[Billy Goodgun]

I couldn't find a thread for this anywhere, so I thought I'd post one at the risk of cementing my place at the top of Stinja's Geek Watch List

Here is a trailer for a forthcoming GW action RPG, developed by Relic (who also made the Dawn of War games):

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine - announcement trailer

[Stinja]

I'm going to make you a life member matey

But i saw the words "GW" and "RPG" and my brain turned off; how long/delayed/changed was the GW fantasy RPG... Give it ten years and a handful of developers, and maybe we'll finally be talking about preorders

[Captain Speedy]

Quite amazingly there was already a thread on this :

warhammer 40k Space marine Game

Shame the vid has been removed as it was 10 mins of gameplay footage and looked quite good

[thariq]

guess i will be getting this then ! BUT ITS THE SMURFS

speedy u still up for some co op

[Captain Speedy]

Yeah mate whenever you want just pop me a message. I will need to install it again though as I had to wipe my lap top recently, so a heads up may be in order.

[Billy Goodgun]

Two very early vids showing gameplay, with commentary from the devs:

YouTube - warhammer space marine gameplay

YouTube - warhammer space marine gamplay pt 2

[Captain Speedy]

Good find Billy, thats the original video that had been removed, split into 2

[Codehead]

Never got into 40k. I enjoyed the Space Hulk game on the Amiga, but it crashed all the time.

Will keep an eye on this though looks interesting.

[zeroecho99]

OMG gimme it now!! Can't wait for this! :D

[bearman3784]

cant wait for this beast, this is in my geek locker along with transformers even though i never did the whole board game thing. one long ass development time!

[Hob_Nob_Man]

I tried collecting the figures as a kid, but I never really learnt how to play just liked making and painting them. However I am still a massive fan of the fiction behind it all, some of the 40k books are really good reads! Can't wait for the game.

[bearman3784]

Originally Posted by Hob_Nob_Man

I tried collecting the figures as a kid, but I never really learnt how to play just liked making and painting them. However I am still a massive fan of the fiction behind it all, some of the 40k books are really good reads! Can't wait for the game.

same, got bored of painting them though and just dipped them in the paint pots in the end loved the whole 'epicness' the wars and battles perceived though

[Noggleboggleman]

Did anyone play Space Hulk? A very atmospheric tactical shooter. I recall the music being ace too! The board game wasn't bad either.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Hulk_(video_game)

Title music:

YouTube - Space Hulk (Amiga) - Title Theme Music

I'll get this if it's any good!

[Hob_Nob_Man]

Originally Posted by bearman3784

same, got bored of painting them though and just dipped them in the paint pots in the end loved the whole 'epicness' the wars and battles perceived though

Yeah I was sad, i really enjoyed the gluing n painting. Brought out my creative side. Found the game a bit slow. But yeah Thats what I love about the back story, Epicness and the depth to it all. I would love to see some sort of space marine movie, but its pretty much impossible to do it justice and theres probably not enough interest

[Billy Goodgun]

Originally Posted by Hob_Nob_Man

I would love to see some sort of space marine movie, but its pretty much impossible to do it justice and theres probably not enough interest

Um... the Ultramarines Movie is out at the end this month (although it's straight to DVD, I think), unless it's been shelved. It's an animated feature with voice work from Terence Stamp, John Hurt and Sean Pertwee.

More here:

Ultramarines the movie

[Captain Speedy]

Originally Posted by Billy Goodgun

Um... the Ultramarines Movie is out at the end this month (although it's straight to DVD, I think), unless it's been shelved. It's an animated feature with voice work from Terence Stamp, John Hurt and Sean Pertwee.

More here:

Ultramarines the movie

Looks quite good, shame its always the Smurfs used. Would have rather it been an interesting chapter like the Space Wolves or Blood Angels.

[Hob_Nob_Man]

Originally Posted by Billy Goodgun

Um... the Ultramarines Movie is out at the end this month (although it's straight to DVD, I think), unless it's been shelved. It's an animated feature with voice work from Terence Stamp, John Hurt and Sean Pertwee.

More here:

Ultramarines the movie

Look pretty good, thanks for bringing this to my attention

One story I'd like to see, as a change to space marines, is summet about a quad of Ork commandos or something along those lines. Think that would be pretty cool. Unless of course that already exists? I'll have a gander on Black Library

[noisecrime]

Originally Posted by Captain Speedy

Looks quite good, shame its always the Smurfs used. Would have rather it been an interesting chapter like the Space Wolves or Blood Angels.

Hmm, not so sure, thought the cgi work was pretty poor on the trailer, the action scenes looked more like they were animating the miniatures rather than bring a world to life.

