I need to talk about the Eternal War PvP mode in Starfighter 2. It has problems. As of this writing, the servers are a bit hit and miss, and there aren’t a ton of maps or game modes. But even with all of its current issues, it’s still one of the most refreshing PvP experiences I’ve played in recent years. Yes, that includes any popular FPS you think of. Plus any evacuation shooter, battle royale, or bandwagon chaser you think of. They’re missing one key element.
Easy. Space Marine 2’s PvP is a pure experience. Six players fight against six other players of a variety of different classes. They’re genuinely different, too, with unique abilities and weapon choices that force you to play the game differently. Each team can have no more than two players of each class, which inevitably leads to diverse and synergistic team compositions. Oh, you need some frontliners? The good news is, you’re almost certainly going to get one.
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This also incentivizes players to try all the classes! Sooner or later, someone with a faster internet connection or a quicker trigger will grab the character you want. So go pick another one! Give it a try and see what happens. For the first few hours, I naturally browsed through all the classes. And you know what I learned? I can’t shoot snipers to save my life, but I enjoyed running around the map looking for sneak angles.
The slow trickle of new weapons encourages you to, you know, actually get good at using them. If you have a level six short-range bolt-action rifle, then hopefully you’ll learn the effective range of that gun and stop trying to beat the sniper on the opposite side of the map. This gives you a decent amount of time to figure out if you like the gun, and if you don’t, you can always go back to an old unlock. If you don’t like the initial offering, though, you’re out of luck. Like I said, it’s not without its problems.
The map isn’t huge, but there’s more room to maneuver than you might initially think. Small passages surround the larger, more popular teamfight hotspots. There are large openings in the walls that Assaults and Vanguards can pass through. Sure, when you start out, you’ll be rushing down the main path, but only There are enough alternatives to keep things interesting.
You know what’s really cool? There’s no battle pass. In fact, there are no side objectives, or FOMO at all. No timed unlocks, no BS. You want to unlock new gear for your Space Marines? Level up by playing games. Want to unlock new skins for your weapons? Win games. In fact, just win by playing games, and unlock all skins, except for the paid cosmetics. We’ve all played games where a few members of your team try to get 5 kills with pistols instead of actually completing the objective, and you can’t even blame them because a lot of games now encourage this. In Space Marine 2, you only have one objective when you go online. Win!
So, yes, I’m pretty sure I’ll be playing Space Marines 2’s PvP for a while. In my review, I expressed my disappointment that I didn’t get a chance to try it out before the early release, and while that doesn’t change the rating I gave the game, it does address some of my concerns. Once the servers are up and running without major glitches and some new content arrives, this will be one of my top picks for the foreseeable future.
