckton better than I expected on console.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Though, just to ask: is there a difference between the chainsword and the power axe? I am not sure there is.

The power axe seems to do a bit more damage, and the final move in its combo is a bit more destructive.

More importantly, it has a kill move against Nobs wherein you pin the ork's foot with your axe, grab its jaws, and tear its head apart with your hands.

[Vendetta]

One can hardly blame Relic. It's Warhammer 40,000. Giant chins, like hands, feet, and pauldrons, are mandated by Games Workshop's IP regulations.

Also, the limitations of sculpting on a 35mm toy soldier.

Warhammer World has a "life size" bronze cast Space Marine, but it's a scale up of a tabletop figure, and thus looks faintly ridiculous. Which is why it's now on a 12 foot pole so you can't really see the scale properly.

[Havok]

OK, so I downloaded and played this on the Xbox 360.

It's... I dunno... fun.

Having no real knowledge of 40K (I bought an Ultranmarines book, but never read it) the whole 'Hey cool, I recognize that!' is absent for me, so it was all about the game play.

The chop chop seemed too scripted. Like, you keep slicing through enemies you already killed, finishing out your move.

The controller set up is like Gears, which is pretty perfect and makes use of every button fairly intelligently.

The movement seemed a little too... fast, but I think that had to do with the movement sensitivity that I know you can adjust.

Uh... fucking hello, I know Space Marines are supposed to be the baddest thing in the fucking universe, but I'm pretty sure they would take cover. What the fuck game developers, it is 2011. Cover System or your game is automatically garbage.

No jumping over crates, boxes, low cover etc.. Again, 2011. It's not a mystery.

The squad AI seems to consist of "Lets stand here and get attacked but never die or kill anyone."

The enemy AI consists of "Lets all run in a straight line over here, THEN TURN LEFT AND ATTACK!!!". From all I hear about 40K I expected more 'coming in from all sides HOLY FUCK WE ARE SURROUNDED!" When I can point at one spot and take out 2/3 of the bad guys because they are all running to that exact same point, the AI needs a fuck ton of work. (Think Galaga )At least some of them seem to have roles and even seemed to try to take cover without actually being able to take cover, so there is some promise there.

The game looks like Gears II with different skins on the mains and bad guys. It almost makes me think Epic wanted to make a 40K game, but couldn't get the rights and had to come up with Gears to take it's place.

I like the sprint. Press it and run until you stop.

I also like the limited ammo and health system. It doesn't make any sense, but it forces you to melee engage from time to time. However, I dislike the infinite ammo of the pistol. That's why you have a fucking chainsaw sword. And from the looks of the pistols, 'bolts' must be fucking huge. Having infinite numbers of them breaks SoD even for a game with this silly of a premise.

I thought that the jump pack level was cool, but it feels too forced. And why the hell wouldn't you just keep it the whole game? It would have been better to have a limited jump pack all the time with fuel constraints, and have the super jump pack occasionally for specific levels.

With all the talk of different chapters and shit from 40K jerkoffs, the full game better have some cool customization, because, like Gears, that armor is going to get boring to look at right quick.

The guns were varied enough, to make you want to change them in certain situations, although, you could probably do the whole game with just one gun.

Overall, a good first outing for a game that will obviously shoot for a sequel. Needs improvement, but it looks like it could be fun. It is ripping from Gears and there is nothing wrong with that, especially as it looks like Gears did it first. Hopefully, the story is better in the full game and there is more and varied bad guys because they get boring pretty quickly. I won't buy this game that is for sure, but I will give the sequel a hard look.

And if you are wondering why I only compare it to Gears... well Gears is the only other shooter I have played in probably 5 years outside of Borderlands which I fucking hated.

[Stark]

Its a shame the level design is so boring and they were clearly looking for ways to force close range, because the whole Kill Team-style 'fifteen axe guys come out of this pipe behind you' stuff is the only reason why you can't just hang back and shoot your way through everything.

[Ghanj Rho]

According to Relic, melee weapons are on a sliding scale of speed/power. The chainsword is the fastest, but does the least damage. Power Axes are slower and more damaging, and the thunder hammer is the slowest/most powerful of all. Now, it should be noted that this applies primarily to MP. In SP, i think each step just gets stronger. I can say that going from Chainsword to Power Axe certainly helped in that fight.

[Stark]

The power axe may have wider arcs, or the arc might just be more obvious because of the purple effect. They three-hit kill the trash mobs in 130-180 degree arcs either way.

