I noticed today that Space Marine has become available to pre-order in the US on Steam. I have known about the game’s development for some time now, but haven’t managed to get around to really taking a look at any trailers/media for it. So with the announcement fresh in my mind, I decided to head on over to the official website and take a look.
THQ and Relic have recently been issued with extended licenses to produce further video games for Games Workshop and I would imagine that the company wants to keep expanding its interests in the video games marketplace, hoping to capture a wider audience and get them interested in Warhammer 40K. Space Marine is surely one of those attempts. However, from what I’ve seen of the gameplay today, I’m beginning to wonder if it hasn’t taken things just a step too far. A 30 sec viewing of any of the gameplay footage will immediately reveal what I’m referring to… gore, and plenty of it.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not naiive when it comes to Warhammer’s 41st millennium. It’s always been a future of visceral and brutal combat, a future where only the most battle hardened survive on blood-drenched and blasted battlefields. It’s not a pretty future and let’s face it, there is only war. That to me all seems fine when it’s being described in black and white on the printed page and through some very static Codex and Rulebook illustrations. What Space Marine does though is leave nothing to the imagination and to make it all extremely graphic. I mean, we all know what a chainsword does and how it works. But actually watching it carve through rank upon rank of howling Greenskins who erupt in fountains of sprayed blood and severed appendages? Is that really necessary?
I love this hobby for the very reason that what is sometimes lacking on a painted miniature or in the detail of a piece of terrain can be made up for by imagination. Background information and ‘fluff’ inspire rich mental images that only serve to enhance what can sometimes be rather lack-lustre and mediochre gameboard or conflict. Replace that with frenzied, remorseless and near limitless explosions of blood and entrails in HD and somehow for me the whole thing just suddenly feels very empty and cheapened.
Has Space Marine just taken things just that little bit too far? Your comments and thoughts on the matter are welcomed.