As someone who likes the idea of Warhammer 40000 but lacks the time, skill, space, and budget to engage with the hobby, I deeply enjoyed the original Space Marine back on the PlayStation 3. It allowed me to “get my fix” and dip into that universe without clearing out my dining room or bank account. After all, not many online shooters can tempt me to spend enough time in their multiplayer modes to max out my level, but the PvP mode was genuinely fun.
Over the years, I’ve often stared at the PC version, trying to justify it on many Steam sales, especially since the Anniversary Edition dropped in 2021 to include all the DLC. This amplified again when Warhammer 40000: Space Marine 2 was announced and hype built around it, yet still, I held off.
So now that Warhammer 40000: Space Marine—Master Crafted Edition is here, I should be ecstatic, right?
On paper, a next-gen upgrade for Relic Entertainment’s 14-year-old classic sounds great. The Master Crafted Edition is “enhanced for a new generation” via “quality of life & graphical improvements” like higher fidelity, 4K resolution, reworked character models, and improved character models. I’ve raved about several next-gen upgrades along these lines over the years—a modest technical refresh that keeps an original story accessible, especially with a fine sequel available, can go a long way.
“Those who already own Warhammer 40000: Space Marine need to pony up the full price if they wish to check out the new, passable coat of paint on this 14-year-old game.”
And in essence, Warhammer 40000: Space Marine—Master Crafted Edition is a sufficient upgrade. The graphical overhaul does the trick; for the most part, you can tell it’s a 2011 game wearing new clothes, but the outfit is current enough.
In Captain Titus‘ original outing, he and his squadmates, Sidonus and Leandros, go up against a vicious warband of Orks to prevent them from commandeering a mighty Battle Titan. Naturally, the Orks are not the true threat here, as a legion of Chaos Space Marines reveal themselves as the grand orchestrators. It’s a relatively tight 10-hour campaign or so, with enough set pieces and varied objectives to keep things from stagnating.
Since this was originally a 2011 game, the Gears of War influence is strong, especially given the inherently tanky nature of WH40K‘s genetically-engineered juggernauts. The key difference is that Space Marine makes you heal by executing stunned enemies in melee or during the limited-time Fury Mode… meaning you’ve got to wade into range, stun an enemy, and go through the typical Xbox 360-era evisceration animations anytime you would sip on a medpack in another franchise. This mechanic feels a little dated nowadays, even if it was still present in last fall’s sequel.
Nonetheless, Space Marine is a fun campaign, and I had definitely missed going up against the Orks in the sequel (no shade to Tyrannid fans, but I’d wish the Orks would return somehow in DLC). WH40K fans who somehow missed this game should be taking notice… but here’s where the caveat kicks in.
The Master Crafted Edition is listed on Steam for $53.49 CDN, while the Anniversary Edition goes for $49.99 CDN. Five bucks is a fair price for a next-gen upgrade, when most others would be double or triple that. However, this is a full, new, standalone game, and not a simple next-gen upgrade. Those who already own Space Marine need to pony up the full price if they wish to check out the new, passable coat of paint on this 14-year-old game. Both editions contain the plethora of DLC skins and gear that the game got post-launch, so the 2025 remastered edition literally offers no additional content that the 2021 Anniversary edition wouldn’t already access.
If this were simply a matter of paying as much as a nice cup of coffee to revisit an old favourite with modernized visuals, or to revisit Titus’ first outing, or even to fight the Orks again, this would be a no-brainer upgrade. However, in light of its release as a separate entity, “just good enough” is not good enough to pay for the whole thing all over again. A full-priced upgrade should be more impressive than what’s on display here, especially given it’s somewhat dated yet still accompanied by a small battalion of minor, quibbling bugs.
Of course, Steam sales may eventually offer a good opportunity to snag the Warhammer 40000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition for a fair price, but if you’re at all interested in the multiplayer mode, the original release will probably have a bigger population in the long run.
