Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

18 cert, Relic Entertainment/ THQ, Xbox 360 (also PS3, PC) ****

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room first. Can you see him? He’s wearing huge body armour and is toting a big gun with a blade attached. Indeed, a less generous reviewer might consider

Space Marine

to be hugely derivative of the

Gears of War

franchise. However, numerous resemblances aside,

Space Marine

emerges as a distinct, energetic experience.

It's hard to tell what Warhammertable-top gamers will make of it, but fans of third-person shooters will find much to admire. As Titus, a genetically modified Space Marine, your overall task is to lead a small squad through an industrial planet that's being overtaken by the alien "Orks". (Considering the breadth of its source material, it's surprising to see story take a back seat to action here.)

Despite the futuristic sci-fi setting and weapons, your tasks are surprisingly old- school, such as planting a bomb or commandeering a vehicle. How you go about this is traditional as well, with plenty of third-person firefights and reasonably elaborate melee combat.

Your weapons range from the standard (sniper rifles, submachine guns) to the occasionally innovative (we especially like the “vengeance launcher”, which fires sticky mines to enemies and surfaces). Incidentally, the multiplayer verses mode (with two teams of eight) works well.

Graphically, Space Marineis hardly original, though it is cinematic – the dusty steam- punk world is well rendered, and the enemies (looking like malevolent Shreks) fall on just the right side of cartoonish. Sometimes it can be hard to make out what's going on in the more frantic melee moments, but overall, the combat is both vivid and clear.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marineis unlikely to dethrone iconic series such as Haloand Gears of War, but it is a full- blooded shooter.