Why aren’t you playingSpace Marine 2right now? Stop reading, experience all the boss fights yourself, and then come back to see how you feel. This is one of those games that gives you many empowering moments, from catching leaping daemons out of the air to ripping off alien limbs and impaling their previous owner with them.
And yet, it’s still very easy to get carried away and slaughtered by the constant hordes and enemy squads. If there are any humbling encounters in this adventure, they’re due to the various bosses that are only too confident in taking you down themselves. You’re dealing with aliens on one side and daemons on the other, and here are the best champions they have to offer.
8Lord Of Change
Lording Over The End
If only for the lead, the final boss makes it onto this list. When reinforcements show up at the last second, you’re fighting a losing battle against hordes of daemons and cultists. The Lord of Change is unfazed as he attacks with chaotic power from a distance while you and your squad push your way forward.
By inverting specific artifacts, you rob the daemon of its power, and it retreats to a chaotic realm. The fight is grandiose and exciting as the daemon towers over you and strikes with different attacks. Still, it’s last on the list since the Lord of Change is more of a background hazard than your direct target.
7Helbrute
A Fleshy Metallic Monster Titan
If there’s one thing in Space Marine 2 that makes you feel like deadweight, it’sthe dreadnought. This hulking machine-man barely appears a handful of times but makes you feel inadequate as it wipes out entire enemy squads with scarcely a motion. Now, imagine having to fight one of those: That’s the Helbrute. This dreadnought corrupted by chaos has become more beast than machine.
It fights without fear, roaring and screaming in ways that make you doubt it was ever human. Despite its bulk, it can move swiftly around the field through teleportation, but it can also rely on its plasma cannon to annihilate you from a distance. It loses points for having to be a repeat fight, but the first encounter stays with you.
6Hierophant Bio-Titan
A Walking, Roaring Doom Machine Of Flesh
The Tyranids are a welcome enemy force to deal with: mindless, ravenous aliens that want to eat and destroy, so you don’t need to hold back. Their countless swarms and adaptable mutations make them a force that should concern the universe, mainly as they can produce things like the Hierophant Bio-Titan. This walking tower of terror is so large that you only ever see it from a distance, but your commander expects you and your two buddies to take it down alone.
The fight occurs on a platform that the beast keeps in sight and rains down green doom, forcing you to run and dive for your life. Luckily, you get access to a series of massive cannons that you aim down your sights to lock on and blast this thing to pieces. This is another background threat, but it still feels like you’re fighting it head-on.
5The Daemonhost
Host With The Most… Evil
It’s disturbingly impressive what cultists are willing to put up with in the name of whatever chaotic entity they serve. They’ll give up everything from their identity to their very souls if it means glory for chaos. A prime example is the Daemonhost from theVox Liberatis Operation, which is causing massive interference.
When you arrive at its location, the cultist levitates at the center of the structure with an enormous daemon’s presence projecting from his body. Invulnerable, your only choice is to destroy the chaos totems, keeping it tethered. As you try to do that, the Daemonhost blasts you with energy attacks while constantly sending chaos forces after you. It looks cool, it’s a struggle, and it leaves you satisfied when you watch it fall.
4Imurah
Mutated By Chaos, Throwing Down
Since Imurah is revealed as themain bad guy of Space Marine 2, you’ll see him pop up here and there, including two boss fights. Even so, it’s the first one that grabs your attention since it’s also his introduction. Not only does he kill a powerful psyker who was one of the most potent entities on your side, but he attacks you on your turf.
Within moments, a truly secure place becomes an arena you can’t leave until you deal with this twisted daemon sorcerer. He darts about through the air, flinging sorceries at you to wear you down, before diving in to beat you to death with his staff. It’s a significant lead into a villain you hate on sight and want nothing more than to wipe that smug look off his face.
3Lictor
As If The Tentacle Mouth Wasn’t Scary Enough
Some of the best horror games offer their take on one of humanity’s greatest fears: The fear of the unknown. It’s an established rule of fright that the less you see and know about something, the more horrifying it is. The Tyranids are already scary enough, but their mastery of horror comes fromLictors.
These Eldritch-faced hunters are predators of the worst kind, and you encounter the first one in the forest-like environment of a ravaged planet. It stalks you from the trees, staying utterly invisible until it strikes. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch a glint in its eyes before it sinks its claws into your body. To make matters worse, they eventually become a recurring enemy, keeping you on edge.
2Heldrake
Robot + Dragon = AWESOME
Dragons and dragon-like creatures will always be awesome, no matter where or what universe you’re in. This is proven by the fact that even the forces of Chaos in Warhammer 40k have designed machines to look like dragons.
In theReliquary Operation, the Thousand Sons unleash a machine-beast called a Heldrake to wreak havoc on the planet. A mechanical dragon flies around, breathing fire and being a menace. The lead-up has you darting between what little cover there is to avoid the fire and beating up chaos forces without concern for unholy-degree burns.
When you finally get to the Heldrake’s nest, it’s protected by a forcefield, and your squad must activate the correct symbols to bring it down so you’re able to pump the Heldrake full of lasers, lead, and whatever else you’re carrying. Meanwhile, the Heldrake and its entourage will happily flame and blast you while you’re doing that.
1Hive Tyrant
The Monstrous Master
Although Chaos eventually replaced theTyranids as the main threat, Operation Decapitation helped them make their mark. You and your squad are sent down to a Tyranid-infested world to take down their leader in hopes of dispersing the swarm. Their leader is a massive collective of claws, blades, whips, guns, energy, and teeth called a Hive Tyrant.
You destroy an entire bridge to kill it, but it shakes it off and wanders off with rebar still in its back. You chase it to an arena where it is just you and the monster. It’s fast, strong, and vicious, which makes it a challenging fight.
And just when you think you’ve won, it revives itself with psionic energy, becoming even more powerful and summoning soldiers to aid it. The Hive Tyrant doesn’t mess around, and neither should you.