For example the old Dawn of War trailer (over 4 or 5 years old) still looks far superior in every way, more gritty and better directed. Alas I can't find a HD quality on youtube, so this will have to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-E1RcRvny8

Still might be worthy of a rent if Lovefilm gets it.

[Captain Speedy]

I always liked this little vid:

YouTube - Warhammer 40k Dreadnought v2 HD

But doing a full film to that level of detail or the DoW openings (always thought DoW2s trailer was better but thats just because it has 'nids in it) you cost silly money to do.

[noisecrime]

Originally Posted by Captain Speedy

I always liked this little vid:

But doing a full film to that level of detail or the DoW openings (always thought DoW2s trailer was better but thats just because it has 'nids in it) you cost silly money to do.

Pretty cool, not sure I remember the DOW 2 trailer, never really got into the games, despite them being very good at what they were.

Not sure I agree about costing, today there is a whole host of middleware that can help reduce the costs involved, from modeling to animation. To a large extent I think the difference in quality between ultramarine trailer and the DOW trailer is down to better direction and production, not necessarily just longer render times. In fact the armour in DOW trailer is far less detailed or textured than those in UM trailer, but you generally don't notice due to the direction and action going on.

[Purple Box]

Originally Posted by Hob_Nob_Man

Look pretty good, thanks for bringing this to my attention

One story I'd like to see, as a change to space marines, is summet about a quad of Ork commandos or something along those lines. Think that would be pretty cool. Unless of course that already exists? I'll have a gander on Black Library

Have you read Pawn of Chaos? not orks, but all about the in fighting of the followers of the dark gods on a planet in the eye of terror. Was a good read and another book that is good is Storm of Iron. Space Marines but Chaos ones, from their prospectives, really good that one.

[Hob_Nob_Man]

Originally Posted by Purple Box

Have you read Pawn of Chaos? not orks, but all about the in fighting of the followers of the dark gods on a planet in the eye of terror. Was a good read and another book that is good is Storm of Iron. Space Marines but Chaos ones, from their prospectives, really good that one.

Dave! You like this kinda thing?! Or do I already know this? Bristol was a bit hazy. I'll have alook at those books

[Captain Speedy]

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine Collector's Edition Confirmed - Xbox 360 News At Xbox360Achievements.org

pre order exclusives and collectors edition announced, £79.99 though!

Warhammer 40k Space Marine Collectors Edition - Xbox 360 - GAME.co.uk

[Courtjezter]

The thanks was for the info and the Mal Reynolds quote in your sig

[Crovon]

Originally Posted by Captain Speedy

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine Collector's Edition Confirmed - Xbox 360 News At Xbox360Achievements.org

pre order exclusives and collectors edition announced, £79.99 though!

Warhammer 40k Space Marine Collectors Edition - Xbox 360 - GAME.co.uk

That's a pretty poor collecters edition tbh. Especially for that price.

[bearman3784]

Hands-On preview

When early previews of Space Marine surfaced last year, one line in particular caught my eye: a response from a Relic rep to a question from Rock Paper Shotgun about whether or not the game – looking so much like Gears of War as the writer felt – would contain a cover system. To which the answer was, memorably, ‘cover is for pussies’. They’ve been so many shooters placing you in the hands of…well…a space marine, that to finally have a game on the horizon aiming to be the very Platonic form of a space marine game might seem to herald an enormous facepalm. But fret not – having snuck in a brief hands-on session at E3, I can confirm that the rep was right, and this is shaping up to be a gory delight.

You play Captain Titus – voiced by Mark Strong (even the Space Marines’ actors have to have badass names) – deployed with the Ultramarine second company on a forge world with the objective of sticking a spanner in the works of the latest Ork Waaagh (think the Crusades, but with monstrous beasts, less discipline and more alcoholism – if anyone has seen the South Park episode ‘The Red Badge of Gayness’, you’ll have something of an idea…but much bigger). The Ultramarines have one real consideration: to fight and uphold the glory of the Imperium of Man…and the Imperium is is danger. It transpires that not only is the forge world used as a factory base for the Imperium’s largest war machines – the Titans – but, as an Imperial Inquisitor reveals, there’s something else on the planet’s surface that cannot and must not fall into Ork hands.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Hands On Preview | The Nexus Chain Sword Massacre

That all sounds pretty epic, and the rep I talked to promised lots of twists and turns when I pressed for more information, but really that had absolutely no bearing on my demo whatsoever. There were a few objectives – mainly falling into the ‘go here, press this button’ category – but it was only a short demo, so I figured I’d try and wade as deeply into battle as I could and see if Relic have managed to capture the essence of what it means to be an Ultramarine.

