Warhammer 40K: Space Marine Gets Free Co-Op "Exterminatus" DLC In October

MjolnirX - Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is due out September 6th (in North America), but will not ship with a co-op component. Instead, THQ will later release co-op as DLC, titled "Exterminatus". It won't arrive until early October, but at least it will be free. Unlike certain Capcom games, whose names we will not mention.

There will be two new scenarios, Assault on Hab Center Andreas and Escape From Kalkys Facility, that your four-man, three-class group can blast their way through. Your experience will count towards your multiplayer ranks as well.

Press Release:

CO-OP ANNOUNCED FOR WARHAMMER®40,000®: SPACE MARINE®

Stand-alone Four-Player Exterminatus Mode coming as free DLC in October

AGOURA HILLS, Calif. Sep 2, 2011 – THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced that a free playable co-op mode, called 'Exterminatus' is scheduled to be available to download in early October for its upcoming 3rd Person Action/Shooter, Warhammer® 40,000®: Space Marine®.

Space Marine's Exterminatus mode pits an elite squad of four Space Marines against hordes of alien enemies in a score based fight to the death. Players can choose the Tactical Marine, Devastator or Assault Marine as well as utilizing any weapons and perks available to those classes.

Each of Exterminatus Mode's scenarios, 'Assault on Hab Center Andreas' and 'Escape From Kalkys Facility' feature global leader boards challenging players to better their scores by completing dynamic challenges as well as utilizing score modifiers which increase game difficulty in exchange for additional points.

Experience earned while playing this mode counts towards the game's multiplayer ranks, allowing players to earn progression in both Co-Op and multiplayer.

Space Marine's Co-op mode is scheduled to be available for free to all players in early October. Space Marine is scheduled to be available for Xbox 360®video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Playstation®3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC on September 6th.

About Space Marine
When wave after wave of savage ORKS descend upon the Forge World GRAIA, it is up to humanity's greatest warriors to win the planet back.

They are SPACE MARINES, genetically modified, encased in hallowed armor, the equivalent of one hundred lesser men. They live only to defend the Imperium, and to slay its enemies in a war that never ends.

CAPTAIN TITUS, along with his comrades LEANDROS and SIDONUS, lead a detachment of these Space Marines onto the Forge World. There, they quickly discover that the fight against the Orks is not all that requires their attention. An Imperial Inquisitor named DROGAN needs help securing an experimental POWER SOURCE, before the Orks do so themselves.

About THQ
THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) is a leading worldwide developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software. The company develops its products for all popular game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the internet. Headquartered in Los Angeles County, California, THQ sells product through its global network of offices located throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. More information about THQ and its products may be found at www.thq.com. THQ and its logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc.

Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine - Copyright © Games Workshop Limited 2011. Space Marine, the Space Marine logo, GW, Games Workshop, the Games Workshop logo, 40K, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer 40,000 Device, 40,000, the Double-headed Eagle device and all associated marks, logos, places, names, creatures, races and race insignia/devices/logos/symbols, vehicles, locations, weapons, units and unit insignia, characters, products, illustrations and images from the Space Marine game and the Warhammer 40,000 universe are either ®, TM and/or © Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2011, variably registered in the UK and other countries around the world, and used under license. All Rights Reserved.

Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, the Xbox logos, and the Xbox LIVE logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

"PlayStation" is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts may be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the business of THQ Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as "THQ"), including, but not limited to, expectations and projections related to the release of co-op modes for the Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine video game and are based upon management's current beliefs and certain assumptions made by management. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, business, competitive, economic, legal, political and technological factors affecting our industry, operations, markets, products or pricing. Readers should carefully review the risk factors and the information that could materially affect THQ's financial results, described in other documents that THQ files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal period ended March 31, 2011 and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and particularly the discussion of trends and risk factors set forth therein. Unless otherwise required by law, THQ

My Thoughts On The Space Marine Demo

Castrum - So I just got finished with the Warhammer 40K: Space Marine demo, and I have much to say.

As expected, the demo was awesome and the game is great. The story seems a bit basic, but maybe in the full game it will be better as a whole.

