Summary
It took well over a decade forWarhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2to officially release, but it only took a handful of days for the game to already get review bombed onSteam. Indeed, the sequel to2011’s original title of the same namehas seen itsSteam categorization turn to “Mixed” after a slew of negative reviews.
Currently, of the 2,505 reviews on Steam,1,042 of them are classified as “Negative.“The other2,262 are all “Positive.“Of the negative reviews present, the vast majority are in response tothe “stealth” installation of Epic Games' Epic Online Service.
It’s important to note that the game doesn’t install the Epic Games' launcher, but rather some software for crossplay purposes.That software can also seemingly be uninstalled. In other words, a large portion of reviews are essentially reactionary, and are tanking what is a solid video game.
For reference,The Gamer’s Ben Sledge gave the game a 3.5 rating, writing, “Space Marine 2 doesn’t seek to reinvent the third-person shooter or hack-n-slash genres, but it’s a competent addition to both. That said, it’s a great game for Warhammer fans, and nails the feeling of being a Space Marine better than any other game.”
The Epic Online Service Has A Purpose
As noted above, the installation of the software helps with crossplay purposes. Considering that the game is meant to be played cooperatively and has multiplayer elements, crossplay makes sense. And given that not every studio has some type of proprietary crossplay software, it makes sense that a well-known bit of programming is used in place.
Taking to Reddit, many Warhammer fans pushed back against the negative reviews, with many pointing out that there are dozens of EULAs (End User License Agreements) that have been agreed to by people. The presence of Epic Games just makes it an easy scapegoat.
This user summed things up pretty concisely: “It’s crazy people care about this EULA but not… every single other one they click through without reading when installing a video game.”
All of this is to say that a good game is unfortunately being crushed by a group of bad actors. Perhaps enough positivity can help turn things around, though it’s another lesson in reactionary takes, as well as overall caution when it comes to user reviews.
