This game could have been great. Let's start with the good.

It looks pretty nice, and the music is actually pretty solid. The campaign manages to be fairly fun, too. That's where it ends.

The campaign is short-6-8 hours per run. Not especially hard, either. On its own, it's not worth $50, though. The multiplayer is a buggy, laggy mess. It's unbalanced, and if you can even find a match, you'll be slaughtered by what seems like nothing because the netcode is simply terrible.

If this were a single-player game, I can see giving it a 5 or 6. But it isn't. I paid for a game with multiplayer, and what I basically got was a single-player game. I cannot in good conscience recommend this game to ANYONE.… Expand

I expect for some trolls to rate this as a 5/10 or rant about how shallow and repetitive the singleplayer game or multiplayer is; it is however, a proper and kick-ass space marine game! Plus, they finally have the Orks done right! (my opinion only, and, depends on which side you're on: Orks with a K or a C)

This can be had for a bit cheaper on retail vs. the offer on Steam. My only gripe is how the game lobby and multiplayer matches is implemented: it doesn't look well thought-through and, crossing my fingers, network code is optimised and correctly implemented. The console-port feel of the game also is a bit jarring at times for a PC-purist like me.… Expand

The singleplayer wasnt that bad. It was fun charging into a group of bad guys with your chainsword in one hand and the pistol in the other cutting them all down to size. But then thats all you did with the exception of the jet pack a couple times which was very satisfying, falling from the sky and splattering everything beneath you. Also when an enemy is stunned preforming a final kill on them was pretty fun too. But the singleplayer seemed to lack any customisation at all apart from picking up a different weapon every so often.

The multiplayer is terrible. For a start your now allowed to mute everyone, that was amazing update =/ which apparently also improves the connection. Wow. Playing the multiplayer the weapons are so far unbalanced its a joke with people sticking to the same old gun with a couple perks which allows them to sit in a corner and one shot everyone running by or just using the plasma launcher to kill groups without even having to use any skill. Then the latency issues combined with the terrible graphics just make it pointless to play which is a shame cuz is could have been soo much better.… Expand

As a true fan of 40K I can say I will never pick this game up again to play at any point. The failure to find a sweet spot for game play turns this sour early & stays sour. As a button masher this isn't the worst I have ever played but it forces you to close the range gap to heal your self in close combat with stuns & then death blows, that fails to work when you are getting shot at & have a mob of over 10 orc's around you. The shinny did hit the mark with the feel & story that is 40k but if you cant enjoy the game at all I don't see how that could raise the mark at all. The more I played this game the more I just hated it, you don't feel like a space marine you feel weak & frail not a gene altered human that's 8 ft tall in armor & that has been trained to handle every thing. One of the major problems just comes from the play balance having 360 combat all targeting the player with shooting raining down & no way to get healed but to stay in the melee mix just fails as it drags out every combat & makes the next combat worse if you didn't get healed & remember you still have to run to the shooters to kill them or just get chipped away as you shoot back & don't get healed, the game really just felt like pulling teeth after some levels. This is the fan in me that cant let this one go the bolter is a gyrojet rifle (look it up its a real weapon) not a machingun & it just makes the space marine so much less, a bolter is for a skilled fighter one shot = one kill the machingun is for some one who cant shoot & needs 20 shots to hit. This mite be a fan based review & I mite hate it because they didn't come close on the feel of how a space marine should feel in the game, but with out the back ground story I know the game play still sucked.… Expand

I am going to split this review into two parts : Singleplayer and Multiplayer.

SINGLEPLAYER -

In singleplayer, this game is fantastic. You have two different styles of combat, melee and ranged and both are rather fun. In melee as you might expect you get to chop orks to pieces there are 3 basic types of attack: Strike, Stun and Execute. Strike is pretty self explanatory, stun lets you stun an enemy so that you can execute them, which restores health. Ranged is pretty much the same as every other FPS on the market. The story is serviceable, but nothing special. The singleplayer is what stopped me rating this game even lower.

MULTIPLAYER -

Multiplayer, on the other hand would be fantastic fun IF it were not for terrible matchmaking and no dedicated servers. It consistently matches you to players in another country resulting in pings upward of 500ms, on a 13 mbps connection resulting in a nearly unplayable game. There are no options to set max ping, min ping or pretty much an option to do with what match you are put in. It is for this reason that I have scored it so low. If this were to be fixed I would rate this game a 8 or 9, but as I bought it for multiplayer primarly this is unacceptable and the reason I have scored it so low.… Expand

I found the game dull and far behind the progressiveness of other games. Unless they make a lot of changes then Warhammer 40k was much better off as an RTS. I pre-ordered it expecting an innovative fps but all I got was repetitive linear game play of non stop shooting at things with absolutely no character progression. That was the most disappointing of all, no character progression, Warhammer 40k has so much opportunity to work with in this field. For example, Deus Ex: Human Revolution did quite a nice job at giving the character great skill progression, I would have preferred a biological stat increase with augment upgrades accompanying that, but overall I think the Deus Ex team did a great job. It is everything that Warhammer 40k: Space Marines lacked and games today should only continue improving charter customization and progression, this game is defiantly behind the times in this area. Linear, simple point and shoot games should be dead by now.… Expand

