Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2; Glory to the emperor!

[Dirty Hipsters]

Space Marine 2 keeps changing all of my settings to default every time it updates. Extremely annoying because I have to go through all of the video settings and change them every single time I launch the game since it's had an update every single day since release.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

I learned the other day that SM2 is being sold for 70 USD on PS5. Shocking, since in my country on Steam, it's less than 40 USD. I dunno why the publisher or devs decided to once NOT fuck us over with regional pricing, but thank the Emperor for that.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Space Marine 2 keeps changing all of my settings to default every time it updates. Extremely annoying because I have to go through all of the video settings and change them every single time I launch the game since it's had an update every single day since release.

I had a similar thing happen with RDR2 but IIRC it was whenever there was a patch or maybe an Nvidia update. Required some tinkering but I think making the system.xml read-only is what fixed it. I’ve also read turning off one drive can help, but I’m not sure if it was ever an issue in my case.

 

[FakeSympathy]

So near the end of mission 2, I was met with sudden fps drop. And I mean sub-20. and the game had this weird "strobe" glitch where everything looked like it was flashing. It wasn't an issue before this section, and the game ran fine after that as well. I wonder wtf was that about?

It was a shame, really. Because this is when I got a jump pack and holy shit launching myself in the air and then crashing to the ground was satisfying af. Really would've loved it mroe if it was on full 60 fps.

I also realized there is no achievement or reward for completing campaign in the highest difficulty, and I am considering lowering it. I wonder what happened to that? They used to be so much common, and getting the achievement for the hardestr difficulty also earned achievements for the lower ones as well.

 

[Worgen]

So near the end of mission 2, I was met with sudden fps drop. And I mean sub-20. and the game had this weird "strobe" glitch where everything looked like it was flashing. It wasn't an issue before this section, and the game ran fine after that as well. I wonder wtf was that about?

It was a shame, really. Because this is when I got a jump pack and holy shit launching myself in the air and then crashing to the ground was satisfying af. Really would've loved it mroe if it was on full 60 fps.

I also realized there is no achievement or reward for completing campaign in the highest difficulty, and I am considering lowering it. I wonder what happened to that? They used to be so much common, and getting the achievement for the hardestr difficulty also earned achievements for the lower ones as well.

I had a bunch of issues till I updated my vid drivers. That resolved all the problems I had had.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

So near the end of mission 2, I was met with sudden fps drop. And I mean sub-20. and the game had this weird "strobe" glitch where everything looked like it was flashing. It wasn't an issue before this section, and the game ran fine after that as well. I wonder wtf was that about?

It was a shame, really. Because this is when I got a jump pack and holy shit launching myself in the air and then crashing to the ground was satisfying af. Really would've loved it mroe if it was on full 60 fps.

I also realized there is no achievement or reward for completing campaign in the highest difficulty, and I am considering lowering it. I wonder what happened to that? They used to be so much common, and getting the achievement for the hardestr difficulty also earned achievements for the lower ones as well.

It’s likely an extension of the accessibility aspect of games that’s become prevalent since roughly the middle or tail end of last gen (ie pre-PS5 launch). They don’t want anyone to feel left out from getting all the shinies. In a way it might help people to stop obsessing over them though as a skill marker for bragging rights, since they are now ironically the digital equivalent of participation trophies.

OTOH it’s kinda sad. Like, if someone can’t get them all because they weren’t good enough at the game, then oh well. Let the nerds eat cake.

FWIW -

https://www.thegamer.com/playstation-trophies-the-hardest-platinums-list/

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Finished the campaign, and currently playing Operations with friends.

For those who don't know, operations are special coop focused missions that follow the story of the campaign but with a different squad.

Your team in Space Marine 2 is made up of 9 people, but during the campaign Titus splits this team up into 3 squads of 3 marines to complete different objectives. The campaign follows Titus's squad, and the operations follow the other 2 groups to squads to see what they were doing during the campaign.

The campaign is appropriately bombastic to a warhammer game and is quite a bit of fun. The operations are a bit less bombastic in scope but tend to present a greater overall challenge. Both are pretty fun, but also both are definitely are their best when played with friends. Operations can't even be done solo with bots, if you don't have friends to play with the game matchmakes you.

 

[BrawlMan]

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[laggyteabag]

I've finished the single-player campaign, and I am a lot more mixed on it than I wish I was.

I think the basics of combat are solid, the game is obviously gorgeous, and the power fantasy is clear.