Execution moves (which restore your health) are always fun, and really necessary as you will get shot to shit even in melee (from dudes somewhat engaged with you as well as from outside mobs). I had some confusion about this at first, but for most enemies you use your secondary melee button/key (I played on PC) to initiate a Stun attack, which allows Executions on all scrub enemies.

As I had expected, the melee weapons, and the Power Axe in particular, are just awesome. The Jump Pack you get in the demo's second level is also one of the greatest things ever in gaming: you feel like a walking nuke.

I am very wary of Nobz now. I thought they and this game in general were going to be easy, but goddamn they're tough (for the record, I played on Easy, and I had trouble with them, so... yeah). They take a mound of hits to kill, ranged weapons are meh against them (unless you use something heavier than a Bolter), and they do a ton of damage. They're pretty fast as well (they can charge), and you obviously can't 1-hit stun them.

Speaking of ranged weapons, that side of the game has not been neglected. In fact, in some parts (as in the first demo level), you're required to use ranged if you don't want to go boom. Ranged combat isn't quite so gloriously gory, but it's still some decent fun. I'd say it's kind of like Gears without a cover system in that sense. All the guns do decent damage, even your infinite-ammo Bolt Pistol, and hit targets at medium-to-long range competently without zooming.

Overall, this is one of the most promising demos I have ever played. Definitely looking forward to this.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Demo Out Today

MjolnirX - The demo for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is now out on Xbox Live Marketplace. Better finish your Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team game for that Power Sword!

Steam Weekend Deal - 50% Off Warhammer 40K

Castrum - The weekend Steam deal is 50% off all Warhammer 40K games, except for Space Marine and Dawn of War 2 - Retribution's DLC:

http://store.steampowered.com/sub/11181

The deal ends Monday at 10 AM Pacific.

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine Demo

Castrum - Take it away, Joystiq:

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine will receive a demo later this month. THQ has announced that a demo for the upcoming Ork-slayer will arrive on PC and Xbox 360 on August 22. The PlayStation 3 version of the demo will arrive the following day, August 23.

The single-player demo will feature two levels, including a battle outside a munitions factory and "a taste of the exhilarating Jump Pack sequences." The press release also notes that players who pre-order Space Marine on Steam will receive early access to the title during the weekend of August 18 (not to mention a free copy of Darksiders). During the promotion, Steam will be offering a sale on bundled Warhammer 40,000 titles.

Absolutely cannot wait for this game. Please don't suck, Space Marine.

Also, hopefully this is longer than 5 hours, the standard these days for every Action game imaginable.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/16/space-marine-single-player-demo-set-for-this-month/

Review: Warhammer 40K – Kill Team

Price: 800 Points

Castrum - So here we are, my first review. I guess I should state what my criteria is and how we will go about this (taken from the Review page):

My Reviewing process is somewhat different from other blogs/websites. I typically won't run-down a long list of things everyone expects in any decent video game these days; therefore, anything I don't comment on you can assume is either not particularly noteworthy or is a given (ex. whether the controls are good, etc.).

Each review will be separated into 5 categories:

Presentation

- Story, art, ease of use.

Graphics

- Self-explanatory. Also, any weird bugs related to such.

Sound

- Music, sound effects, etc.

Gameplay

- Controls, difficulty, "fun factor", etc.

Etc.

- Anything else I can think of (ex. replayability).

I have also decided on utilizing a combination of Ratings: a numerical one alongside a Buy/Rent/Forget qualifier. The most important of the two is the B/R/F: I don't care how amazing a 4-hour retail game that costs $60 is, if it's over before I get my money's worth, it's a Rent at best. The numerical value will be out of 100, which will function in much the same way as any other site's vaguely-pointless number score.

As well, yes I am aware of game rental stores shutting down en masse. Replace "Rent" with "Borrow From A Friend", "Get Used", etc. if necessary.

Now, without further ado, my review:

PRESENTATION

Kill Team's story is pretty basic: Orks are invading an Imperial Forge World via a big "Kroozer" ship, and you have to stop them. This line of thought continues throughout the game's length, with a few shifts in theme once the Tyranids arrive. The story culminates in a fun boss battle with a machine that has never been fought before in any 40K video game, which I of course enjoyed, being a huge fan of the lore.