[Zixinus]

One thing that bothered me and this is a bit odd I guess: the orcs didn't have modulated-enough (or changed or whatever) voices.

I keep hearing their voices and expect to see a human. That, and either my accent-recognition is worse than I thought but they sometimes sound quite similar to the in-game humans.

Otherwise I'd like to comment on the sound-scape: having a 5.1 system, it really sounds like a massive, chaotic fight when it comes out.
I wonder about some of the industrial areas, whether I'll be hearing the sound of still-functioning machinery.

Bunny is not going to like it when the full game comes out.

Its a shame tapping health is associated with a dramatic slomo effect;

Yeah, it's a bit annoying that Titus is taking is sweet time while still surrounded by a mob that's trying to hack him into pieces. Though I think that the amount of health you gain might actually try to compensate for that, but I'm not sure.

Uh... fucking hello, I know Space Marines are supposed to be the baddest thing in the fucking universe, but I'm pretty sure they would take cover. What the fuck game developers, it is 2011. Cover System or your game is automatically garbage.[\quote]

That's deliberate. They wanted to make a game where you DON'T spend a great deal of time sucking your thumb while staring at another piece of chest-high wall.

They want you to be in the middle of combat, not at the edge.

Hence why you regain health by executing enemies and getting into Fury mode.

Personally, I applaud them for it. If anything, it makes the game a bit more fast-paced or the combat more dramatic.

No jumping over crates, boxes, low cover etc.. Again, 2011. It's not a mystery.

That's clumsy level constraints. Or whatever that is called.

To be fair, I recall that Gears didn't have that either, nor do a good deal of other cover-based shooters.

[PeZook]

To be fair, I recall that Gears didn't have that either, nor do a good deal of other cover-based shooters.

Yes it did have that, actually. You could jump through low obstacles, windowsills, etc. as well as move between nearby piece of cover.

[Stark]

Yeah, it's a bit annoying that Titus is taking is sweet time while still surrounded by a mob that's trying to hack him into pieces. Though I think that the amount of health you gain might actually try to compensate for that, but I'm not sure.

I don't mean it's bad in the ingame time it takes (although these being quite variable leads to so lols), I mean that the act of slowing down time interrupts the 'flow' of the game, and makes your 79-hit combo against 30 guys a bunch of 5 hit combos interrupted by constant slomo repeats of the same three animations I'm already bored of.

It's a giant laugh that people who have obviously never played a third person shooter say things that are totally wrong, simply parroting Relic. PROTIP it's actually VERY possible to play SM like a shooter (at least the levels in the demo), because the balance of enemies is massively towards the easy to kill melee-only guys.

And every time people say Gears et al is about 'a great deal of time sucking your thumb while staring at another piece of chest-high wall' it makes me laugh at the how ignorant people can be so certain about things.

[Havok]

Uh... fucking hello, I know Space Marines are supposed to be the baddest thing in the fucking universe, but I'm pretty sure they would take cover. What the fuck game developers, it is 2011. Cover System or your game is automatically garbage.

That's deliberate. They wanted to make a game where you DON'T spend a great deal of time sucking your thumb while staring at another piece of chest-high wall.

They want you to be in the middle of combat, not at the edge.

Hence why you regain health by executing enemies and getting into Fury mode.

Personally, I applaud them for it. If anything, it makes the game a bit more fast-paced or the combat more dramatic.

What a load of gigantic fucking bullshit. Have you ever even played Gears? The only time that happens is when you are playing against live people and you are the last two on the map trying not to lose the last 45 minutes of battle for your team.

And news flash retard, you can get into Fury Mode by shooting enemies from a distance. There goes that theory.

And if anything, the way they have you regain health is going to keep people FROM engaging in close quarters on the hardest level and will keep them off in the distance shooting with their INFINITY PISTOL, not encourage CQC.

No jumping over crates, boxes, low cover etc.. Again, 2011. It's not a mystery.

That's clumsy level constraints. Or whatever that is called.

To be fair, I recall that Gears didn't have that either, nor do a good deal of other cover-based shooters.

Gears had it in the last game if not in the first. If Relic couldn't look at one of the most popular and best reviewed and best selling games in the last couple of years and not go "Hey... they already figured out how to do that. Lets do it too." Then they are just fucking idiots.

[Zixinus]

EDIT: the following is aimed at Stark.