But there are two issues that bring the game down for me.

One: I find the response time for the dodge/parry to be slow. As in, if you're in the middle of an action, and you try to dodge/parry, its just not going to happen. This might sounds like a "get gud" (and it may still be a "get gud") but when you're surrounded by a dozen minor enemies, and you're constantly dodging/shooting/slashing, you're seemingly always in the middle of an action, so when the dodge icon appears, you're often caught out. Similarly, I find it quite strange that only some enemies, and some actions, cause the dodge/parry icon to appear. It just makes me feel like I am taking a lot more damage than I should.

And two: Chaos just aren't as fun to fight as the Tyranids, which makes the second half of the game comparatively unenjoyable. Chaos is a much more range-focused faction, and this game is much more melee focused, so the faction doesn't have anything that comes close to the same thrill as fighting a Tyranid warrior, and getting peppered from range just doesn't feel particularly fun. Additionally, I just don't think that they really fit the fantasy of the game. A lot of the "hype" of this game, was watching hundreds of Tyranids pour down a mountain, and each was a legitimate enemy that you had to kill; you just don't have that with Chaos. And choosing Tzeentch/Thousand Sons as the primary faction was another mistake, because their Space Marines are largely mindless, emotionless automatons, so there is none of this, and the enemies function as silent meatbags.

I have yet to touch the PvP or operations mode, but from the perspective of the singleplayer campaign, I just wish I enjoyed it more.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

I've finished the single-player campaign, and I am a lot more mixed on it than I wish I was.

I think the basics of combat are solid, the game is obviously gorgeous, and the power fantasy is clear.

But there are two issues that bring the game down for me.

One: I find the response time for the dodge/parry to be slow. As in, if you're in the middle of an action, and you try to dodge/parry, its just not going to happen. This might sounds like a "get gud" (and it may still be a "get gud") but when you're surrounded by a dozen minor enemies, and you're constantly dodging/shooting/slashing, you're seemingly always in the middle of an action, so when the dodge icon appears, you're often caught out. Similarly, I find it quite strange that only some enemies, and some actions, cause the dodge/parry icon to appear. It just makes me feel like I am taking a lot more damage than I should.

And two: Chaos just aren't as fun to fight as the Tyranids, which makes the second half of the game comparatively unenjoyable. Chaos is a much more range-focused faction, and this game is much more melee focused, so the faction doesn't have anything that comes close to the same thrill as fighting a Tyranid warrior, and getting peppered from range just doesn't feel particularly fun. Additionally, I just don't think that they really fit the fantasy of the game. A lot of the "hype" of this game, was watching hundreds of Tyranids pour down a mountain, and each was a legitimate enemy that you had to kill; you just don't have that with Chaos. And choosing Tzeentch/Thousand Sons as the primary faction was another mistake, because their Space Marines are largely mindless, emotionless automatons, so there is none of this, and the enemies function as silent meatbags.

I have yet to touch the PvP or operations mode, but from the perspective of the singleplayer campaign, I just wish I enjoyed it more.

It's interesting that they couldn't get around one of the biggest complaints people had about the first game. I understand why they bring in Chaos, since from a story perspective, both Orks and Tyranids aren't very interesting antagonists. But you'd think Nurgle would complement the combat system a lot more than other factions.

It's also weird in general that they chose what most people regard to be the least interesting and fun Chaos faction. I mean, kudos to them for even trying.

EDIT: It feels like the Word Bearers would also be the most obvious choice for enemies in a game starring the Ultramarines. Not only do they have history, but you'd be able to have enemies with abilities from all four gods.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

It's interesting that they couldn't get around one of the biggest complaints people had about the first game. I understand why they bring in Chaos, since from a story perspective, both Orks and Tyranids aren't very interesting antagonists. But you'd think Nurgle would complement the combat system a lot more than other factions.

It's also weird in general that they chose what most people regard to be the least interesting and fun Chaos faction. I mean, kudos to them for even trying.

EDIT: It feels like the Word Bearers would also be the most obvious choice for enemies in a game starring the Ultramarines. Not only do they have history, but you'd be able to have enemies with abilities from all four gods.

The director of the game answered some questions on Reddit recently, and apparently there was a lot of stuff that Games Workshop wouldn't let them use for the game. They didn't have cart blanch to choose whatever factions and enemies they wanted to use. That could have something to do with their choice to use the Thousand Suns, maybe it was just the most interesting faction they were allowed to play with.

