Space Marine may look like a Gears Of War clone without the duck-and-cover mechanic, but there is certainly something to be said about the less cautious approach.

You are the Ultramarines: ten foot tall armour-clad soldiers dedicated to defending humanity in the name of the Emperor of Mankind. The Forge World Graia has come under attack by a force of Orks and it is down to Captain Titus and his unit to rid the world of the invading forces and protect the Titan war machines under construction there. However, upon meeting the Inquisitor Drogan, it starts to become clear that there is more behind this invasion than simple Orkish greed and brutality.

The Warhammer 40,000 universe is dense. Having been around for nearly a quarter of a century there exists a vast back-story to accompany the miniatures, board games, films and video games.

Thankfully Space Marine doesn’t ram this rich fiction down your throat, and while you may be left unsure of what a psyker is in relation to a servo-skull, the uncertainty doesn’t detract from the gameplay. If anything it encourages you to do your own research and explore the rich source material only alluded to for the most part in the single-player campaign.

The minute to minute action of Space Marine will feel very familiar to fans of the Gears of War franchise up until the moment you come across your first waist high crate and no indicator to leap against it appears.

Make no mistake – you are expected to hurl yourself into battle at a moments notice, be it gracefully stomping towards the enemy, Bolter in hand, or dashing headfirst into an Ork, Chainsword revved. The change in pace is a welcome one and the game constantly pressures you to move forwards rather than stopping to assess the situation.

The weapons and melee combat often feels adequate but does little to push the envelope. Each weapon feels appropriately weighty although you will find in the heat of battle that using your melee weapon is essential and for most other situations the standard Bolter will get the job done. The brief sections where you are able to don a jet pack and leap from platform to platform is thoroughly enjoyable and a pleasant respite from the repetitive combat sections.

Occasionally, however, the lack of cover and careful consideration can infuriate you and you long for a cover mechanic. The health system in Space Marine is what sets it apart from most other in the genre; to regain a chunk of health you are required to march up to an enemy, stun them, and perform an execution move. While this makes little sense in the fiction (unless we are to assume they are all vampire Space Marines!) but it is a nice change from the standard regenerating health of most other titles.

When successful it is thoroughly satisfying to watch the brief animation playout as you disembowel a helpless Ork and regain enough health to battle on.Unfortunately, more often than you would like, you find yourself furiously swinging at an enemy only to be taken down by a cheap explosion or because you missed the right enemy with your execution move and left yourself vulnerable to attack.

Later in the game these instances become more frequent as tougher enemies come at you in greater quantities. Lengthy execution animations cannot be skipped, during which you are still vulnerable to attack. The simple addition of invulnerability during the execution process would make all the difference.

While minor aspects of the game play may cause brief bursts of fury the rest of the time the  feel of the game from start to finish is spot on and enough to keep you engaged. Everything from the sound of the Space Marine’s armour hitting the ground through to the blast of the Bolter is perfect, and the entire game feels like you would expect it to.

The occasional execution move mid-battle may cause the screen to become obscured in blood and Ork but exporing the machine planet is a pleasure. While the detail is fairly basic and there are a few too many lifts and transitional passageways, the environments feel satisfyingly gothic, gargantuan, and thoroughly in-keeping with the Warhammer 40K aesthetic.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine does not redesign the wheel. What it is though is a competent and enjoyable third person shooter which, had Gears Of War 3 been released so close to it, would have been a must own to any fans of the genre. Compared to Gears though the environments are fairly routine and grey and the game play can become repetitive.

Despite the title’s brief time at the top end of the chart and the rich fiction available for potential sequels, THQ has gone on record stating that there will be no sequel for Space Marine. With a little more attention to detail, and a slight refinement of the health system, there could well have been a bright future for the Warhammer 40,000 franchise on consoles, but for the foreseeable future this is all we will be getting.