Personally, I'm sick of seeing Orks in every 40K game, though thank God Chaos doesn't get their millionth time in the limelight. The Tyranids showed up in Dawn Of War 2 after relentless whines on Relic's forums, so I guess they're taking Chaos' place now, though I can't imagine why: Nids and Orks are basically the same, tactics-wise.

Anyways, the art itself is typical 40K fare, though the transfer to the 360 has been done well, I must say. Very dark, very dirty, crude in the right ways, etc. Certainly great by Arcade standards.

The game's menus are suitable as well, and overall the game is easy to pick up and play.

GRAPHICS

Though there are a few flat textures and rough edges typical of this gen's game engines (think UE3 shine, though not quite as much in Kill Team), overall Kill Team's graphics are quite good. There are some weird moments in the selection menu where your guy will spawn in on the screen all fucked-up and contorted like a circus act, but otherwise the graphics and wireframes function properly.

SOUND

The music is recycled Dawn Of War stuff, though being from DoW, it's not bad music at all. In fact, it's basically become 40K's de-facto theme music by now. As it was Jeremy Soule who created it, of Elder Scrolls fame, I'm not one to object.

The sound effects are standard stuff you'd expect: explosions, sword swipes, bullets firing, etc. I believe these are also mostly recycled from DoW.

GAMEPLAY

When playing KT, I tried out both Singleplayer and Co-Op, with my buddy Joe (the other contributor here). KT only has 2-player Local Co-Op.

KT singleplayer is certainly possible, unlike many other games with a focus on co-op modes, though not a cakewalk. Mobs can be a bit overwhelming at times, but with a Sprint button smartly-placed on the LT and Special Attacks that power up over time tied to the LB, one can definitely manage. You can also use Grenades that you find in power-up pickups, though I found them to be a last-resort weapon at best, due to scarcity and fixed throw distance.

There are power-ups in KT, each of which benefits the player in some way. My favorite is probably the Quad Fire: nothing like firing 4 missiles at once.

Melee is tied to the A button, and Shooting is done via the Right Stick: I find this system works quite well, though Joe had some issues with it initially. There is an auto lock-on for melee attacks from a short distance away, which certainly helps when fighting off the hordes of Orks and/or Nids, and when playing as a Melee class, every now and then you will cast aside the enemies arrayed around you in a big attack that usually kills all of them.

There are four classes: the Vanguard Veteran, the Techmarine, the Sternguard Veteran, and the Librarian. For those of you who do not know much about 40K, let's just say this isn't your typical Librarian :-P

The Vanguard is the dedicated Melee class, easily capable to tossing aside the elite Nob warriors of the Orks at full strength. The Sternguard is the dedicated Ranged class, equipped with heavy weaponry to mow down swarms of mobs. The other two classes are a combination of these two: the Librarian better at Ranged than the Vanguard but worse in Melee, and the Techmarine better at Melee than the Sternguard but not as good at Ranged.

Each class has its own Special Attack: the Vanguard charges forward at super-speed swinging his weapon before setting off a radial blast, the Sternguard simply fires a torrent of shots, the Librarian sets off a delayed radial blast around him, and the Techmarine gets the best one of all, a turret :-P

Seriously though, the Tech's turret is worth playing that class alone. It's immensely useful when defending a position, and recharges fast enough to basically act as the equivalent of a brain-addled third player (it only fires every now and then) :-P

Throughout the game, as you rack up points by killing mobs and blowing shit up, you will unlock "Perks", which are basically permanent power-ups: +5% Health, +15% Ranged Damage, etc. You can equip 2 of these per character, and once you unlock one, everyone can use them (including co-op people).

ETC.

One thing of particular note that Joe and I found odd was the fact that, in Co-Op, only the First Player can unlock Achievements. Whether this was an attempt to keep people from going to their friends' houses and earning Achievements without buying the game or a crude attempt to lengthen gameplay time, we cannot discern.

As well, as for KT's replayability, I would rank it as quite good, depending on your tastes. There is a Survival Mode that you can play, based on the 5 large levels in the campaign, as well as the ability to replay each of the 5 levels over again with all your unlocks.

