I will admit that the headline is a little bit of a troll—Warhammer fans are notoriously punchy about making sure people understand their game influenced StarCraft and Gears, not the other way around—but we also live in a world where Gears of War is seen as the master of the bulky-space-marines-killing-things genre. It's one thing to know that Warhammer has been profoundly influential in the world of gaming and miniatures, but the game still has to stand out among games that took its core concepts and made them popular.

Luckily, Space Marine does this with little problem. While the screenshots may look like Gears of War in some ways, the gameplay itself is pure Warhammer.

What the game does right

There is no cover system offered in Space Marine, and you're more likely to wade into a swarm of enemies than sit back and pick them off one by one. This is a game for the bloodthirsty and brutal. The demo gives you four guns to play with, including a sniper rifle that is very effective at making the heads of the orks explode at long range, but the real fun comes from the combination sword and chainsaw that you can whip out at a moment's notice and slice through multiple bad guys.

The Chainsword isn't a weapon you have to select, it's something that's always there, and always ready to paint the floor with the blood of your enemies. The game plays along, throwing hordes of orks at you to destroy. It's exciting when you see waves of enemies coming at you, and you realize the best strategy is to run towards them, picking off a few with your gun before making things more personal with your melee weapon.

The health system is also brilliantly implemented. You'll take damage as you deal death to everything that opposes you, and the only way to gain it back is by using a stun move to clobber an enemy and then perform an execution move. There is something wonderful about a game that forces your character to feel the warm spray of blood on his face if he wants to survive. As you kill the enemies, you'll also charge up your Fury meter, eventually allowing you to unleash more powerful melee attacks and refill your health gauge.

To summarize, a space marine is a man that becomes healthier when he goes into a berserker rage. I think this is something one must respect.

The game will sometimes throw more powerful enemies your way or put orks above you to drop grenades into the action, so you'll need to maintain situational awareness and adjust your tactics accordingly. The game wants you to let go and kill everything there is to kill, but the battles are fluid, and you'll always need to be on your toes. This is even more important once the demo gives you the use of a jump pack, giving your character the ability to take the fight vertical. The action always feels satisfying and thick, with muscular characters slamming into each other, creating clouds of blood and body parts.

The question is whether this intensity can remain interesting and fun for the full length of a game, or if it's best experienced in small doses. Even in the demo many of the environments feels bland and static, at least until the fighting begins. The game plays well on the PC, with full mouse and keyboard support and impressive graphics at higher resolutions.

While it's unfair to say the Pixies are ripping off Nirvana if they release a new album—and boy did I just date myself there—influential properties still need to justify their existence in a world of more popular descendants. Space Marine has no problem feeling distinct and enjoyable in a world of cover-based shooters. I'm going to stop selling you on the game and instead invite you to download the demo and see for yourself; it's available now on the PS3, 360, and PC via Steam. Space Marine will be released for those three platforms on September 6.