I've finished the single-player campaign, and I am a lot more mixed on it than I wish I was.

I think the basics of combat are solid, the game is obviously gorgeous, and the power fantasy is clear.

But there are two issues that bring the game down for me.

One: I find the response time for the dodge/parry to be slow. As in, if you're in the middle of an action, and you try to dodge/parry, its just not going to happen. This might sounds like a "get gud" (and it may still be a "get gud") but when you're surrounded by a dozen minor enemies, and you're constantly dodging/shooting/slashing, you're seemingly always in the middle of an action, so when the dodge icon appears, you're often caught out. Similarly, I find it quite strange that only some enemies, and some actions, cause the dodge/parry icon to appear. It just makes me feel like I am taking a lot more damage than I should.

And two: Chaos just aren't as fun to fight as the Tyranids, which makes the second half of the game comparatively unenjoyable. Chaos is a much more range-focused faction, and this game is much more melee focused, so the faction doesn't have anything that comes close to the same thrill as fighting a Tyranid warrior, and getting peppered from range just doesn't feel particularly fun. Additionally, I just don't think that they really fit the fantasy of the game. A lot of the "hype" of this game, was watching hundreds of Tyranids pour down a mountain, and each was a legitimate enemy that you had to kill; you just don't have that with Chaos. And choosing Tzeentch/Thousand Sons as the primary faction was another mistake, because their Space Marines are largely mindless, emotionless automatons, so there is none of this, and the enemies function as silent meatbags.

I have yet to touch the PvP or operations mode, but from the perspective of the singleplayer campaign, I just wish I enjoyed it more.

I kind of agree with you about the Thousand Suns. While I actually enjoyed playing against them quite a bit as a change of pace from playing against the Tyranids in the mid game, I do think that the end game suffers somewhat from making them the primary antagonists. I do think that they are quite fun to fight but fighting against them does feel a lot more like a "standard shooter" and the game loses a bit of its identity.

As far as the responsiveness of the parry system, the parry is window is actually incredibly generous I found, and the only time I wasn't hitting my parries is because I was panicking and mashing to try and regain health rather than properly timing things. Some weapons are definitely more difficult to use with regards to the parry system just because of the weapon speeds. The combat knife and power sword are much easier to use because their faster swing speeds gives you more windows to parry during, whereas the ax and chainsword have fewer windows to parry but have much larger AOE crowd clearing attacks. I found the power sword to be the best melee weapon in the game for me, but properly using it constantly meant interrupting combos in order to parry. Maybe it's because I'm used to Dark Souls but I didn't have any trouble with the parry because I didn't expect to be able to parry cancel my attacks.

The reason that the parry icon only appears on certain attacks is because those attacks are bigger hits. You can actually parry every attack that isn't an orange, but attacks without icons are trash damage coming from trash mobs that you can just tank through and regain the health back on hit. If they put a parry icon on screen for every attack directed at you the entire screen would be nothing but parry icons and you wouldn't be able to see anything.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

The director of the game answered some questions on Reddit recently, and apparently there was a lot of stuff that Games Workshop wouldn't let them use for the game. They didn't have cart blanch to choose whatever factions and enemies they wanted to use. That could have something to do with their choice to use the Thousand Suns, maybe it was just the most interesting faction they were allowed to play with.



I kind of agree with you about the Thousand Suns. While I actually enjoyed playing against them quite a bit as a change of pace from playing against the Tyranids in the mid game, I do think that the end game suffers somewhat from making them the primary antagonists. I do think that they are quite fun to fight but fighting against them does feel a lot more like a "standard shooter" and the game loses a bit of its identity.

As far as the responsiveness of the parry system, the parry is window is actually incredibly generous I found, and the only time I wasn't hitting my parries is because I was panicking and mashing to try and regain health rather than properly timing things. Some weapons are definitely more difficult to use with regards to the parry system just because of the weapon speeds. The combat knife and power sword are much easier to use because their faster swing speeds gives you more windows to parry during, whereas the ax and chainsword have fewer windows to parry but have much larger AOE crowd clearing attacks. I found the power sword to be the best melee weapon in the game for me, but properly using it constantly meant interrupting combos in order to parry. Maybe it's because I'm used to Dark Souls but I didn't have any trouble with the parry because I didn't expect to be able to parry cancel my attacks.

