YMMV / Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

• Anti-Climax Boss: After fighting across a bridge flanked by fellow Ultramarines and even a squad of Blood Ravens, ascending the damaged spire with a jet pack and thunder hammer to literally throw enemies around like dolls, and then fighting through Nemeroth’s bodyguards while he ascends to princehood you finally fight Nemeroth himself … in several quick time events.
• Catharsis Factor: Seriously, just charge into a group of enemies and start slashing (and shooting) away.
• Demonic Spiders:
  • Ork Nobz in the first arcs. They're incredibly hard to stun or kill in melee, and shooting them down uses a lot of ammo. They also hit very hard in melee. Before you can get a Thunder Hammer, only Fury mode can kill them quickly and efficiently (a three-hit plus stun combo usually sets up most nobs for a quick execution, but that's not exactly obvious: their ability to No-Sell a normal stun attempt is usually enough to deter a player from experimenting). The Armored Nobz are all that and more, with way more durability thanks to their higher health and body armor.
  • The Chaos Space Marines, which are as tough as a Nob individually, and they show up a lot. Particularly tough are the champions armed with blood mauls, who can soak a lot more damage than regular Chaos Space Marines and can absolutely demolish you if they get close or back you into a corner.
  • There are few enemies in the game that can kill you faster than Rokkit Boyz. Shooting at them largely requires you to stand fairly still and be vulnerable for their rokkits, while running up to them to melee them means they're bombarding you with rokkits while you aren't killing them! The only safe way to deal with them is to stand waaaaay far back where their rokkits can't hit you and pick them off, which is a chore even when using dedicated sniper weapons.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Second Lieutenant Mira of the Imperial Guard, as well as the Blood Ravens who show up later on to fight alongside you.
  • While the game's main character, Captain Titus himself has earned this reputation in the wider 40k franchise: many consider him an intelligent, multidimensional, humble, well-spoken character who sees the Codex Astartes as a set of guidelines that should NOT be followed blindly. These come together to make him a redeeming factor for the Ultramarines, whose...divisive reputation under Matt Ward has made them a subject of mockery in the fandom. There's a not-insubstantial number of fans who want Titus to make a return in the canon lore of the game.
  • Despite very scant screentime (Totaling about 3 short scenes across the game), fans of the game loved Warboss Grimskull. Due to being very intelligent for an Ork, being the usual rowdy evil fun of his race and for delivering probably the quietest (And scariest) Badass Boast to ever come from an Ork. Many wish he was the true Big Bad instead of Nemeroth, who by contrast has a bad case of Generic Doomsday Villain.
• Funny Moments: There's a subtle bit of Gallows Humor in the introduction, where communications discussing the ongoing battle of Graia and its strategic implications are ongoing between two unnamed parties. The very first suggestion brought up as a response to the Ork invasion is Exterminatus and only when that option is ruled out do they bother to discuss actually saving the planet instead of just blowing it up.
• Goddamned Bats:
  • The Renegade Militia, who either continuously lob grenades at you or think they can take you down by running up to you and rifle whipping your Power Armored ass. Every single second they aren't throwing a grenade at you is spent Beam Spamming with their lasguns instead. Despite the game's tagline of "Cover is for the weak," taking cover when fighting Renegade Militia is mandatory if you don't want to get slowly shot to pieces waiting for your armor to recharge. On Hard difficulty level remove the "slow" part. Unlike Gretchin who still are just living medkits, a squad of Renegades will shred you in seconds with their lasguns if you decide to stay in the open.
  • On the topic of Chaos and obnoxious enemies, we get the Bloodletters, demonic enemies which can Flash Step to dodge bullets and wield huge flaming swords. They spawn in packs, and while one Bloodletter dies quickly enough the full group will surround you so you can't dodge-roll to safety. They also love to stun you with a stabbing attack, which in groups turns into a miserable stunlock party. If they get you inside their circle you pretty much have to waste your Fury charge to get them off your back.
• Magnificent Bastard: Warboss Grimskull is the initial Big Bad of the game and the master of the ork WAAAGH! besieging the Forge World. A genius by the standards of his race, Grimskull utilizes a series of ruthless tactics, disabling strategic points, seizing weaponry and disabling aircrafts to cut off the ground forces so his orks can overrun the Imperial Guard. Grimskull shows himself to be utterly tenacious, pursuing Captain Titus persistently and tirelessly to regain the planet's power source. When he recoups from any setback, Grimskull is later set upon by daemons, only to emerge without a scratch and give the true villain, the Chaos Sorcerer Lord a wide grin before declaring the one quote that sums Grimskull up perfectly: "I ain't so easy to kill!"
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Leandros' first line: "The Codex Astartes does not support this action" has become rather popular with some fans, usually used in jest.
    • "SPACE BOOK SAYS THIS BAD!"
    • "NO!!" - BOOK!!
  • Accusations of heresy within the fandom now has a rebuttal with Titus's hammy "I...am NO heretic!"
• No Problem with Licensed Games: Though not without its flaws, the game was well-received and seen as a solid third-person shooter by both general gaming public and hardcore 40k fans alike, the latter even praising its story and characters as worthy additions to the franchise's expansive lore.
• Player Punch: At the very end of the game, when Leandros accuses Titus of heresy and has him taken away by Inquisitor Thrax. Leandros fought with you the entire game, and then he turns on his Brother-Captain in the name of close-minded devotion. The sense of betrayal is palpable.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: To a VERY limited extent, Titus is a shining example of what a well-written Ultramarine looks like.
• Scrappy Mechanic: A good part of the game's atmosphere comes from reading the numerous Apocalyptic Logs scattered throughout the levels, which detail the ongoing invasion from the perspective of ordinary people on the ground. Unfortunately, these collectibles don't respawn upon starting a new campaign, and they aren't saved in a log or menu for later perusal, meaning you can listen to them exactly once and then never again. This can make subsequent playthroughs feel a lot more lifeless as a result.
  • They are now available in a menu in the Definite Edition, which also helps with finding the missing ones.
• Special Effect Failure:
  • In his first appearance, Leandros is wearing his helmet as he prepares to jump out of the Thunderhawk and descend to the planet's surface via jump pack. When he jumps out, eagle-eyed players may notice that his helmet suddenly disappears. Then, when you reunite with him planetside, he's still bareheaded but gets his damaged helmet, which is lying at his feet, handed to him by Titus... only to look at it for a second and continue not wearing it for the rest of the game.
  • When Titus delivers the coup de grâce on Grimskull by shooting a plasma shot directly into Grimskull's face, the game treats it like Grimskull's face was blown into a gory mess. After the cutscene, Grimskull's head shows no visible damage.

---