Please stop with this passive-aggressive, cowardly backhanded shit. Name me if you reply to something I said with your insults or don't say anything.

Also, guess what: I played Gears of War 1. Granted it was a long time ago (and I don't recall the bits about being able to jump over obstacles except perhaps chest-high walls) but I did.

There is also something called "exaggeration", which is not licensed to only you, you know.

Have you ever even played Gears?

Yes I have. Though, I admit it that it was a couple of years ago.

And news flash retard, you can get into Fury Mode by shooting enemies from a distance. There goes that theory.

I noticed that. I also noticed that Fury mode gives you a slow-mo if you aim and shoot.

That does not stop from enemies getting close to you.

Nor does that mean that you need personal insults. It's not my theory, that is what was said with an interview with the developers I caught on gametrailers.

And if anything, the way they have you regain health is going to keep people FROM engaging in close quarters on the hardest level and will keep them off in the distance shooting with their INFINITY PISTOL, not encourage CQC.

The INFINITY PISTOL has low refire rate and a small clip. It's meant to be the backup ranged weapon.

Still, I presume that if you want to play ranged-only then the developers allowed some room for that.

If Relic couldn't look at one of the most popular and best reviewed and best selling games in the last couple of years and not go "Hey... they already figured out how to do that. Lets do it too." Then they are just fucking idiots.

Or they decided that it is simply an unneeded feature in their game.

Like, you know, designing the game for itself rather than mindlesly aping another game.

When I played the demo, I did not particularly feel the need to be able to jump (except when I had the jump-pack) or climb over obstacles. I was able to kill orcs just fine regardless.

[Stark]

Calling you out for parroting stuff that's totally wrong = passive-aggressive now? You don't have to bang on about how you hate a game you dimly remember playing when you were 12 to talk about Space Marine, and it's actually pretty funny that a (relatively) normal, non-gamer person like Hav has put more thought into how the game mechanics affect how people approach the game than you have.

Maybe, just maybe, not remembering jack shit about a game means you should take it like a man when you're wrong instead of demanding I follow your bullshit rules OR ELSE.

[Zixinus]

Calling you out for parroting stuff that's totally wrong = passive-aggressive now?

When you avoid mentioning my name and instead refer to me as "some people" (or more specifically "It's a giant laugh that people"), yes, yes it is.

You don't have to bang on about how you hate a game you dimly remember playing when you were 12 to talk about Space Marine, and it's actually pretty funny that a (relatively) normal, non-gamer person like Hav has put more thought into how the game mechanics affect how people approach the game than you have.

I didn't hate Gears. I thought it was an OK game back then. Nor did I play it when I was 12 (it wasn't even out yet nor was there an even 360 when I was twelve). I just got bored a bit from the bits in it and from other, similar games where you had to spend a great deal of time hiding behind cover and waiting for your health to regenerate all the time.

But yeah, go on with this passive-aggressive dick-waving contest that you insist must take place in order to discuss a game's mechanics OR STFU AND BE A MAN AND ADMIT THAT WE ARE SMART. Unlike you, I still figure I have better things to do than this shit even when I'm bored.

[Havok]

Ha ha ha ha ha. Did anyone think Stark wasn't addressing you when he quoted you verbatim? OH NO! HE DIDN'T USE OFFICIAL QUOTE BOXES!! PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE!!

And sorry, but if you say something stupid about a game, I'm going to call you stupid.

P.S. In case you didn't notice, the enemy AI is so piss poor in the demo that you can go 'activate' them and then fall back and pick them off with the slow firing, low clip capacity, pistol at your leisure. Of course you would have actually have had to be paying attention to the game mechanics to notice this.

I AM ADDRESSING THIS TO ZIXINUS. I hope you read this when you have some spare time in your oh so busy non playing game and talking about it on a web forum life... oh wait.

[Stark]

Why are you posting in a thread when you have 'better things to do' than be factually correct? If *I* made a mean comment about a game and was wrong, people like you would be down my throat like a hamster.

You're lucky I don't have Gears1 anymore, because if I could confirm it I'd say something mean like 'Gears1 has a forced tutorial that babysteps you through mantling', but I'm too honest.

Sorry, this is addressed to Zininxizizius.

The only challenging parts of the on-foot level is when you face guys with 1000000000 hitpoints in confined space; like the first big guy, or very end where they try to herd you with waves of spawning badguys. The outdoor areas are typical third-person stuff, only a bit more bland/brown. The jetpack level at least had guys with guns that could kill you (and amusingly would do so mid-health animation).