The reason that the parry icon only appears on certain attacks is because those attacks are bigger hits. You can actually parry every attack that isn't an orange, but attacks without icons are trash damage coming from trash mobs that you can just tank through and regain the health back on hit. If they put a parry icon on screen for every attack directed at you the entire screen would be nothing but parry icons and you wouldn't be able to see anything.

That does sound like something Games Workshop would do. They also seem to be making Titus more or less canon, so I guess that's also why they have so many restrictions.

 

[BrawlMan]

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[Silvanus]

FWIW -

https://www.thegamer.com/playstation-trophies-the-hardest-platinums-list/

Hmm. I don't have any of those plats, but I do have the specific trophy they give as the reason for Sackboy to be on the list (the time trial composed of 15 other time trials back to back).

It was indeed bloody hard, but Hollow Knight is a harder plat (which I do have but ain't on that list) as it requires the Pantheon of Hallownest.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Hmm. I don't have any of those plats, but I do have the specific trophy they give as the reason for Sackboy to be on the list (the time trial composed of 15 other time trials back to back).

It was indeed bloody hard, but Hollow Knight is a harder plat (which I do have but ain't on that list) as it requires the Pantheon of Hallownest.

Only have RDR2’s, and really I think it’s more of an endurance test than anything but I had enjoyed it so much it didn’t feel like it. If they required gold in all of the missions it would be a different story. Even as it is I only missed a handful and got my 70 a few missions before the epilogue. There were a few that took a lot of retries though. An American Pastoral Scene in particular took the longest and was one of maybe two or three that I needed to switch to aim assist for because of the time limit.

 

[FakeSympathy]

Yep, finished the campaign on my end as well. Just in time to because GoW: R for pc comes out tomorrow!

There were some really cool Blizzard-level cinematics near the end, and awesome sequences. And that final battlefield between the imperium and the chaos was amazing. Chaplain's identity reveal I did get it at first since I didn't play the first game, but after looking up who Leandros was and why the fanbase seem to hate him, I was like "oh that's why everyone hates him now... even more!" Also, nice setup for the next SM game. I just hope won't take another 14 years to finish.

I previously said the campaign was built for co-op. Well on lower difficulty I can say it's fine, but on AoD it's actually more safe to play by yourself. Because both you and the online partner better have excellent gameplay skills, otherwise if one of you dies, both players restart from the last checkpoint. And Titus is the only one who's bail;ity let's him heal besides the stim pack. Not to mention, those are hard to come by in AoD.

Boss fights still were fine, but I still hated ones where minions were summoned. Also, some bosses I feel were purposely designed to be bullet sponges, even with parry-handgun-follow-up-shots.

And as we've been talking about, I also wish we would've seen more enemy variety. Fighting Orks would've been super fun. Chaos do sound like an interesting faction, but from my understanding of WH 40k universe the Imperium has a lot more enemies to deal with than just the chaos or the tyranids.

I'll probably drop by for more pve operations, but for now I just wanna return to being a demigod again

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Yep, finished the campaign on my end as well. Just in time to because GoW: R for pc comes out tomorrow!

There were some really cool Blizzard-level cinematics near the end, and awesome sequences. And that final battlefield between the imperium and the chaos was amazing. Chaplain's identity reveal I did get it at first since I didn't play the first game, but after looking up who Leandros was and why the fanbase seem to hate him, I was like "oh that's why everyone hates him now... even more!" Also, nice setup for the next SM game. I just hope won't take another 14 years to finish.

I previously said the campaign was built for co-op. Well on lower difficulty I can say it's fine, but on AoD it's actually more safe to play by yourself. Because both you and the online partner better have excellent gameplay skills, otherwise if one of you dies, both players restart from the last checkpoint. And Titus is the only one who's bail;ity let's him heal besides the stim pack. Not to mention, those are hard to come by in AoD.

Boss fights still were fine, but I still hated ones where minions were summoned. Also, some bosses I feel were purposely designed to be bullet sponges, even with parry-handgun-follow-up-shots.

And as we've been talking about, I also wish we would've seen more enemy variety. Fighting Orks would've been super fun. Chaos do sound like an interesting faction, but from my understanding of WH 40k universe the Imperium has a lot more enemies to deal with than just the chaos or the tyranids.

I'll probably drop by for more pve operations, but for now I just wanna return to being a demigod again

You might wanna spoiler the whole Chaplain bit. Anyone who has played the first game will immediately know who you are referring to, even with the inline spoiler you added.