Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

This is a very good and very under appreciated third person shooter/slasher. I think it got branded as a Gears of War knock-off, which is amusing in itself since Warhammer 40k has been doing big armor and chainswords since the 1980s.

Regardless, while you could be forgiven for thinking this is a GoW clone from watching videos, playing the game proves otherwise. Cover is important, but there isn't a cover system that sucks you up against a barrier. Rather, it's more of an old school type system where you hide behind environmental objects.

Besides cover, the main area that distinguishes SM from GoW is the much more robust melee combat in SM. The melee is just as fun as the shooting and the combination of the two really makes for some interesting scenarios.

If you are a Warhammer 40k fan, you should be pleased. It has all the things people like about the series and even some light references to the Dawn of War series. If you aren't familiar with W40K, the story is still entertaining and it might make you want to learn more about the rich universe.

The multiplayer is surprisingly fun and fresh, primarily because of the different style the melee adds. I find the Horde mode (Exterminatus) to be more fun than GoW's, though to be fair, it doesn't have the strategy of placing obstacles. It's more about the unbridled joy of smashing through hordes of Orks with 3 other people.

There were a few things I don't like about the game. The graphics are quite good, especially most of the player models and lighting. Particle effects are good too. The problem is that the game takes place on an industrial world so the palette is heavily oriented towards greys and browns. Areas can get repetitive.

Also, there are only two ways to recover health. One of which, executing an enemy, is actually dangerous as the horde surrounding you you usually beat the pulp out of you during the execution. It would have been better to pause the game during the executions.

This game is NOT trying to be like Gears of War. At all. In fact, Gears of War could be considered to copy a lot of the aspects for the original table top game by Games Workshop.

This is a fairly decent game in itself. I, for one, was delighted to see the world come to life in a third person shooter. Definitely worth a rent.

Maybe next time they will include all of the races of the Warhammer 40k universe. I would definitely enjoy that.