Warhammer 40K Space Marine 2 is already awesome, but Space Marine 3 needs to overhaul melee combat

Saber Interactive’s Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is already a fantastic game. As far as Warhammer games go, it’s the only one that truly makes me feel like an Ultramarine as I fire my trusty heavy bolter into hordes of Xenos scum. However, I can’t help but feel like Space Marine 3 could still improve the game’s combat to a sizable degree.

I don’t think Space Marine 2 is bad by any degree. Every new Operation is an awesome opportunity to pop back into the grim-dark world of 40K for another blood-filled skirmish, but I can’t help but think there should be something more, well, complex.

Space Marine 3 should expand melee combat

Right now, Space Marine 2 combat has some truly satisfying gunplay and, well, serviceable melee. After pumping hot lead into hordes of Chaos Marines or Tyranids, it’s always satisfying to rush on in for a stylish execution and slash away with the always cool Chainsword.

However, oftentimes, I find myself being rather unsatisfied with melee combat in the heat of battle. It’s not bad combat, not by any means, but it can get repetitive when trying to be a melee-focused Space Marine.

Far too often in Space Marine 2 does it feel like melee combat is just a repetitive slog through hordes of enemies. Hell, I don’t mind it—I’m a fan of Dynasty Warriors, after all. But where Dynasty Warriors has extremely varied combat with a whole host of different characters with their own stylish combos, Warhammer’s more limited combo variety can often get stale.

Of course, how Saber Interactive improves melee combat for Space Marine 3 all depends on what we’re actually fighting. We know that the game is going to be “bigger and better” with the largest scale battles the series has ever had, but the approach to combat might be very different whether we’re fighting the same Tyranid enemies, reverting to the original game’s Orcs or fighting the teased Necron enemies.

Whatever happens, I’m hoping for something that keeps the awesome plodding pace of the first and second games, but gives us a bit more variety. Let me grab a lower-tier enemy and Hulk-slam it against other enemies, let me boot an entire crowd of enemies in front of me out of the way, let me charge through an entire crowd of enemies and knock them over like skittles in a bowling lane.

Pretty much, give me some more variety. With the template of combat already set and the gunplay feeling on par with Darktide in terms of satisfaction, I would be more than fine if Space Marine 3 is just Space Marine 2 with more enemies and a new slew of maps to stomp around in. However, with at least three years between now and the sequel’s release, a revamped melee system would be nice to see.