Space Marine 2 is awesome, and now we’ve had confirmation that a threequel is in the works, we’re all craving as much Warhammer 40K as we can get. But what to play? There are so many to choose from you’d think it would be an easy choice, but they’re also a drastically different bunch. There are few genres Games Workshop hasn’t attached their license to, but here’s our pick of 10 brutal Warhammer 40K action games you need to play while waiting for Space Marine 3.
Space Marine 2 | Saber Interactive, 2024
While you’re waiting for Space Marine 3, the obvious choice is this absolute banger from 2024. As Lt Titus, lead your squad of badasses against hordes of Tyranids and legions of Chaos Space Marines in a fantastic, bombastic campaign, or jump into the PvE or PvP modes and continue the fight online. Bellowing “For the Emperor!” every time you chainsaw a termagant in half is entirely optional.
Space Marine | Relic Entertainment, 2011
Also, while you’re at it, why not give the original a run. This was released in 2011, back when Mark Strong played Titus and the main enemy was Orks, and people were less concerned about little things like “frame rate” or “performance”. Space Marine came out at a time when Gears of War was still a franchise to chase and Warhammer 40K was still regarded as something people did quietly in basements, like brewing hooch or serial murder, but it’s still a superb, ballsy shooter with a really enjoyable campaign.
Darktide | Fatshark, 2022
Darktide is to 40K what Vermintide is to the Old World. It’s a Left 4 Dead-like 4-player co-op shooter that’s as grimy and dingy and uncomfortably ugly as this grimdark universe should be. After a rocky start it has enjoyed multiple free updates and is now a hugely popular, incredibly fun shooter that mixes emphasised teamwork with a quartet of powerful, interesting classes and an absolute ton of lore to get stuck into.
Chaos Gate: Daemonhunters | Complex Games, 2022
This turn-based tactics game focuses on the Grey Knights, anti-Psyker specialists with cool silver armour and a real nark on. Stranded in deep space with a Warp Storm brewing and your Captain dead, it’s up to you to keep your men alive and fighting in the face of insurmountable odds. Unfortunately, Chaos Gate is as hard as a bucket of titanium bastards and not for the faint of heart. It is a really great XCOM-style experience for anyone who craves a bit of a kicking now and then, though.
Battle Sister | Soul Assembly Ltd, 2022
Carrying the honour of being the one and only Warhammer 40K game exclusive to VR would be hard if Battle Sister didn’t kick so many different types arse it needs its shoes checked regularly for exotic diseases. Cast as one of the titular Adeptus Sororitas, Battle Sister delivers a unique if flawed blast of first person action, and it looks pretty good for a VR title, too.
Necromunda: Hired Gun | Streum On Studio, 2021
Warhammer 40K’s answer to Doom 2016, Hired Gun is a fast-paced shooter set in the Imperium’s biggest and most dangerous Hive City. Tasked with taking out the various gangs and networks in the Underhive, you and your trusty cyborg dog blast, hack, bite, and bark your way through a thrilling campaign that does little new, but still delivers a brutal injection of first-person action.
Shootas, Blood & Teef | Rogueside, 2022
Playing as Space Marines, Sisters of Battle and lethal bounty hunters is all well and good, but no faction in 40K has the personality of the Orks. Essentially sentient fungus with a penchant for violence that goes as deep as their survival instincts, Orks are sometimes seen as the comic relief in Games Workshop’s grimdark universe, but they’re also one of the most dangerous and brutal of all factions. In Shootas, Blood & Teef you play as an Ork killing Orks in a 2D side-scroller that’s way more fun than it should be.
Inquisitor: Martyr | NeocoreGames, 2017
As close to Diablo as 40K has ever gotten (although Chaosbane did something similar for the Old World), Warhammer 40K: Inquisitor – Martyr: Prophecy (to give it its ridiculous full name) is one of the best dungeon crawlers available today and absolutely heaped with content. A looter at heart, it features 6 classes – none of whom is a Space Marine – and delves deep into the lore of the Imperial Inquisition, pitting you against the hordes of Chaos as you build up a retinue including a Mechanicus Tech-priest and a Rogue Trader. Genuinely superb, and well worth your time.
Boltgun | Auroch Digital, 2023
If Hired Gun was 40K’s answer to Doom 2016, Boltgun is the answer to Doom 1993. A glorious pixel-art FPS about a stranded Ultramarine battling through masses of heretical scum in an attempt to get off-world in one piece, it’s a rocket-paced action game with a ton of charm and some great set pieces. It’s a simple game with an enjoyable, no-nonsense loop of exploration, action, and hoovering up ammo and power ups.
Rogue Trader | Owlcat Games, 2023
The longest, most complex game on this list by far, Rogue Trader is a sprawling CRPG that puts you in charge of an entire ship, your own entourage, and a great big chunk of the galaxy to explore and exploit. You can make and break alliances, experience grimdark romance in the far future, and indulge the fantasy of commanding a ragtag group of ne’er-do-wells in the depths of space. Not as pulse-pounding as some games on this list, but still a fantastic example of its genre and a nod to Warhammer 40K’s legendary origins.