SUMMARY

Overall, I found KT to be quite fun, and it lasted a good while too, clocking in around 10 hours or so (of course, we played through the game twice for Achievements and for the hell of it, so judge accordingly). If they made a sequel to this game, I would certainly buy it. As it stands, however, I cannot fully recommend Kill Team, due to its short length (compared with other games in general) and its somewhat limited replayability (you will unlock everything by the campaign's end). That said, it is still a great game, and thus I am giving it a score of 80, in the Buy category, indicating it is worth picking up if you're looking for a good co-op romp.

Achievements - 105/200
Hours Played - Probably around 10
Game Completed - Yes

My Rating - 80 (Buy)

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Developer	THQ
Publisher	THQ
Platforms	XBLA, PSN
Genre	Twin-Stick Shooter
Modes	Single-player, Local Co-op
Metacritic Rating	66
My Rating	75
Cost	800MP, $9.99

MjolnirX - Having never played any kind of Warhammer game before, everything about this game aside from the genre of gameplay is new to me. The storyline is short and simple: you crash-land inside an Ork "Kroozer" ship and are tasked to take it down from the inside. This is the prequel to the events of the new "Warhammer 40K: Space Marine" game coming out. Aside from this, there is not much story, other than the disembodied voice of a commander who directs you to your next objective.

Graphics

The style of graphics is gritty, dark and atmospheric. My only problem with them is that every level, aside from the last one, feels the same. There's little variation in enemies with the exception of a mini-boss here and there. The last level is definitely where the game shines with the variation of backgrounds, multi-level fighting and excellent scripted events.

Sound

Music was not this game's strong point. At times, it seemed cheesy or too light for the situation. It ruined any atmosphere that may have created by the rest of the media in the game. It's not that the music was bad, by any means. It's just seems inappropriate at times, and unmemorable at others.

Gameplay

Kill Team is your basic twin-stick shooter, with basic pick-up power-ups (health, dual-tri-quad fire, bonus strength and ranged) with a few other basic amenities like grenades. Perks unlock as staggered rewards (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%).

The controls are easy to learn. As easy as they are, my biggest qualm with the controls is the dynamic camera. When the camera angle changes, it makes it so that your firing goes with it, which makes for very inaccurate shooting at distances. The melee classes also have a few downsides. The biggest downside being that the melee classes don't enjoy extra defense or health initially. Your health can drop extremely fast when surrounded by Orks of any class. Thankfully, the game supplies enough health packs to make it so that you never really have to worry about dying (on multiplayer).

Kill Team is not overly difficult, as long as you take your time and use your power-ups wisely. There were a few times when Castrum and I were fighting with our backs up against the wall, and a few times those ended up not quite in our favor. The great thing about the difficulty is that you never really had to think about it. That's how games should be. It presented many challenges, but did not make it so you had to work for hours to achieve one simple goal.

Multiplayer is what makes this game fun. The addition of a friend (or a frenemy, but who is asking?) makes the game go by much smoother. Having that person beside you to bail you out of a bad situation is priceless. With that being said, there are so many things wrong with the multiplayer. The first being that there's no online co-op. That's just an annoying hiccup. My biggest irritant is that fact that only the first player can earn Achievements. Castrum and I had to play the game twice-over just so both of us could earn the basic achievements. That was easily the worst part of the game.

The game has a little replay value. Going back and getting all the collectibles would be pretty easy after getting all the perks. The game doesn't last too long though. Just a straight run-through of the game can be easily done in around 2 hours. For only 800 points, I would definitely suggest this game as a buy.

My Rating - 75 - Buy

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine Walkthrough

Castrum - This game will be awesome:



http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-ex-warhammer-40000-space-marine/17-4640/

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine Will Have Co-Op (Eventually)

Castrum - Despite evidently shipping with no Co-Op mode(s), it would appear Space Marine will indeed have Co-Op at some point in the future, according to posts made on the game's website forums.

Honestly, I cannot wait for this game, so having Co-Op would only make this game even more awesome than it already is.

To quote THQSledgehammer:

Space Marine will have Co-Op, we have more details headed your way soon.

http://www.spacemarine.com/forums/topic/2055?page=4 (Post #50, at the bottom)