Fantastic Graphics, Nice Design, Nice Sound Effects, Nice Hud, Nice Controls. But man is this game boring! It's another one of those completely linear console ports with invisible walls everywhere and pre-determined outcomes for every battles. The story is repetitive, and the characters have no depth. It's mindless button pushing, without the adrenaline that's supposed to come with it. I would only recommend this game for young kids or old people. But it seems too violent for both... I really don't know who made this thing and for what.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game has just proven to be awful, the negative aspects of this game have greatly outweighed the positive. Single Player: Not much of a challenge and very short (about 8 hours of gameplay, including finding all the collectibles). The idea of the game's single player mode is straightforward, confined fighting in places that have these annoying invisible walls. While some of the fighting may take place outdoors, you are always going down a path like a tight corridor where you can expect the enemy to appear. The plot is too predictable, Chaos influences one of the good guys to betray your team, making things worse for the world (it has all been done before, many times, in the Dawn of War series). The developers have shown themselves to lack creativity in keeping the interest of the player looking for something fresh. Not to mention, the AI of your teammates is laughable as they often don't help you at all while in battle (it's like they are saving their ammo for the battle that never comes). Multiplayer: Absolutely intolerable. There are numerous bugs that will cause your game to crash (unresolved exceptions in the game code?) Without dedicated servers, this game suffers from having to use P2P connections, resulting in poor quality interaction between users for a shooter game. For a game where the developers knew the majority of their player base was coming from the DoW series, and thus PC players, how could they not include dedicated servers? Another poorly thought idea was the layout of the Multiplayer menu, where you can not select the map you wish to play nor the game with the lowest ping to the host (even the new Exterminatus mode does not have these simple features). The lack of creativity is also apparent in the TDM and CP game modes. It allows for the combination of overpowered perks and weapons that you will often find players abusing just so they can win. Some of the perks prove to be useless in comparison to those that you will later unlock, and thus go unused as you level up. As for weapons, the Plasma Cannon and Grenades (which majority of players use because of how ridiculously powerful they are) are the most annoying and have turned the game into just a frag fest. Grenades, alone, have the ability to stun and do massive damage, so when players see an enemy, they just throw all they have (two grenades where that number can be doubled and the power strengthened by perks) and are pretty much guaranteed the kill because of the large blast radius. In fact, I would like to point this out especially because it makes me laugh everytime I see it, there is a tip during the loading screen that says to use the combat roll to try and escape explosions. But, of course, this tactic never works, as a grenade or plasma blast interrupts the combat roll and the next one finishes you off. As for melee weapons, your enemy can often step out of the way and continue shooting you if you choose to use the Hammer/Maul as it is too slow and does not have much of a forward reach like the Chainsword or Axe. It seems to me there was no game testing done at all before release, and players were actually given the Beta as a final product (something attributable to those game developers looking for some quick cash). And, as it has already been announced, they plan to release future additions/features as paid for DLC (which should be free and a part of the original release). To introduce something new so soon after release reveals the fact that the game was not polished enough and should have stayed in development, in order to include more content, resolve balancing issues, and keep players interested in the game. To put a level up cap of 41 in the game, which many players have already reached and thus working on weapon challenges is there only desire, results in a divided team where some are looking to gain the experience points by actually participating towards the goal of winning the match, while others have no interest in team work and are just looking to acquire certain kinds of kills for their weapon challenges. Overall, the game has not been able to keep my interest, nor the interest of many others, as I am already seeing the player count dwindle down as matches with a full player count have become a rarity. In doing such a bad job with the Multiplayer, I believe they have killed some of the replayability of this game and lost the respect of many players.… Expand

No no no... They did it ! They turned good intentions and marvelous graphical action into a simpleminded one-way-stupid game. I've been waiting for this game for ages and this is the best they can do ? The points given only reflects the bonus game "Darksiders" that followed the deal and turned out to be surprisingly good...

This is the worst console port of 2011. Single: No fun at all to its ending. Multi: Out of balance. The graphic engine is damn old. This may suit for kids under age of 12. Others surely hope to get refund back.

As an action shooter, the game play is really crappy. Your protaganist is a giant retard, who freezes after dodging, storming, shooting, executing, or even triggering rage mode. This makes the game hard to play, not because of tough enemies but because of clumsiness of your character. The plot is almost non-existent. It gets unbearably cliche and stupid towards the end. Also, the protagonist is SO BORING. He just preaches cliches all the time, and he is so stupid. In the game there are so many times that the player would realize what's going on and whom not to trust, but this brainless captain Titus is like let's trust everybody and see if we get screwed. The game also have awful graphics as a 2011 game. It wouldn't bother me that much if only I'm not playing Crysis 2 at the same time. Overall, 1 out 10. 1 is for the few fun moments using jump packs.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The singleplayer wasn't that bad. It was fun charging into a group of bad guys with your chainsword in one hand and the pistol in the other cutting them all down to size. But then that's all you did with the exception of the jet pack a couple times which was very satisfying, falling from the sky and splattering everything beneath you. Also when an enemy is stunned preforming a final kill on them was pretty fun too. But the singleplayer seemed to lack any customization at all apart from picking up a different weapon every so often. The multiplayer is terrible. For a start you're now allowed to mute everyone, that was amazing update =/ which apparently also improves the connection. Wow. Playing the multiplayer the weapons are so far unbalanced its a joke with people sticking to the same old gun with a couple perks which allows them to sit in a corner and one shot everyone running by or just using the plasma launcher to kill groups without even having to use any skill. Then the latency issues combined with the terrible graphics just make it pointless to play which is a shame because it could have been so much better. I actually just copied everything before this, and am just posting to skew the results, as it bothers me that the user score is the same as the critic score.… Expand

