Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 vs Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is an action-adventure RPG game from Saber Interactive (2024) while Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is an action-RPG FPS game from Fatshark (2018).
What each one is
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is filed under Action-Adventure and RPG. In contrast, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 under Action-RPG and FPS.
Embody the superhuman skill and brutality of a Space Marine. Unleash deadly abilities and devastating weaponry to obliterate the relentless Tyranid swarms. Defend the Imperium in spectacular third-person action in solo or multiplayer modes.
The critically acclaimed Vermintide 2 is a visually stunning and groundbreaking melee action game pushing the boundaries of the first person co-op genre. Join the fight now!
Story, characters and reception
Plot
Setting The game is set in the early 42nd Millennium during the Era Indomitus, the Age of the Dark Imperium. After the return of Roboute Guilliman, the Primarch of the Ultramarines, the Imperium of Man has launched a galaxy-wide, decade-long campaign known as the Indomitus Crusade with the goal of reclaiming lost worlds from its enemies and bringing it back from the brink of collapse. However, when it seems that the Imperium have gained the upper hand,… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical reception Reception Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic , and 87% of critics recommended the game, according to OpenCritic . The game attracted more than 2 million players on its launch day. By October 16, 2024, the game had sold 4. (Wikipedia)
Plot
The game is set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe during the early days of the End Times. The game follows the Heroes of Ubersreik from the first game against the Skaven hordes of Clan Fester and their new allies, the Rotbloods (a Chaos Warband dedicated to Nurgle, the Chaos God of Disease and Decay). The expansion, "Winds of Magic", also introduced the Beastmen, a herd of Chaos mutated humanoids, in search of an object known as the 'Herdstone'. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception The game received generally positive reviews from critics according to review aggregator platform Metacritic . Tom Marks, writing from IGN , wrote positively about the game, comically praising it on the creative forms of dismemberment that the players can participate in against the "ratmen", one of the primary antagonists of the game, and lack of microtransactions , which he compares favorably against Star Wars: Battlefront II . PC Gamer… (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 | Warhammer: Vermintide 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.9/10 | 7.9/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (84%, 223,361) | Very Positive (85%, 147,456) |
| Critic aggregate | 82/100 | 82/100 |
| Price | $59.99 | $5.99 |
| Install size | 75 GB | 60 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | unsupported |
| Released | 2024 | 2018 |
| Developer | Saber Interactive | Fatshark |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 vs Warhammer: Vermintide 2, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2Action-adventure RPG gameWarhammer: Vermintide 2Action-RPG FPS gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2Warhammer 40K, Action, Third-Person ShooterWarhammer: Vermintide 2Co-op, Dark Fantasy, Games WorkshopThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2Score 7.9 · 84% on Steam · 82 criticWarhammer: Vermintide 2Score 7.9 · 85% on Steam · 82 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2223,361 reviews · 25 add-ons · 75 GBWarhammer: Vermintide 2147,456 reviews · 21 add-ons · 60 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2$59.99Warhammer: Vermintide 2 ✓$5.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 ✓PlayableWarhammer: Vermintide 2UnsupportedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Across the rounds a number can settle, it is level at 1 each. Which one is "better" is the part no figure decides, so we leave it to what you want from the two.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueWarhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Warhammer: Vermintide 2 on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The cheaper right now: Warhammer: Vermintide 2 ($5.99)
- Better on a Steam Deck: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (playable)
- Lighter on storage: Warhammer: Vermintide 2 (60 GB)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
ActionMultiplayerCo-opPvEFantasySingleplayer
Where they differ
Warhammer 40KThird-Person ShooterAdventureAction-AdventureThird PersonSci-fi
Dark FantasyGames WorkshopOnline Co-OpHack and SlashDwarfGore
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 | Warhammer: Vermintide 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | 6 GB | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 |
| Minimum CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 2600X / Intel Core i5-8600K | Intel Core i5-2300 @ 2.80 GHz / AMD FX-4350 @ 4.2 GHz |
| Minimum RAM | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Install size | 75 GB | 60 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 · Warhammer: Vermintide 2.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 8 accessibility features for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and 1 for Warhammer: Vermintide 2. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Warhammer: Vermintide 2 in scope?
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has drawn 223,361 Steam reviews, ships 25 add-ons and installs in 75 GB. Warhammer: Vermintide 2 has drawn 147,456 Steam reviews, ships 21 add-ons and installs in 60 GB.
Is Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 or Warhammer: Vermintide 2 better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 rates higher (7.9 to 7.9). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 or Warhammer: Vermintide 2?
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is cheaper right now at $5.99, against $59.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.