Do you need to play Warhammer 40K Space Marine before Space Marine 2?

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 throws you into grim dark universe consisting of rich lore that you can appreciate whether you’re familiar with it from the tabletop game or not. However, this is officially a sequel, so it’s easy to assume you may need backstory from the first game to enjoy it.

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine and its sequel have many similarities, but they’re also very different from one another. Both get you into the action as an Ultramarine, ripping apart Xenos in the far future. A time when humanity’s Imperium has spread itself across the galaxy, and war is constant. The biggest difference between the two games is their setting, with the first on a Forge World being invaded by Orks, and the second on a much more vibrant planet that’s under threat from a Tyranid invasion. But you don’t necessarily need to understand what’s come before to appreciate what you’re about to play.

Do you need to play Warhammer 40K Space Marine before Space Marine 2?

No, you don’t need to play Warhammer 40K: Space Marine to enjoy the story or gameplay of Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2. Publisher Focus Entertainment explained why in a blog post close to the game’s official launch. It explains that each game’s story can be enjoyed individually. This sounds like characters may crossover and the universe is obviously shared, but the stories are relatively self-contained.

Focus Entertainment adds that players might miss some very specific references in the second game if they haven’t played the first, but that it won’t stop anyone from enjoying the bigger picture. Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 is a game about pushing back against a Xenos force that can adapt on a genetic level to whatever stands in its way. This enemy, the Tyranids, is so interesting, and I believe exploring how they fight on a personal level is going to be what’s so engrossing about the title.

The thing about the Warhammer 40K universe is that it’s so vast and filled with various Xenos races that it’s easy to craft isolated stories that take place in one sector or on one planet that become part of its rich tapestry. The stories of the Warhammer 40K: Space Marine games sound like they’re linked by characters alone rather than the events that occur.

We’ll have to wait until Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 is released before we can tell for sure how it’s linked to the first title. As a fan of the universe, I’m excited to get to explore it a little more in-person and soak up every inch of The Imperium I can before heading out to cut down the Tyranid scum.