Space Marine

[drone]

I was looking up reviews and found something amusing. It was an article accusing the game of ripping off Gears of War.

Among the list of things Space Marine "copied":
Oversized armor and physique
Chainsaw weapons
Use of a large hammer in melee (this one is supposed to rip off Halo, apparently)

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/04/10

[Papewaio]

The reviewer who wrote that article got torn a couple of new ones. Zero research and so wrong. His apologies went down like a lead balloon.

Games Workshop has some wonderful IP. I just wish their tabletop game mini's didn't cost a meal a mini.

[Fragony]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/04/10

Am I missing something? Never heard of Warhammer except the RTS. Must be USA thingie

[econ21]

Am I missing something? Never heard of Warhammer except the RTS. Must be USA thingie

No, a UK thingie - it's a minatures company; the HQ is in Nottingham (and worth a visit if ever you are passing by):

www.games-workshop.com

The quality of the product - the minatures - is very high, and the rules/setting for them are well done too. However, the prices are getting absurdly high.

[Zim]

Adding to what Econ21 posted, both the Warhammer Fantasy and 40k settings have both been around for decades. In the situation in the comic part of the joke is that since the Warhammer stuff isn't as widely known people often make the assumption that it's derivative of Blizzard's games (when before creating their own setting Blizzard supposedly originaly planned on making a Warhammer game).

Imagine being a Tolkien fan and repeatedly reading reviews of the Lord of the Rings movies complaining they stole Orcs from Dungeones and Dragons.

[Kekvit Irae]

The quality of the product - the minatures - is very high

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Thanks, I needed a good laugh.

That's the one thing GW is not: quality. It is, however, all about quantity. And extremely bad business practices. Trust me, I've co-owned my own gaming store about 10 years ago, I know how bad GW (and their miniatures) can be. There was a reason my regulars (including myself) instead preferred using Ral Partha and Reaper for their miniatures in WH and WH40k games.

[Zim]

So the game's been out a day on Steam (except in the U.K. for some reason...). I'm currently awaiting my hard copy (apparently currently in Arizona). Has anyone had a chance to play the full game yet?

[Kekvit Irae]

So the game's been out a day on Steam (except in the U.K. for some reason...). I'm currently awaiting my hard copy (apparently currently in Arizona). Has anyone had a chance to play the full game yet?

On the game as a whole, TotalBiscuit (via his Twitter) had some choice words. On the flipside, he had some other choice words about the multiplayer as well. Language warning, obviously.

tl;dw: Single player is good, mindless fun. Multiplayer will make you tear your hair out (provided you can even connect).

[Slyspy]

On the game as a whole, TotalBiscuit (via his Twitter) had some choice words. On the flipside, he had some other choice words about the multiplayer as well. Language warning, obviously.

tl;dw: Single player is good, mindless fun. Multiplayer will make you tear your hair out (provided you can even connect).

From a consumer's point of view their miniatures have always been of good quality IMO. They are however overpriced and always have been.

Your mileage as a stockist (or potential stockist) probably varies since GW have a reputation for being very unfriendly as a company.

[econ21]

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Thanks, I needed a good laugh.

That's the one thing GW is not: quality. It is, however, all about quantity. And extremely bad business practices. Trust me, I've co-owned my own gaming store about 10 years ago, I know how bad GW (and their miniatures) can be. There was a reason my regulars (including myself) instead preferred using Ral Partha and Reaper for their miniatures in WH and WH40k games.

Well, the pricing certainly seems at the quality end of the market (at least if you are talking about minatures you are supposed to buy scores of to use for gaming rather than display).

But when I said the minatures were high quality, I was merely talking about my subjective opinion, which is a matter of taste but I'd prefer not to be laughed at.

I found GW minatures to be astonishingly good. I started collecting them about 10 years ago with my son. One thing I noticed was a dramatic improvement in quality around about that time. Some of the older ranges were positively hideous; we struggled to find one passable minature in some of the armies (like the old Dark Eldar). But the stuff that was just coming out about 10 years ago (the Lord of the Rings stuff, much of the current Dark Elves, High Elves, Tau, Bretonnians, Chaos etc) impressed me alot, with most units looking excellent. I don't know what happened - I think the shift to plastics allowed much finer detail, but also the sculptors were doing amazing work. Also, perhaps influenced by the Lord of the Rings style, they started to move a little towards more realistic design which I liked (weapons, hands etc less out of proportion).

My son outgrew Warhammer about three or four years ago. Looking at the prices, they seem to have risen about 60% and they were expensive back then. I still find the "fluff" side of Warhammer - the art and design, the settings etc - impressive. It's a shame the Warhammer MMO flopped; I think the 40k universe is an excellent one for computer gaming and hope the 40k MMO does better.

[Zim]

I could have it mixed up but I think metal is actually supposed to allow for more detail, with plastics having filled in much of the gap over the last decade or so. Speaking as someone who bought his first "assembly and paint required" toy soldier about a year ago I like the way they look, and they match my idea of the setting well. Usually when I meet someone who uses another line for GW games, it's to fill some certain theme they want (Imperial Guard seem to get this a lot) or save some money rather than because of quality.

It looks like my copy of the game has decided to finish out a second day in limbo between Pheonix and wherever the next stop is. Guess I should figure it will come at best on the absolute last day it's supposed to (In total we're just about through with day 4 of the 5-8 days the shipping method I chose is supposed to take).

[Kekvit Irae]

So TotalBiscuit did a full WTF Is... of the multiplayer. Long story short, you cant turn off your microphone. Ever. The other players are the ones who can choose to mute you or not. It made for an extremely amusing first impressions video as EVERYONE heard him do his voice-over while he was playing, and was asking during the pre-game chat whether it was the real TB or not.

[Major Robert Dump]

Um, is the camera supposed to get all swooshy everytime you turn, cuz this game is making me dizzy. Could be my settings, although I could see how this would be done on purpose because thats what it is like when you turn quickly in RL. The problem is that I am a twitchy player and run around a lot, whereas in real life I am more like a fat turtle. So in video game life when I am moving and running and looking behind me because I am paranoid, well the swooshy camera makes me dizzy. During my My melee fights I get lost and end up fighting a crate or a wall. Maybe I should lower mouse sensitivity and just stop being so twitchy.

Also, how do I throw grenades.

Pretty game though

[Husar]

I don't have the game but you may want to look in the graphics options for motion blur, too much of it annoys me in games as well, a little bit is usually fine.

[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.

[Graphic]

Got this for $20 on a cd key store to fill the multiplayer void left by the severe disappointment that was RO2.

Very fun. Camping does not exist and there are no killstreaks. It's just pure gun-on-gun (or chain axe-on-face) mayhem. I suck at it but it's still good.

Exterminatus (think survival mode from L4D) is extremely addictive and the XP earned counts towards normal multiplayer too so if you're trying to level up your dude its not a waste of time in that regard.

The armor customization is pretty deep. I've probably spent a 1/4 of my time so far just messing with that. For some reason they didn't have Thousand Sons as one of the pre-made Chaos chapters but I was able to recreate it myself easily. My only gripe is there are no horns for Chaos, or the "knight hair" (not sure what it's called). Oh well. Still awesome.

[Zim]

Anyone still playing this? With some of the new maps and Chaos coop out I gave it a try the other day. Before I was middling bad in the rankings after most matches but after being out so long I took one of the bottom two slots several games in a row...