I’ve always been wary of people who say about a game “It’s better when you play it in co-op” because virtually every activity is improved by the presence of friends. Cleaning the sink is more fun when you’ve got one to three pals monkeying around in the kitchen with you, tossing you extra sponge-scourers and reviving you when you faint because of the thing you just pulled out of the plughole.
Space Marine 2, however, really is better in coop, and not just because your mate Dan keeps making jokes about ‘Krak grenades’ being the product of eating too many beans. Not only is its campaign elevated with the presence of player companions, Space Marine 2’s real heart lies in what comes after the story has finished – its chaotic, class-based, Left 4 Dead style Operations.
None of which is to suggest Space Marine 2 is a bad time in single-player. Saber Interactive’s campaign does a perfectly preposterous job in following up Relic’s quintessential 7/10. The story once more revolves around the Ultramarine Titus, who has been demoted to a Lieutenant in the big blue brotherhood following accusations of heresy in the original. The introductory mission prefaces all this in a fun way that I won’t spoil, but ultimately Titus winds up leading a new squad of marines in a large-scale operation to rid a trio of Imperial planets from a Tyranid infestation.
