Space Marine 2 shows off 10 minutes of stomping, chainswording and a Chaos tease for the Warhammer 40k sequel in extended gameplay

We still don’t know when we’ll be able to play the unexpected - but welcome - Warhammer 40k Gears of War-a-like sequel Space Marine 2, but we can at least get a look at who we’ll be shooting in the face when it arrives. 10 minutes of extended gameplay footage have teased the appearance of Chaos marines in the upcoming shooter, along with lots of slow, stompy walking through its grimdark universe.

The latest gameplay shows blue-suited Ultramarine hero Lieutenant Titus stomping his way through a city on the Planet Avarax, chatting with Space Marine pals Chairon and Gadriel, and taking in the sights, enjoying lifting up heavy gates and staring at lighting effects. What do you mean there’s an alien invasion going on?

Alas, it’s not all sunbeams and lift rides, as Titus is shown slicing and shooting his way through crowds of alien Tyranids with both bolter and chainsword at hand. The mixture of melee and ranged combat showcases execution moves as the power-armoured soldier grapples with Tyranids, chucks them around - sometimes just catching them by the tail before whipping them down into the floor - and turns them into interstellar salami.

Though Titus moves at a mostly glacial pace when not fighting in the footage, presumably to let us viewers soak in the crispy rendered environments, he can apparently run. Sprinting: confirmed. Still, I hope you like the sound of boots on gravel.

A bit of blood-letting later, a familiar Space Marine Rhino tank shows up, there’s flying swarms of Tyranids in the air and we’ve given a look at enemies both big and small(er). There is, however, a disappointing lack of people bellowing “SPACE MARINE!” at you, which remains my prevailing memory of the first game.

The gameplay footage ends with a tease of Chaos enemies in Space Marine 2, as Titus stomps under a purple-drenched sky filled with floating rocks - presumably The Warp, the psychic dimension that serves as the home of Chaos - with Chaos marines spotted in the distance. The purple tinge may be a nod to the colours of Chaos god Tzeentch, associated with trickery and magic, with devs Saber Interactive confirming that sorcerous Thousand Sons marines will show up as a foe for you to blast in their magical mouths.

So far, so Space Marine, but I ended up liking that first game far more than I expected, so I hold out hope that this will be at least more of that, albeit with even sharper-looking visuals and some new foes to pump away at with a bolter. We still don’t know exactly when Space Marine 2 will be out yet, so there’s probably time to go and replay that first one while you wait for its beta.