With all the online hype and buzz around this title and the GWJ interest in other threads, I wanted to get an official catch-all set up. The game will be live on 9/5 for anyone who has the pre-order bonus and will officially release on Monday, 9/9.
I personally have never played any of the games in the series but the previews have really pulled me in and I'm hopeful we can get a solid group of Goodjers for co-op and multiplayer as the game allows for cross-play across consoles and PC (to my knowledge).
Official Trailer
Gameplay Trailer
Digital Foundry Overview
I've committed and pre-ordered. Never played any WH40K before, but everything I've seen in the previews looks like exactly my cup of tea!
Reviews are starting to drop and it's averaging around 85 across all platforms.
ACG - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet!
Fightin Cowboy - A Glorious Sequel
So glad this game is looking solid.
I'm on the fence (which means I'll inevitably get it come Monday). If I do, any GWJers out there up for some co-op?
Any word on whether this will be competent as a solo offline campaign game?
I think it’s supposed to be. It looks like the structure is: solo campaign, that can be co-oped then extra co-op missions.
Some of the reviews said that there are certain setpieces/encounters that feel like they were designed or balanced with coop in mind, but nothing that seemed like a hard stop in difficulty.
Hmm, no ultrawide support until sometime later - maybe end of Sept. That's kind of a deal breaker for me. Won't be cancelling my pre-order, but I think I'll let it rest until that's patched in and play something else in the meantime.
I picked this up but I won’t be playing co-op until I’ve finished the campaign once. I like to do sightseeing, especially in games as gorgeous and full of detail as this. That makes me a somewhat annoying co-op player. 
I played through the intro mission and the one after it several times (total of about 4 hours) to get accustomed to the combat. Only slight negative I’ve run into is that “easy” difficulty isn’t as easy as I’d like, because the timing on parry and dodge are a bit too tight for me.
Of course, posting that feedback publicly, I was met with a chorus of “get good” with only a few supporting +1s sprinkled among the replies. That general reaction is why there is no way in hell I will be playing this with internet randos. I could continue here with a rant about how Soulslike game mechanics have ruined action games for me, but I’ll spare you all. Except to note that the derisive responses I experienced are uncalled for in a game that has difficulty settings!
Really enjoying it so far. It may just be my imagination but did they tweak Titus’ face to make him look more… Henry Cavill-y?
Hey folks. Just started digging into this last night.
I'm not a graphics guy. Sure I appreciate the pretty but I won't bend over backwards to maximize visual fidelity + frame rate. I was willing to drop a bunch of settings to smooth out gameplay but to my surprise I could keep nearly everything at near max setting while still getting mid 70fps during the lighter scenes.
It's a beautiful game. So much fricken detail no matter which direction I'm looking.
Gameplay-wise, I'm glad I restarted on Normal difficulty as the Parry system + crowd control takes some getting used to. Quite different from the first game's combat rhythm, which is a welcome change.
Is there another game out on the market now that so seamlessly blends hack n' slash, "Soulslike" parries and third-person shooting? With such an emphasis on melee I was expecting the shooting to feel less impactful or almost like an after-thought. The shooting feels amazing. I'm using the Xbox controller and was taken aback by how little aim assist there is: it's almost non-existent. But it still feels GREAT.
Some of the reviews said that there are certain setpieces/encounters that feel like they were designed or balanced with coop in mind, but nothing that seemed like a hard stop in difficulty.
The AI companions are not brilliant but they do draw enemies away from you. The couple times I've been downed they are very quick to revive me. They also politely stand aside stunned enemies to give you the honour of doing the executions. They can do that a little too much though.
Really enjoying it so far. It may just be my imagination but did they tweak Titus’ face to make him look more… Henry Cavill-y?
I wish they'd kept Mark Strong for Titus' voice. The new guy sounds pretty generic. I guess they wanted a less personable voice, after Titus spent a hundred years in the Deathwatch.
I'll be able to play this from Monday, which effectively means Friday...
Ping me for a possible coop bout, if you see me playing it.
I've preordered, looks like it will be fun even if the reviews say it needs more co-op content.
Im on and playing. Feel free to add me on PS5 for a bullet buddy.
I was so hyped for this. I loved the first game. I think maybe I've gotten too old (48) and lost my ability to be quick. I struggled with the parry required or dodge required attacks. I cannot play souls games because of this.
Maybe its lesser after the first 2 hours? I actually got a refund of my $109. I just couldn't get past the blue and red attacks every 30 seconds.
Red attacks from elites get me 90% of the time! The blue parry attacks always come in bunches even though you only get one indicator flash. So even if you get hit by the first you can recover and parry the follow up.
I gave up trying to purposely parry regular attacks by the swarms of smaller Nids. The timing is tricky and I found it better to swing away and recoup lost health constantly. Blue attacks by regulars have a VERY generous parry window at least.
Sorry to hear about your experiences! Hope you can come back around later when the games hits the sales circuit.
Steam version is delayed for some reason. I have no more meetings today so unlock already!
Downloading now. Took bloody forever to unlock.
What's up with Steam downloading stuff from the Epic store during the initial running of the game?
The game uses Epic multiplayer infrastructure to allow "cross platform" play between players who got the game on the Epic and steam stores.
