Interview | Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
The Warhammer 40,000 universe is a grim place. It is mankind’s twilight years, where it’s peak of technology and power are far behind. Intolerance, ignorance, and fanaticism dominate the bodies of mankind as it simply struggles to survive against the onslaught of aliens, demons, and heretics- it is a time of eternal war. Even in these dark times, humanity has champions in the form of the Adeptus Astartes, or more commonly known as Space Marines. These gigantic superhuman warriors are taken at a young age and trained and genetically modified to be the perfect solider. Relic Entertainment’s upcoming game, Space Marine, puts the player in the heart of the conflict.
We talk with James McDermott about this title:
With Dawn of War 1 and 2 and the recent Kill Team release, the Blood Ravens have been common across the range of recent 40k games. However, for Space Marine the story focuses on an Ultramarine Captain. What led you to use the de facto standard in Codex Chapters rather than Blood Ravens?
The Ultramarines are the first founding chapter of the Space Marines and the most iconic heroes of the 40K universe. We wanted to build game experience around these legendary warriors and bring the Space Marine narrative to more action orientated audience. Creating a unique narrative with complex new characters that allow us to explore the world of Space Marines in a very different way to that of the Dawn of War series of titles.
In multiplayer however you will have the ability to customize your Space Marine either to wear the colors of a specific chapter (Go Blood Ravens!); or create your own custom scheme.
Using the customizer players will be able to tailor the look of both their Space Marine and Chaos Space Marine. Players can either play as one of their favorite Space Marine chapters (such a Space Wolves or Black Templar’s) or Chaos Warbands (such as World Eaters or Blood Disciples). Or they can combine existing armor and colors to create their own unique Marine from a wide range of combinations.
We worked extremely hard to allow as much customization as possible and that means you can really create any of your favorite existing chapters or complete new ones as well! We really look forward to seeing what the fans come up with as the options are almost limitless.
Plus you might see some familiar faces in the singleplayer campaign as well!
One common complaint with action games is having a relocatable character or at least one you can sympathize with. Space Marines are pretty far removed from being relatable being 8′ tall acid spitting super soldiers that live for hundreds of years. What kind of challenges and issues will the main characters face to try and pull the audience into the story?
Space Marines by their very nature are superhuman warriors, which in gameplay terms can be challenging to execute. Primarily because you want the player to feel a certain level of risk vs. reward to the gameplay elements, and a real sense of threat from different enemies you encounter in the world. In Space we tried to tackle this in two ways, through the story and through the core gameplay mechanics.
In the story of Space Marine Cpt. Titus is first and foremost a Space Marine and the hero of our game, but he differs from other Space Marines in one major respect. Like all Space Marines he lives by the rules of the Codex Astartes, the playbook and rules that all Space Marines must follow. But unlike many of his allies, he challenges the rigid system and code they must adhere too, something which makes him very different to other Space Marine.
He also has some kind of a deeper connection to the darker mysteries in the story, but the truth is shrouded in shadows, and no matter what, Titus can’t let these darker influences affect his ability to do his job – which is to prevent the Forge World and its’ invaluable weapons technology from ending up in the wrong hands. This in its self is slightly unchartered ground within the world of Warhammer 40,000, but in partnering with Games Workshop we’ve been allowed to explore a darker potential of the Space Marine universe and lore.
In the core gameplay experience we tackle the superhuman nature of the Space Marines by always placing you in the heat of the battle, surrounded by aliens that come at you in waves. We then give you the seamless blend of shooting and melee so you can dispatch these alien hordes at will, but again it’s a risk reward gameplay mechanic in which you need to make the right decisions based on the specific situation. We also heighten this feeling of staying in the heat of the battle by encouraging the player to stun enemies and pull off big gruesome execution moves to regenerate health.
These elements combined make the Space Marines feel both superhuman and powerful to control, but also make them feel real and believable in the context of the fiction.
In the tabletop game, a Power Axe for all intents and purposes is a clear upgrade to a Chainsword. Are the weapons balanced against each other? Do all the weapons have their advantages and disadvantages or are there cases where there is a clean upgrade?
Throughout the campaign, you’ll gain access to a wide variety of new weapons and abilities. These are delivered when players can most benefit from them in the game, vs. a more RPG-like skills system where you have to wonder what skill is going to be most useful moving forward. We wanted to keep the game focused on what feels most fun, which is the intense combat experience, and limit the amount of management the player needs to do.
However all the weapons have varying levels of strength, range attack distance and speed abilities. Meaning that the power axe is quick and deadly up close, but the Thunderhamer has better range and can kill some enemies with a single bone crushing blow. Also the progression and customization features of multiplayer are much more robust, with perks and upgrades for each weapon as well.
Are you completely invincible during the executions? Will you be able to execute an enemy character even when surrounded?
The way we’ve designed the execution moves is that they help maintain your health when you’re in the middle of the fight. Effectively making all the enemies in the game into blood thirsty wandering health packs!
You’re encouraged to pull off these moves by stunning the different enemy types which then enables the player to execute these gut wrenching moves which also regenerate your core life system. However they do come with a risk as you can indeed take damage while you’re pulling off these moves. Also some execution moves are more difficult to pull off dependent on the enemy type. At times you’ll have to engage in a meta-game struggle pressing specific buttons before you can slice off the head of your chosen victim.
One of the biggest draws to 40k is the customization that you can do. The multiplayer customization is pretty extensive both visually and in the perks. What kind of system is in place so that players know who’s on their team and who their fighting and is there a way to see the equipped perks of your teammates and opposing team?
All custom designs and their supporting loadouts have to be done between online matches. That means that once you’re in the fight you can’t actually change the look of your Space Marine, but you can change between pre-set loads you’ve chosen for each class.
Once you’re playing online we use overhead icons so you can tell who’s on your team. These icons remain visible at really long distances so you don’t get confused about who’s your alley and who’s your enemy. Players on the opposing team have different icons above their heads but they aren’t always visible at distance to avoid confusion.
If you get fragged by an opposing player and you want know/use their loadout this will be displayed to you directly after your death. If you have already unlocked those perks and weapons you can also copy that person’s loadout so you can seek revenge with the very loadout they used to kill you!
Will things such as Thunderhawk Gunships, Dreadnoughts, or Drop Pods being making an appearance in Multiplayer matches?
Unfortunately we don’t have any of those items in multiplayer; however all of our multiplayer maps are inspired by locations in the singleplayer campaign. That means you’ll see familiar sights such as the War Class Titan, Hab Blocks & the remains of a massive bridge that connects to the Manufactorum.
With Annihilation and Seize Ground, it does provide some of the most common types of multiplayer games. Are there any plans to bring additional game types as DLC such as Capture the Flag (and other game variants)?
Unfortunately were not in a position just yet to confirm the full details of our DLC plans. But what I can say is we are looking at introducing a new game mode for the day 30 DLC drop. Stay tuned for more information on that.
I want to thank James for his time to answer our questions. Space Marine will be released for the PC, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360 this September for your Boltering needs.
