Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 Anniversary Update – What’s New

Warhammer 40K Space Marine 2 Anniversary Update
Like many critics and a legion of gamers, I enjoyed Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 when it released last September. Almost unbelievably, a year and a deluge of games have passed, and I’m guessing many gamers have moved on from Space Marine 2. It might be time to revisit the game, because the fine folks at Saber have just released the Anniversary update and patch. It doesn’t radically change the base game, but gives returning and current players lots of new toys to play with.

New Content
Players who completed the campaign looked to Operations to continue the fun. Operation Vortex returns players to the Astropathic Relay on Avarax, a multilayered level filled with secrets and enemies to eliminate. It’s a great addition for players who are a little tired of the current selection of Operations.

Operation Vortex brings with it a new boss called the Mutalith Vortex Beast and Chaos Spawns, powerful melee units infused with forbidden sorcery. Unleashed in Vortex, the Chaos Spawns infect all the other Operations as well.

All of Space Marine 2’s classes get new weapons to take into combat. The Tactical and Heavy classes get the Pyreblaster and the Pyrecannon, both damage-over-time, flame-based weapons. The Vanguard, Assault, and Bulwark classes get the Power Axe, a swift and aggressive melee weapon.

New Modes
For PvE-ers, there’s a new mode called Strategems. With battlefield conditions that change both daily and weekly, Strategems play earns Accolades, which can be spent on the Battle Barge for six new Heroic weapons and six Heroic Armour pieces.

PvP fans get some love, too, with a new mode called Helbrute Onslaught, with two teams vying for control of the Helbrute. A new PvP map called Bridge has been added as well.

The List Goes On
The new modes and maps are the most significant items, but there’s a lot of additional new content included in both the free Anniversary update and for season pass holders. A long-requested feature, there are new Champion Armour pieces that are not class-specific. Players can now mix various parts of the Champion’s Armours on different classes, creating some truly unique characters.

Season Pass holders get the new Black Templars Champion Pack and new cosmetics for Imperial Fists.

There’s also a very long list of tweaks and balance fixes for melee and ranged weapons, bug fixes throughout the game, and small adjustments to several PvP and PvE modes.

Come on Back
In addition to Season Pass content, the Anniversary Update brings a generous and enjoyable amount of new content to Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2. I welcomed the chance to return to a game that I really enjoyed last year. Of course, new things always come along, but for now, I’m enjoying the new weapons and Operations, and the game has returned to my “must play” rotation.

***PS5 code provided by the publisher***