We are the Ultramarines, the Sons of Guilliman. Whilst we draw breath, we stand. Whilst we stand, we fight. Whilst we fight, we prevail. Nothing shall stay our wrath.
I’m having a lot of fun with the demo so far, to the point of seeing if I can get through it under specific restrictions (Bolt Pistol+Chainsword/Power Axe only, melee only, ranged only, no DFA on the Jump Pack level, etc).
Titus and his battle-brothers
feel like you'd expect a ten-foot tall, thousand-pound superhuman killing machine ought to; not generally very swift (or so it seems, until you realize a guy that size has a five-foot stride...) but capable of putting on impressive bursts of speed and agility when needed.
The weapons all feel correct for what they are, and while the Frags might be a little anemic, I use them for their intended purpose: to distract the Orks and funnel them into my sights. I wish the Bolt Pistol was a tad more accurate, or at least quicker on the recovery, but I know it's really meant as a secondary weapon, so; so be it.
I'm impressed that they delivered on their promise of "seamless" transitions between melee and ranged combat, though I think I would prefer that the directionality of melee attacks was based on where you were
looking, not on which direction you're
moving, as it appears to be. Despite that minor annoyance, the combat is fluid and strikes a good balance between the holy zeal of frenetic Dynasty Warriors-style button mashing and the calculated deliberation I would expect of a Brother-Captain of the Ultramarines. The stun/execute default mappings are a little... odd, but I understand that it's a control scheme really designed for a gamepad, and I'll figure out the best place for them eventually. Would have liked to have seen a Mass Effect-style context-sensitive sprint/charge/evade button, just to simplify my keymaps, though.
The Fury and health mechanics are both entertaining examples of resource management, and both work very well, thematically speaking. Screw cover systems. Cover systems are for cowards, heretics, mutants, traitors and people who
aren't nigh-invulnerable genetically engineered killing machines.
Overall impression: I was moderately interested in the game before trying the demo. I was excited about the prospect of THQ doing a TPS/hack&slasher based on 40K, but I was a little wary of some elements of their execution. Having played through it, I am
absolutely SOLD on the game now. This is the Ultramarines of the fiction; the unstoppable, superhuman warrior-monks of the 41st Millennium; the Angels of Death; Fear Incarnate; the Ultramarines of the fiction, of whom even a handful can liberate entire worlds and turn the tide of wars.
