Not for the Emperor.

I've had a play through of the demo for Space Marine today and I can't say I'm inspired to part with actual money for it. At least at full price.

It could be that the demo was poorly structured, showing some fairly pedestrian levels that failed to impress; it could be that the game play appears to be a competent but commonplace Gears of War clone without the tactical aspects (there's no way to take cover) or it could be that the game is heavy on melee combat and yet gives you no way to block enemy strikes other than rolling out of the way. Any of those things are a potential turn off to me.

I understand that Relic are not really the go-to guys for action adventure games -Fire Warrior taught me that- but I had hoped that lessons had been learned since their last riff on the genre. It's a pity because their fondness and respect for the WH40K licenced material is as obvious as in their RTS titles, but the player experience fails to match it.

That said, there is fun to be had here, mostly in the form of the CQC execution moves (your main method of healing damage; a nice nod to the Space Marine idiom of ignoring wounds in order to kill some more xenos while the Larriman's organ deals with the injury, but it reveals another of the game's weaknesses- you cannot move while executing and enemies can still harm you!) and the ability to use an assault squad jump pack. These moments are hilarious as you take to the air and come stomping down on the poor hapless orcs with both boots, pasting them across the floor.

Of course, I can't really critique the product as a whole without having played it to the bitter end (a maxim too many net dwelling fans-with-keyboards choose to ignore), so I'll most likely be scouring the bargain bins for it soon.