Space Marine 2’s Siege mode is out, letting you fight endless waves of Tyranids and the other, less good enemy

An uncomfortable question I’ve been asking myself this morning is, now that Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’s free Siege mode update is out, how much money I’d be convinced to part with if they, I dunno, added some Orks. Just a couple Orks. Few grots. Maybe a happy little squig. I ended up really enjoying the game after a rough start, and now this co-op horde mode is here, I think it’s time to just, you know, pretend the whole Tzeentch thing never happened. It’s a horde mode. Add some horde enemies. Happy little squig, you know? Look at him bounce. Wheeeeee.

Anyway the question is uncomfortable because my answer is, depressingly, however much they asked for. What do you mean Kill Team: Typhon is out of stock everywhere? Yes, I haven’t even opened the last two boxes, but I’m not sure what that has to do with anything. Here’s a trailer anyway. Warning: it’s got space marines taking themselves very seriously in it.

Siege is a three player co-op wavey hordey PvE mode with a sort of roguelike resource structure where you’ll gain ‘requisition points’ from defeating waves, to spend on things like consumables and reinforcements between rounds. I find the idea of buying a McNugget box of Cadians to throw at the enemy very funny. I’m not sure how useful they’ll be considering how squishy they are in campaign but, hey, it’s not like they’ve got anywhere else to be. Save up enough, and you can even call in a dreadnought.

Every five waves, you’ll go up against elites like Hellbrutes, Carnifexes, and everybody’s fave, Neurothropes. You then keep going until you’re dead, or “fulfill your duty to the Emperor, for only in death does duty end”, as the update puts it. Do they ever like, just have a nice biscuit and play Scrabble for a bit?

The update also adds some more paid cosmetics and weapon skins and maybe a pubic wig styled after the Emperor’s glorious flowing locks. You can read the full 8.0 patch notes here. Here’s a few highlights:

• The Thunder Hammer being available for Bulwark
• The possibility to turn off bots in private lobbies
• RTAO and DLSS 4 support
• You can now change the color of your class’s weapons by playing siege Mode.

“Space Marine 2 is an often-satisfying scrapper that has me convinced of 40K’s merit as a crafting ground for excellent-looking environments and creatures,” wrote Brendy in his review, “even if I’m not particularly moved by the bland character of Titus and his fellow Ultramarines”. Personally, I’ve been really enjoying the PvE missions, especially this one where a random fellow marine and I shared the backstories that led to our undying hatred for the Tyranids.

Bastards…