Space Marine

[Zim]

Grenades are "q".

Checked and didn't see any options for anything like "motion blur". I hadn't even noticed it until it was mentioned, but I tend to either scroll around only moderatedly fast, or jerk then pause an instant.

My copy came in. I've really been enjoying it so far.

[Cahoma]

I bought the game and have played for 82 minutes according to Steam.

The single player is very fun so far. I've had no problems with meelee or ranged fighting and it all looks very nice.The AI isn't completely idiotic, the Orks are good at hiding behind objects and trying to run around you so you can't shoot 'em down. Unless there's many of them, in which case they just come storming at you.
I've only lightly touched the multiplayer so far, but it was definetely difficult.

It's fun!

[Zim]

I've finished the game and put in a fair amount of hours into multiplayer.

The campaign was really fun. I enjoyed the gameplay. The story was interesting, and the weapon selection and need to pick a limited number them to carry. They threw you into the action right away. The mix up in enemies comes at just the right time (and the transition period is possibly the most fun part). I also enjoyed a lot of the small touches. Stuff like the little graphical details and servo skull recordings that reminded you that you were in the 40k universe. the sound of your feet hitting the ground that gave an impression of weight to a character who's about 450 pounds before putting armor on, and the ringing after a nearby explosion.

On the negative side the campaign was a little short. The boss fights were hard to judge as I haven't played a FPS in a long time. Some of the maps could do with being less linear. The biggest thing missing, though was more of an introduction to the setting. You get thrown into things without explanation and it never comes. Some of the terms used throughout might be confusing to new players, and someone who hasn't tried the older games or heard of Warhammer 40k might have some questions along the line of: What is a Space Marine? What's the codex and why is it so important? Why am I fighting Orcs with guns and cockney accents, and why do they spell the word with a 'k'? A short intro in the game, or some info given through dialogue would have helped, I think.

Multiplayer has been fun. Each match you're divided into two teams (chaos and regular marines) with matching classes. Tactical/Chaos marines that are all-rounders, Devastator/Havoks that tote heavy weapons around, and Assault marines/raptors that focus on melee and have jump packs allowing them to flit around the maps. I love that you can customize multiple armor for both sides, using an existing chapter/warband or making one up. You can color individual pieces of armor differently and it brings part of the tabletop game into the videogame.

There are two mission types for mp. Annihilation where the team that racks up a certain number of kills first wins, and seize ground missions where you have to take and hold different areas to gain points. Both heavily award working together but with the random matchups it can be tough. In annihilation mode it's a blessing when you find a couple players that understand the concept (and a curse when several members on the opposite team do). In seize ground I find players are generally better about it.

Classes are moderately balanced although the assault class is considered a bit weaker. They can still easily rack up the kills though (one melee weapon one hit kills most enemies, although it's also a bit slow to use), and the ability to use the jump pack to fly over obstacles and get the drop on people is a lot of fun. You unlock different weapons, abilities, and armor appearances by gaining experience (or in the case of certain weapon based abilities and armor pieces by doing certain things. Making so many total kills with a certain weapon type, or x melee kills, etc.). I can see the reasoning for this but I'm wary of the disadvantage it gives new player who don't have access to as many choices. On the other hand, you do have the ability to copy the loadout of someone who kills you for a single life, which helps to try things you don't yet have access to. I should also note that despite unlocking quite a few weapons I've gotten most of my kills from the basic bolter and tactical marine combat knife (people seem to be surprised when you go for melee with that class for some reason, even if they've popped up a few feet from you).

MP could use some more maps, although I do like the ones they do have. Also the random matchups can be quite tough. Sometimes the game picks someone with a slow connection as host (although recently they seem to have made it so the host can be switched mid mission). The random matchups make it very tough to coordinate. The people with mikes could perhaps organize things, but since they cannot turn them off you usually mute them after being subjected to whatever music they're playing, heavy breathing and keyboard noises, babies crying, the news playing in the background, etc.

[Abokasee]

AMERICA MARINE
-A bit too tasteless, methinks. CR

Warning: some might think of it as a bit tasteless in some respects... I don't know who these people are but I've had complaints in the past so... yeah.