I want to be a Space Marine!

I probably sound like a little kid right now, but really, I want to be one! I finally got a chance to play the Space Marine and Kill Team demos on my XBox 360, and I must say, I'm in the camp of people that LOVE the games.
As I'm kind of poor at the moment, my experience thus far is strictly with the demo levels, but I will nonetheless give my impressions below. First, Space Marine:

I've heard so many opposing views on this game, I knew I couldn't rely on the opinions of other people this time. I tried it out, and after blazing through both demo levels, I think I'm going to have to keep replaying them until I get the full game! The easiest way for me to review this for you guys based on the demo is through the couple of points below...

- Feel: The closest thing I can compare Space Marine to controls-wise would have to be Gears of War. It took me a moment to figure out reloads (more accustomed to the Call of Duty button instead of the "bumper" button reload), but a quick control menu check fixed that. You can definitely "feel" the weight of your power armor and weapons but, unlike the sense of being over encumbered like in Gears, it's obvious you're more than human here. Despite your size, your combat prowess and agility more than makes up for the overwhelming odds you run into, just like you can imagine while reading any Black Library Space Marine novel.

- Combat: Though you can wade into battle with your chainsword cutting a bloody path of destruction fairly easily much of the time, there are still times that suggest other tactics to be employed. I was a little surprised by the first Nob I ran into, especially when my initial attempts to do a stun/execution combo on him resulted in an axe to the face. My second attempt, this time with more evasion tactics and long range Bolter shots, was rewarded with me force-feeding the greenskin the business end of my chainsword. Heck. Yes.

- Dialog: I've heard so many complaints about this subject, and I can kind of see where the dissenters are coming from. Yes, the Orks have fairly limited battle scripting, primarily consisting of repetitive yelling of "Space Marine!"....... but.... I think I really only noticed it because I've heard it mentioned before I ever even laid eyes on the game itself. In fact, I was so much more concerned with watching the spectacular combos and curb-stompings I was decimating my enemies with, the yells and shouts pretty much faded into the background for me. I just did not care. I was a Space Marine. I had a chainsword. And I was beating Ork face.

I'd probably have to call Kill Team "Space Marine Lite". It's a (somewhat) top-down, arcade shooter, kind of like the old Marvel Ultimate Alliance games. One joystick controls movement, the other controls which direction you shoot. Fairly simple.

- Feel: Combat in Kill Team is definitely less..... intense than in Space Marine, possibly due to the more detached overhead view you get. That being said, it's still awesome watching your Marine pulp a ton of Orks with his chainsword! You still get that sense of what you are (a genetically modified super-human), just on a much smaller scale.

- Camera: One thing that tends to be an issue with these overhead style games is camera angles. Overall, I didn't have any major issues with the camera. There were a couple of times where it got stuck in a weird position, but it snapped out of it soon enough to not adversely affect the flow of the game.

- Options: For being an arcade style run-and-gun, shoot everything game, you have quite a nice selection for personal modification of your Marine. You can choose between Sternguard or Vanguard Veterans, a Librarian, or a Techmarine. Each class has three weapons (two to unlock) and plenty of perks, as well as the ability to choose between being a Blood Raven, Ultramarine, Imperial Fist, Blood Angel (my favorite!), Salamander, or White Scar.

If you had to choose between one these two games, I'd say definitely go for Space Marine (I've heard everyone say online play is is really well done and pretty fairly balanced, too). If you can afford the extra $10 (800 Microsoft Points on XBox Live) however, definitely get Kill Team as well. It's a fun little arcade shooter set in the 40k universe.

As an aside, I've gotten a little bit of modeling/painting in this last week, though not as much as I had hoped. I got some painting done on my Death Company Stormraven's wings. To the right you can see a couple pictures of the Death Company Marine I put on the inside with a standard Blood Angel ordering him out the back hatch. I currently plan to leave the top of the Stormraven unglued so you can take the top off and see what I've done inside.

I also put together a couple of my brother's Necrons, just to see what I'll be dealing with. Boy are those parts thin and spindly! Definitely need to take care when building/painting them.

So, what do you all think of the Space Marine/Kill Team games? Also, if you're looking for any kind of commission work to be done, right now is a great time to contact me! I currently only have personal projects I'm working on, so you'll be at the top of the line. Email me at DeepStrikePainting@gmail.com if you're interested!