[PeZook]

I am playing through Gears 1 at this time. It doesn't actually have a FORCED tutorial (you can skip it), and it doesn't really babysit you (well, there's not much to babysit you through, so...) but your ingame buddy says "Hey you want to practice cover movement, here you go".

I also don't get the "you spend all this time in cover" complaint against the cover system. Enemies actively try to get you out of cover with flanking and grenades. I have to suppress them and switch positions all the time (it depends on the particular arena though).

[Mr. Coffee]

Honestly, I've never had a problem cover systems equaling "lol, hide 'n go shoot, lol". Most games I've played that had such tended to either be stuff like R6: Vegas 2, where it's something to use to stage for breaching a room or to hunker down and order your mooks about, or games like Alpha Protocol where it's a handy way to sneak up and murder people. Cover's great and all when it does something fun, but it's not a deal breaker for me, and as far as Space Marine goes, to me it'd just take away from the fun of getting into melee and bathing myself in enough ork blood I end up looking like a paint factory accident. As far as the guns go, sure you can just back peddle and shoot the shit out of things, but there's a couple of spots where you get swarmed and have to go melee (like the end bit around the elevator on the Inquisitor mission section). Mostly I just use the guns for closing range and to pick off shoota boyz in melee lulls so they little green fuckers don't eat my health to much. Guess it's really just a play style choice.

Still trying to figure out what the fuck that Vengeance Launcher is supposed to do other than be the world's wonkiest grenade launcher. Half the time the grenades don't want to go off, and given that they stick to orks and the orks want to get in your face it's a bit of a pain in the nuts to suddenly have your shield drop and lose half your damn health because your super high speed mechanicus doohicky has shitty fusing.

[Feil]

Yeah, the Vengeance Launcher is pretty useless. I used it to any noticeable effectiveness only once in the demo, where I mined a catwalk and then blew the mines up one at a time as the orks came over it, killing everything but the miniboss. The rest of the time it was vastly more effective to just use any of the other guns, or the hand-grenades that actually work like grenades.

[Zixinus]

P.S. In case you didn't notice, the enemy AI is so piss poor in the demo that you can go 'activate' them and then fall back and pick them off with the slow firing, low clip capacity, pistol at your leisur

I would't argue about the quality of the AI, but I would argue that it might not be an intented part of the gameplay experience.

It might be just poor level scripting, pre-release problems or just general bad QA.

till trying to figure out what the fuck that Vengeance Launcher is supposed to do other than be the world's wonkiest grenade launcher. Half the time the grenades don't want to go off, and given that they stick to orks and the orks want to get in your face it's a bit of a pain in the nuts to suddenly have your shield drop and lose half your damn health because your super high speed mechanicus doohicky has shitty fusing.

I mostly used it to thin out the crowds heading for me. It sort of works, especially when you are out of grenades. Though, it can be a bit weird. I think it might be buggy.

I AM ADDRESSING THIS TO ZIXINUS. I hope you read this when you have some spare time in your oh so busy non playing game and talking about it on a web forum life... oh wait.

I have time and willingness to go on a web forum. I even have the time and willingness to debate the mechanisms of video games.
I just don't have time for pissing contests with the likes of Stark who's English style, coherency (which I noticed he will happily abuse to his favour) and manner is stuck at a 14-year-old troll's.

And sorry, but if you say something stupid about a game, I'm going to call you stupid.

[/quote]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/comba ... 000/714216

This is a video from the developers expressing similar ideas than what I had: the idea is to encourage the player to constantly push forward. The easiest way to gain heath is to fight hard and be in the middle of the fight.
They expressed dislike against hiding behind cover, hence why it is not in it.

As for climbing obstacles: I'm going to play the game again soon, but the level design is essentially putting you trough one open or semi-open area to the next. There is no particular need to be able to climb obstacles, as the dodge move should allow you escape a crossfire or an imminent hit. The rest is down to the combat-philosophy mention in the video.

I am confused as to how am I supposed to be stupid for telling the idea the developers had behind the game's mechanisms, but whatever. I concede the Gears thing (though it seems that some of you too don't remember that clearly either), I don't care.

[Mr. Coffee]

Hokay, figured out the Vengeance Launcher. The reload button is the detonation switch, tap to detonate grenades individually and hold to blow them all at once. Surprisingly effective once you get the knack of it.