Space marine demo; thoughts?

[Soluncreed]

The main problem I was having with the game was that the orks just don't sound orky enough. But other than that it was pretty cool.

 

[teebeeohh]

so i have played the demo now and i have to say that the rational part of my brain either wanted to find it repetitive after the first nob or ask for the same game as a tau firewarrior or battlesuit pilot(seriously, relic make that game i will buy it, even if it costs 200?).
the irrational part of my brain wanted a cooler chapter but was otherwise happy, i liked almost all the weapons i got to play with and the simple combo system work well. The one thing i didn't like is the bolter. it's like a cute little SMG with a low rate of fire but it should be a high caliber burst fire rifle that shoots rockets. it just doesn't feel as powerful as a bolter should feel. couldn't the have given titus a storm bolter for his SMG needs.

 

[The Forces of Chaos]

so i have played the demo now and i have to say that the rational part of my brain either wanted to find it repetitive after the first nob or ask for the same game as a tau firewarrior or battlesuit pilot(seriously, relic make that game i will buy it, even if it costs 200?).
the irrational part of my brain wanted a cooler chapter but was otherwise happy, i liked almost all the weapons i got to play with and the simple combo system work well. The one thing i didn't like is the bolter. it's like a cute little SMG with a low rate of fire but it should be a high caliber burst fire rifle that shoots rockets. it just doesn't feel as powerful as a bolter should feel. couldn't the have given titus a storm bolter for his SMG needs.

They do, he can have a storm bolter later in the game as well as mutliplayer (chaos space marine and space marine will have access to it). I felt the bolter worked fairly well given when I pulled the trigger they exploded in a gore mist.

 

[Aris Khandr]

It looks neat, but I won't really care unless they make an Adeptas Sororitas game.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

i agree
one guardsman as more balls in one ball than duke nukem has in both (sorry i just been wanting to say that for forever XD )

To go that far in guardsmen armour and a lazgun as your only weapon you need balls. The Imperial Guard have always been my favourite army.

All round the game is just magnificent. The way they've captured the ruined cities as Space Marine fights Orc, the way the weapons cut through the enemy, the difficulty of defeating the biggest Orcs and trying to overpower about 7 times as many Orcs than Space Marines is the essence of the Orc horde.

I also love that I get smart AI, friendly and enemy, in a game for once. It's rare that you see enemies running away in fear.

Orcs never retreat, they only regroup.

EDIT: Fuck me. I just made it through the horde attack on hard and I have to say that they really know how to balance a game. The entire attack was a combination of panic and focus, trying to manage health with attacks. The two large Orcs that attack pose the biggest challenge, usually coming when I'm already on low health. By the end of it, I was actually panting.

 

[The Forces of Chaos]

It definitely looked pretty and it has the meat and bones for what could be a great game.


But it also has some glaring design flaws, IMO. The lack of block makes the combat random, being that you cannot ever counter an enemy. With the mechanics of the game regularly forcing you to be knee deep in them, and your Marine controlling like its Avatar looks (a huge mountain of steel slapped on a man, basically, which is to say sluggish as hell), means that evading is useless, and your only option really is to deal more damage than you're being dealt while hoping that you can "consume" an enemy with a finisher (hard to do because you have to stun him first and you can't lock on who you want). Ranged combat is also pretty useless, especially in the thick of things.

There are also various problems with the AI (standing there doing nothing, friendlies consistently blocking your path in narrow hallways) and camera, but those are given the benefit of doubt due to its demo status. It *is* a bit offsetting that even in demo mode, it is that buggy, however.


The premiss is pretty good. I like the idea of feeling overwhelmed(the fight at the end of the level, with waves of orcs coming at you almost nails it), but I feel the game achieves difficulty (which is a good thing) by removing choice and mechanics, which is a cheap way of doing it. Being able to block and counter on Demon's Souls sure as hell didn't make it easier. But the issues above put me off anything other than eventual bargain bin purchase.

I would advise useing roll to doge attacks and to use the pistol to snap off a few shots when you have a few feet. Also Fury mode can slow them down alowing you to pick them off with head shots at range. Iv also found runing and melle is a nice shoulder charge to get some mobs easy stunable for a good finisher.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

Wasn't massively impressed with the gameplay, but then I would have much preferred a straight FPS, not a 3rd person beat em up/shooter and the shooting feels like a very minor part. Still, it looked nice and I liked the environment they had put together, unfortunately my PC didn't like it for some reason and there were some fairly off putting graphical glitches, most surfaces flickering black like a random strobe so I doubt I'll be getting the full game.

 

[Seishisha]

After playing the demo my initial thought "shut up and take my money" then after some rationalization i thought "hey that chainsword just massacred everything, why do they even bother with the guns" then immidiatitly afterword i replayed it useing nothing but the guns and gained a new appriciation for them. so to conclude, well rounded good fun, nice mechanics, can't quote on story since the demo contains exactly no story other then hey look orcs go shoot them, still looks promising with all the warhammer lore to dig into i dare say that'll be good aswell, then ofcourse there is the token multiplayer mode in the full version which for a change i will probably try out.