Re: difficulty settings
I'm getting more accustomed to the controls, but yeah, the timing windows for parry & dodge are way too tight on EASY difficulty. Easy should be easy, dammit. I'll die on that hill (repeatedly, after being killed by Tyranid Warrior attacks that require dodging). I posted some feedback to the developers. Doubt it'll have any effect, but maybe it's worth it for anyone having difficulty to drop them a note. Especially if you had to get a refund for the game.
Just to prove to myself that I wasn't entirely crazy, I went back to the original game and played on "Normal" difficulty. I didn't encounter any tests of reaction time that made me fail in the first few chapters of the game. Unlike SM2, in which I have had difficulty even fighting Hormagaunts, the weeniest Tyranid troops. And parrying regular attacks is made more difficult than it needs to be because of the position of the camera. It's too tight on Titus, so his power armor tends to conceal multiple attackers coming straight at him.
I have also seen complaints that because of the swarming, combat lacks "readability." For example, it's hard to distinguish the small Hormagaunts from the foliage, or even the rubble in city settings. They need some kind of markings or highlighting that make them easier to track. Sometimes I feel like I'm just swinging my chainsword around rather than aiming at specific enemies. The exception to this is the special attacks which are VERY OBVIOUSLY highlighted. Even those attacks are only obvious if you are actually facing the attacker, which is often not the case when you're being swarmed by 'gaunts and a Warrior or two.
The game is gorgeous, but the combat minutiae are really starting to wear on me. Unfortunately it's too late for me to request a refund, because I stubbornly restarted multiple times trying to get the feel of the game.
After a few "get good" comments on the Steam discussion forum, I posted this:
It's not an issue of not knowing what to do, or whether the game is for me. I know enough to know that I am unable to play Soulslike games, for example, because my reaction time is too slow for parry and dodge timing in games like that. Those games typically lack difficulty settings because the developers have a specific audience in mind. I have no problem with that at all.
But when a game has an easy difficulty setting, it should be easy enough that anyone can be competent at the game. Especially if the game has several other difficulty settings suitable for people looking for more of a challenge.
I know my limitations. I'm not going to attempt PVP in Space Marine 2. I'm not going to play co-op with random people who might be frustrated by my limitations. I enjoyed the original Space Marine campaign, largely because quick reactions were not essential to complete it.
Space Marine 2 has a lot going for it! Relaxing the reaction time requirements for the easiest difficulty in campaign or co-op wouldn't affect other players, wouldn't impact PVP, and it would make the game a lot more fun for players with physical limitations.
When I created this thread I was all in on getting it but after reading a few forums and watching reviews I'm leaning towards leaving it on the shelf. I have a feeling I'm going to be disappointed and wanting that $70 back in my pocket, especially with so many great titles around the corner. I wish there was a demo so I could give it an hour or two before committing.
Glad I read here first.. games that are overly reliant on "parry" timing are not fun for me anymore so I'll pass and pick this up when it hits the $5 steam sale in a few years.
Installing right now. 
It's too bad the introduction of parries and perfect dodges is ruining the vibe for some of us. I've run through 5 of the 6 story missions so far and a couple of the co-op missions (with a few failed attempts). It's not my job to convince you something you don't like is actually good but hope to share some more of my first-hand experiences.
SM2 has a drastically different combat rhythm compared to its predecessor. I mean, really different. SM1 could be summed up as "sticky cover-less Gears of War + Dynasty Warriors hack n' slash". The main keys to success were to actually use cover when firing and make liberal use of the shoulder charge and be liberal with all the grenades at your disposal. Oh, and pick your targets when deciding when to do executions because you were still vulnerable during the animations. That was it in terms of depth. SM2 throws a few more things into the melee combat stew that discourages pure mashing.
The problem with the blue and red markers that telegraph parry-able or dodge-able special attacks is that a single marker can represent multiple attacks in a row. Learning this IS a process of trial & error. The problem comes when you need to factor in regular attacks, which don't get markers but they are also parry-able. As I mentioned earlier, regular attacks from the tiny hormagaunts are too numerous to intelligently parry: I found it much more effective to wade through the masses with the chainsword or power sword and be done with it. Regular attacks by elite enemies, however, are worth parrying and can feel just as damaging as the blue marker special attacks. So it comes off sometimes like the game is not signaling the blue markers consistently when it fact it probably is. I haven't learned to recognize all their attack animations yet but this feels like the case with me.
Another problem arises when blue or red marker attacks come from behind. You can't dodge or parry what you can't see coming. The game does the directional attack indicators on the HUD but those are very hard to catch in the heat of combat.
Mitigating factors... Once you damage an enemy enough, it's almost always worth it to go for the execution because you're completely invincible, you get a pip and a bit of armor back and you can swing your camera around as Titus is tearing his foe to shreds to get a feel for what threats are coming your way. Finally, your AI companions are dumb-dumbs but at least they revive you with extreme quickness whenever you get downed.
I really want to say there isn't quite as much parrying required as some may think. It feels like a 70/30 mix of straight shooting and hack n' slash versus timing-based gameplay. The shooting is immaculate. Blowing tyranids away with a half-dozen variants of bolt rifles and melta and plasma weapons feels better than any of the melee stuff. But it seems like the extra "Souls" mechanics have made the overall experience of crowd control super hectic. This last comment is more for people who may be on the fence and think the game is a parry-fest. I do not think it is but the whole package feels a bit like it's going for that Doom Eternal approach of forcing you to blend multiple techniques and mechanics together to achieve the intended play enjoyment bliss.
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