Space Marine 2 players applaud Saber’s commitment after doubling down on creating “the perfect sequel for them”

Saber Interactive has been in the spotlight recently, after admitting that they were toying with the idea of creating an open-world game. In this scrapped vision, players could “hide in tall grass”, but eventually, the devs decided that creating the perfect sequel to Space Marine was more important. That long road led to Space Marine 2, a game that players and 40k fans have been praising since day one.

Open-world is off the cards, and players aren’t complaining

Community reactions to Saber’s vision have been largely positive. In a thread started by JimRaw on Reddit, Space Marine 2 players have gathered to discuss the latest information. Jbar666 got the ball rolling, after saying: “ I am very happy with what we got. I think as time goes on and we get the additions they’re calling for on the roadmap it will be even better. I enjoy the game so much because it’s NOT an open-world game like everything else. It’s also great for people like me with busy jobs and kids so you can just jump on and get into action. I don’t want to spend my 1 hour of gaming (maybe) running around a massive map. Power-fisting Tyranids into pieces immediately is a good quick fix for me.”

The current model of “quickly in and out” gameplay has been praised by most players, especially those who want to get into the action ASAP. You don’t have to devote a massive amount of time to burn some xenos and dismember a few heretics. Jay6432 added a few suggestions: “I’m glad they didn’t make it an open-world game. I feel like there are enough of those out there and sometimes it’s nice to have more linear/structured games. Having a cover system like GoW [Gears of War] would have been a really cool feature. But the game is still awesome without it.”

“I actually feel like an open-world game would break immersion. Marines are mission-centric. They require support [and] logistics to operate. They have clear objectives as part of larger operations, as part of larger campaigns. Spending all that time clonking around in your armor or roaring around on a bike, while fun in its own way, would rob the franchise of the fast-paced bone-crunching mega violence that makes the series iconic.” explained Madelarbre, and we wholeheartedly agree. The crux is that Space Marine tactical combat should be the focus. Open-world would only serve as a detriment to that core concept. 

While there’s room for an open-world game set in the world of Warhammer 40k, we tend to agree that Space Marine 2 shouldn’t be that. A different game concept could work, but that would need to be taken back to the drawing board and fully developed. There’s a famous WH40k MMO that tried to do it, Dark Millenium from THQ – and it unfortunately failed, despite several good things going for it. The sheer scale of such a project is something no studio should take on lightly. Fortunately for Saber, they made the right call and get to bask in fan praise for the game that they delivered.