 

[scnj]

It was a lot more fun than I expected. I am now somewhat interested in this game.

 

[Bostur]

EDIT: Fuck me. I just made it through the horde attack on hard and I have to say that they really know how to balance a game. The entire attack was a combination of panic and focus, trying to manage health with attacks. The two large Orcs that attack pose the biggest challenge, usually coming when I'm already on low health. By the end of it, I was actually panting.

Yeah that last battle on hard is great isn't it? I found that the Bad Moon boys on the ramps were doing tons of damage if allowed to fire freely. Taking those out at quiet moments, or using the terrain for cover helped me a lot.

My impression was that they can vary the core gameplay quite a bit depending on the terrain layout and choice of enemies.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Yeah that last battle on hard is great isn't it? I found that the Bad Moon boys on the ramps were doing tons of damage if allowed to fire freely. Taking those out at quiet moments, or using the terrain for cover helped me a lot.

My impression was that they can vary the core gameplay quite a bit depending on the terrain layout and choice of enemies.

I'd start at the front and slowly work my way back as they came at me from the front. What didn't realise was that they were also coming at me from the sides too, I'd be almost dead by the time I reached the halfway mark. Then the gunners on the bridge, they just wouldn't stop, I never really noticed them till the last play through, but you're right, they do a ton of collective damage.

I still remember how it finished. I had just watched the last big guy go down as my fury wore off. I was on low health, no armour protecting me and there were about 7-10 Bad Moons left over, I thought I wasn't going to make it. I emptied the last few rounds of my clip into one of them and watched as the others fell to the gun fire of my fellow Marines and the Imperial Guard.

I may have to play it again.

 

[LorienvArden]

It's called a LAN, if it does have local co-op for PC the my roommate will probably get it too

Local coop usually means split screen - which afaik is quite rare on PC these days.

 

[darkfire613]

I had fun, but the controls felt a bit clunky. You don't start moving immediately, for example, you need to hold down the button for a second before you start moving forward. It was still enjoyable, but I don't think I liked it enough to buy the game first thing, but I'll probably get it used or in a few months when the price comes down.

 

[Rad Party God]

Well, it's Relic who are making the game, the same guys from the Dawn of War series and those games alone did nailed the WH40K universe right, but at the same time, they were only making RTSes until now, so I was a bit skeptical about how'd they pull off a third person shooter.

I think I underestimated them by dismissing this game as "yet another generic shooter", heck, the name itself may be a bit misleading.

 

[infohippie]

I really wanted to like this, but I couldn't get into it, the controls felt too slow and heavy. Plus it came across as very much a button masher. It felt just like Darksiders, and I hate Darksiders.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

I have the feeling I'm gonna enjoy it because I knew jack shit about this game before the Demo came out.

 

[ounkeo]

I really wanted to like this, but I couldn't get into it, the controls felt too slow and heavy. Plus it came across as very much a button masher. It felt just like Darksiders, and I hate Darksiders.

What did you not like about Darksiders? I just finished it and thought it was a fantastic game although the PC controls required way too much finger twisting, and the ranged-to-melee-to-range mechanic was crappy. Other than that the story was pretty good, the puzzles satisfying and well... it was pretty difficult on Easy. I honestly did not see any difference between easy and normal.

I'm not sure what you mean the controls felt slow and heavy. I thought they were some of the most responsive controls in an action game that I have played in a while. If you spam the melee button, yes, you have almost no control and just have to wait for your toon to finish his maneuver. The trick is to balance button spamming and controlled, concise clicks so you're not swinging wildly. It's the only way to properly control your character.

 

[Zorak the Mantis]

It's better than I thought it would be, I had some serious doubts after seeing that piece of crap they tried to pull off as a movie... luckily Kill Teams was freaking awesome, and the Space Marine demo seems pretty good. So my hopes have been restored.

 

[infohippie]

What did you not like about Darksiders? I just finished it and thought it was a fantastic game although the PC controls required way too much finger twisting, and the ranged-to-melee-to-range mechanic was crappy. Other than that the story was pretty good, the puzzles satisfying and well... it was pretty difficult on Easy. I honestly did not see any difference between easy and normal.

I'm not sure what you mean the controls felt slow and heavy. I thought they were some of the most responsive controls in an action game that I have played in a while. If you spam the melee button, yes, you have almost no control and just have to wait for your toon to finish his maneuver. The trick is to balance button spamming and controlled, concise clicks so you're not swinging wildly. It's the only way to properly control your character.

Darksiders to me felt like it should be played with a controller, and I don't like controllers. I guess I don't really like action games in general, with a few exceptions.
Space Marine felt slow and heavy because I had to move the mouse way too far for a small movement on character, which made it difficult to aim. I prefer to move the mouse just a few millimetres to get a good 45 degrees or more of turn. Your avatar also walks much too slowly, I'd rather a move speed of around double that. It all added up to feeling like I was trying to move a truck around the screen.

 

[Aprilgold]

I hope my computer stops crashing with steam, so I will try it, IF THAT DOES HAPPEN!