The game is a good template for future Warhammer 40,000 titles. But it is NOT one of the better titles. Even though Space Marine does a wonderful job at putting players in the role of one of the most iconic table top characters made(IE: Space Marines). It is not without some serious game play problems.
Now let me first start off saying: The sound effects, Character Designs, environments and armor customization are some great features to the game. But that is where it ends.
The first problem is the single player Health system. Too restore health you must perform a fatal kill against an enemy NPC, unlike the multiplayer which restores health after taking cover. The problem with THIS Single Player mechanic is the time it takes to get it done. While it goes through the animation of killing, you still take damage from outside sources like shooters and melee fighters. This poor choice of health restoration destroys any replay for a hardcore mode.
Multiplayer is nothing new or special. Itâ… Expand

SP? Yeah it's great game, very brutal and violent. Like Darksiders, but it focuses on firearms and slashing through hoards of orks. The game is very generous in terms of blood too.

MP? Pretty good. You'll get unlocks along with your rank ups. If you plyaed CoD or BF3, I'm sure you'll see the big picture.

BUT... there's one annoying "known problem" on the pc version. The sound's fcked up regularly, crackling and delayed or echoed. Everything else seems to be allright, but the sound, is really broken.

You'll want to play this kind of game with very high volume so you can actually feel the rage and the brutality of the battle, but with that sound problem... not.… Expand

The single player Health system. Please read this before to buy:
Too restore health you must perform a fatal kill against an enemy NPC. The problem with THIS Single Player mechanic is the time it takes to get it done. While it goes through the animation of killing, you still take damage from outside sources like shooters and melee fighters.
Seriously this is the worst gameplay's feature never see in any game at all.… Expand

It's a Gears of War wannabe game. Looks good. that's all. Stupid health mechanic. What if there isn't any left to kill to gain health yet there is a "boss" to fight? What is really funny because the marines are wearing fat thick armor with large shoulder pads, yet, it doesn't protect very well at all. Lackluster story. forgetable. I forgot what I'm fighting against and for the second I charge into battle.… Expand

Nothing but buyers remorse. I must say, when I bought this game, it came with great disappointment. The campaign lasted me roughly 5 hours, which when you dislike multiplayer in shooter games, is a steep price to pay for such little content. The coop modes werent out when I played the game, so I never got to experience those, but even with them I still would probably suffer from buyers remorse. This game just isnt worth the money paid, and no matter how much content was added, never will be. When this game goes on sale for cheap, like 10 bucks or less, it will be worth someones money. And it probably wont be until then that I have friends buy it, and can actually see how the coop is, since my friends made the smart choice, and didnt preorder the game.… Expand

This game is what I would call....simple minded. Nothing to solve, no real used of combat tactics, game feels like it lags (In single player!) on a top end PC. Multi-player is no better with the feeling of lag or use of tactics. I take what I said back about the game having no tactics.....Only has one....Spam your weapon and spam some more. It is not going over the top to say that this game is worse next to DOOM, talking about the first DOOM as well. This game just has a better look, that is it. Also yeah the story line.....typical and easy to guess. In short boring.

From a game development view point this game was really badly coded. Case in point the lag feel, this is because the uses of particle effects is way over done. This is a mistake that even an novice game maker would not make.

In short, taking a match to your money and burning it is a more productive use of it over buying this game. Your time has value, do not waste it on this game.… Expand

(stupid metacritic wouldn't let me edit my rating, sorry for the double post, 0 is my real score)
The latest in a string of terrible wh40k games, Space Marine continues Relic Entertainments new tradition of dumbing down, ignoring canon, and making frustrating games at premium prices.

As a captain of the Ultramarines you are charged with leading your glorious company of 99 spacemarines into battle in the name of the emperor.

Oh wait, this is one of relics recent games, so you lead an inexplicably tiny squad of two space marines, and you don't really lead them they just sort of tag along as you fight through room after room of broken concrete and button mashing.

Button mashing is the name of the game in Space Marine as weak guns and masses of orks force most encounters to be a frenzy of mashing the right mouse button. To make this worse your rather small health bar is split into two parts, half is the regenerating health that has become so overused in the last ten years, and the rest is a health bar that can only be restored by performing â… Expand

It very simply never measures up. It's bland, boring, and annoying. It offers absolutely nothing to the 40K fans, and plays like it's 2002. After 9 hours I was happy to uninstall and bemoan my poorly spent monies.