Let’s get a few comparisons out of the way right now. The game handles a lot like Gears of War (or should that be Gears of Warhammer…hurrr), in that everything feels rather weighty and powerful indeed. But then, you’re a nine foot tall Space Marine with a tonne of ceramic armour strapped to your body; if you were pirouetting about like Natalie Portman in Black Swan there’d be issues. The colour palette is also rather reminiscent of Epic’s third person shooter epic, all washed out hues, glimmers of colour provided by the blue and gold Ultramarines and blood you end up liberating in large quantites from the bodies of your enemies.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Hands On Preview | The Nexus Chain Sword Massacre

Relic have done two things very well in the past: really satisfying RTS games with a pleasing level of tactical depth, and violence. Lots of it. Anyone suggesting that this is particularly new territory, or that Relic are a bit of an unknown quantity when it comes to getting stuck in and delivering meaty action clearly hasn’t played a Relic game before. That said, it’s not as easy as it sounds, and these guys are the most legendary badasses science fiction has ever really delivered. They’re practically god-like soldiers, each one a match for over a thousand Orks.

It is fitting, then, that the combat system is intuitive, well-laid out and deeply satisfying. Imagine if Gears’ shooter mechanics were combined with the hack and slash qualities of God of War, sounds good right? It is.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Hands On Preview | The Nexus Chain Sword Massacre

Your ranged attacks are mapped, as you might expect, to the triggers and the bumpers, the D-pad providing ample opportunity for juggling between your Bolter and other weapons such as plasma guns, lascannons and an awesome, mine-spewing instrument of destruction called the Vengeance Launcher. The feedback is reassuringly solid, the sound design excellent. It’s the face buttons, though, that will almost certainly have you shouting out exclamations of bloodthirsty euphoria. Playing with an Xbox controller for the demo, A offered up an evasive roll, X yielded fast and light attacks, Y hammered home heavy hitters, and the B button triggered cinematic finishers that made me unconsciously shout my approval rather loudly. I’ve never really been one for the numb journalistic response to everything – if I like a game, if it really grabs me, I’ll let people know – and, having dealt with the hustle and bustle of E3 for 48 hours already, I think something about Space Marine must have struck a chord.

The transition from ranged to melee combat is seamless, which is crucial. But you can be inserting bullets into an Ork one second before rolling into the fray, carving up a few mindless grunts with a mix and match of heavy and light attacks before rolling back out of range, stunning the big, fat heavy Ork gunner at the back with a few rounds of the plasma cannon, leaping forward and hammering ‘B’ at the reeling beast. Out comes the chain-sword, in zooms the camera and it’s off with his head. The executions differ depending on the enemy, and where you’re stood in relation to them, but they’re all mightily cathartic.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Hands On Preview | The Nexus Chain Sword Massacre

In terms of visuals, the game doesn’t look bad as such, but it won’t exactly dazzle your optic nerve either. It’s serviceable and smooth, which will be far more important in the long run, with small crowds of enemies onscreen and plenty of viscera flying about the last thing you want is slowdown. There were one or two glitches here and there, but nothing major. There are dangers, too, associated with Space Marine that could only really be inferred from the demo – short that it was – but predecent would tell us to be wary of one trick ponies and a lack of variety. As I say, the 10-15 minute demo was a perfect snapshot of some exhilarating, frenetic combat, but all we fought were Orks. No sign of the Forces of Chaos just yet.

I want to see more, though; I feel like I have to. The demo was pretty much exactly what I’d wanted to see: sheer escapist power fantasy at its best. Yes, there are perhaps reservations over just how sustainable that feeling of satisfaction might be over the long term, and they’re hardly reinventing the wheel here. But if Relic can manage to keep things relatively fresh and entertaining throughout, they have the foundations of a game that truly captures what it means to be the ultimate fighting force in the universe.

[Boozehound]

Looking promising - might see if I still have my old copies of White Dwarf kicking around then boot up Dawn of War on the PC for a bit.

[Stinja]

That preview is rubbish! It fails to address the really important stuff:

can you paint your smurfs how you like?
and how is the dice rolling handled?


As someone that actually kinda liked FireWarrior, i'll no doubt buy this anyway Look forwards to stick my power-sword into an orc from behind!

[Warchild1973]

Originally Posted by Captain Speedy

Looks quite good, shame its always the Smurfs used. Would have rather it been an interesting chapter like the Space Wolves or Blood Angels.

Space Wolves! Now we're talking! Played this a lot as a geeky teen, loved the teminators so much, that I got the Badge tattoo'd on my arm, and still love it.

The Space Wolves books are great as well but hoping a 3rd Omnibus is released soon.

[thariq]

anyone else loving the horus heresy series