Space Marine Master Crafted Edition review: shinier, smoother and a bit more shouty

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Master Crafted Edition is a glow up for a game that has become a bit of a cult classic. After my first week with it, I think it still holds up surprisingly well. I think the combat is still meaty and satisfying, though the remaster brought some control quirks and bugs I don't recall from before.

The original Space Marine came out in 2011 and was developed by Relic Entertainment. The sequel, Space Marine 2, had already landed by the time I played this, and it's epic. The original is worth dusting off, firing up and using to purge heretics with the power of friendship and an absurdly large chainsaw. That chainsaw is for the Emperor, obviously.

Space Marine plays like Gears of War met Doom and formed a metal band

Imagine Gears of War jacked up on grimdark lore and protein powder, and you get Space Marine. You play Captain Titus, a walking tank with "the jawline of a 1980s action figure." Alongside you are loyal bros like Sidonus, who has grizzled veteran vibes, and Leandros, the rookie who probably alphabetizes his bolter ammo. Together you end up knee deep in Orks on a planet that's one giant factory having the worst day ever.

The gameplay is a third person shooter that meets Gears of War. Then Gears of War met Doom, they formed a metal band, and they lived on a diet of grimdark lore and protein shakes. The game is unapologetically from the Xbox 360 era, and that's part of the charm. It's like revisiting Predator and realizing it's still brilliant, even if the CGI is about three polygons short of modern.

The Master Crafted Edition adds 4K, better models and new Ork trash talk

The Master Crafted Edition is like giving your favorite old miniatures a shiny new paint job and some extra articulation. This remastered beast brings updated controls, with less tank steering and more actual marine. It runs at 4K resolution, sharp enough to spot an Ork's dental hygiene. It also has crisper textures and better character models.

You also get remastered audio and, wait for it, even more Ork trash talk. New lines have been added for those green skinned hooligans to yell at you. Your journey through the grim dark future now includes some fresh shouty banter.

The enemies and environments in Space Marine look sharper

You'll notice the improvements straight away, especially on the enemies. One guy in the original had the facial detail of a PS2 NPC in witness protection. Now he has enough menace to make you flinch when he charges. The extra detail makes the enemies feel more alive and more gruesomely animated, which is a win for the 41st millennium.

The environments have also had a facelift. Granted, there's only so much sparkle you can add to a game that spends most of its time in corridors that look like they were decorated by a very sad robot using only scrap metal and ash. Still, with sharper models and better lighting, the whole thing holds up surprisingly well. The bottom line: "It's still Space Marine. It's just shinier and smoother and a bit more shouty." Think of it like seeing Aliens on Blu-ray for the first time. It's still the classic.

The weapon wheel and grenade controls are still clunky

Smooth controls are sacred, and the good news is that the remaster tried to modernize things for today's audience. The bad news is that some of it still feels like the controls were handed over to a tech priest who has been asleep since the '90s.

First, the weapon wheel. You'd think that in a far future where chainsaws and plasma guns exist, selecting your boom stick of choice would be slick and seamless. Instead, clunky is the word that comes to my head. A patch improved it a little. At least the wheel no longer loiters on the screen like an awkward servo skull. It's still stiff enough to throw off your flow in the middle of bashing Orks.

Then there's a control scheme choice that confused me and felt like a prank from the Dark Eldar. Grenade throwing was mapped to a stick click, which wouldn't be a problem if the game didn't also require you to click both sticks to activate fury mode, your Hulk smash moment. Far too often, instead of unleashing righteous vengeance, I would throw my grenade into the wall. My controller was placed down with a thud.

An update has mostly fixed this, so credit where it's due. But for a good chunk of my play time I was fragging myself instead of going full space marine rage mode. Maybe I'm a noob. The controls have been patched up like an old Dreadnought. They're functional and mostly sturdy, with a few leftover quirks. Expect a smoother ride now, but keep your thumb ready for surprises.

Space Marine Master Crafted Edition has a few bugs

What's a remaster without a few charming quirks to remind you it's still a game underneath all the shiny polish? Don't worry, I'm not talking Cyberpunk at launch levels of chaos. During my first week, I ran into the occasional hiccup, like enemies getting stuck on terrain and running in place like they were late for leg day. Picture a furious Ork charging and then moonwalking into a bit of pipework for 10 seconds. It's not immersive at all, though it's slightly funny.

There were also a few moments where enemies straight up ignored me while I was pumping rounds into them like the world's angriest Nerf gun enthusiast. You'd expect them to at least grunt or give me a mean look. Instead they stood there like confused extras in the background of a Star Trek episode who had missed their cue.

So far, and it had only been a week for me, these moments were few and far between. When they did happen, they took me out of the experience slightly. It's hard to feel like a hardened space marine when your enemies are too busy trying to pathfind around a small rock to notice the guy revving a chainsaw behind them.

The core combat in Space Marine is still meaty and satisfying

If you're a fan of the original release, this is good news. The gameplay is still, I think, meaty and satisfying, like a bolt pistol to the face at point blank. The core combat is intact. Smacking Orks around with a thunder hammer while soaring through the air on a jetpack never gets old. It's the kind of over the top, crunchy action that makes you feel like you're starring in your own Expendables spinoff set in the 41st millennium.

Every swing hits like it's "trying to solve diplomacy through blunt trauma," and it's peak space marine energy. The combat can get seriously intense, especially when you're swarmed by a horde of angry green lads who all skipped anger management. It has that classic arcade thrill: you versus the galaxy, low on health, fury meter charged. I'm always low on health.

In the end, it's a solid six to seven hour romp through the grimdark goodness of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It's perfect for scratching that Space Marine itch while you size it up against Space Marine 2. It's short, it's sweet, and it packs enough punch to remind you why we all fell in love with the Emperor's angriest sons in the first place.

My verdict on the Master Crafted Edition

The one thing I can't comment on is the multiplayer, because I have the same number of gaming friends as a lone servitor stuck in a cupboard. This review is proudly single player approved. Even flying solo, the Master Crafted Edition felt good. The 4K resolution, the upgraded textures and the slicker character models do shine, as if someone lovingly polished the grimdark until you could almost see your reflection in Titus's shoulder pad.

It's a welcome chance to dive back into the story of Titus and his grumpy band of bolter buddies. Thankfully, it still feels like the original, with a modern spit shine and slightly less pixelated Orks shouting at you. There were hiccups I don't recall from before, like enemies getting stuck on geometry and the grenade going off instead of fury mode, though maybe that's me being a noob. It did have me rage laughing into the warp. At the time of writing, I was hoping the bugs would get squashed in upcoming patches.

One last recommendation. Put the song that asks "Can you take me higher?" on in the background as you soar into the skies with a jump pack and a thunder hammer, screaming for glory, for the Emperor and for all those poor souls fragged by their own grenades like me. Do that, and you've got yourself a top tier Friday evening.