Recently, a major update was released for the third-person action game Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, which added a new PvE operation Termination and a “Lethal” difficulty level. However, in addition to these innovations, the patch also introduced several balance changes that caused a wave of discontent among players. The developers at Saber Interactive have nerfed elements such as Auspex-Scans and Melta-Charge, and also increased the higher difficulty of the heavier ones by reducing the armor of the characters. These changes were received mostly negatively by the community.
Within a few days after the update was released, over 1,300 negative reviews appeared on Steam, although about 700 positive ones were published at the same time. Many players complain that the game has become less fun, and draw parallels with the situation that happened with the co-op shooter Helldivers 2. There were also balance changes that, according to users, took the fun out of the game. Many fear that Space Marine 2 may repeat the fate of this game.
However, there are those who are sympathetic to the changes. Some players believe that the update is not as critical as it is made out to be, and the update did not “ruin” the game, but only made it more intense.
The question of how justified the balance changes remain remains open. On the one hand, players want their characters and weapons to be powerful so they can feel invincible in battle. On the other hand, balancing the game rarely happens without nerfs. If you strengthen all the elements, the game may become too easy, which will ultimately reduce the interest of the players.
Helldivers 2, which many players cite as an example, has also faced criticism in recent months due to nerfs. However, the developers made a number of changes that helped balance the gameplay, including strengthening some elements. Perhaps Space Marine 2 will have to go through a similar adaptation process.
Despite the wave of negativity, Space Marine 2’s overall rating on Steam remains largely unchanged, with reviews still listed as “Mostly Positive.” Players continue to enjoy the game, although many hope that the developers will take their criticism into account and reconsider some aspects of the update in the future.
