Warhammer 40K: The Space Marines That Never Were

Forging Worlds

Anyone following the development of Space Marine from its beginnings will have noticed the design changes it underwent over the course of development. Believe it or not, Relic's Space Marine began life as a blend of squad-based action and RPG elements.

This old Space Marine trailer shows the direction that Relic's version might have gone - something reminiscent of an action-oriented Dawn of War 2, where you have control of a group of specialists with varying abilities. While the system worked in the more traditionally strategic iteration of a Warhammer 40K game, there were concerns about how it translated to an action oriented experience:

“Early on we wanted you to be able to improve your Space Marine as you progressed through the game; unlocking weapons and abilities,” Matthew Berger explains. “What we didn’t want however was to just give you the +3 Bolter; there were concerns about deviating too much from the IP.”


The closer the title came to release, the lighter on RPG elements it became until, eventually, the idea was dropped entirely. How the RPG infused version would have played is still a lingering mystery:

“It’s impossible to say what sort of game we would have ended up with because so many elements changed, were cut or added at various points in the project. The RPG elements we had planned were always fairly light though and were more a character progression than a true role playing game."

It seems like the recurring issue in Space Marine’s development is balancing the core experience against the more novel elements. While it’s impossible to say what the squad based version would be like for sure, it is possible to come to certain conclusions based on what’s been said.

The squad featured in early trailers were all specialists of some kind, so it’s logical that any skill tree they had would draw on their strengths; cool down times on heavy weapons, jump pack aptitude, the ability to wield a rifle and a close combat weapon; exactly the sort of perks that are in the multiplayer of the finished game. Exterminatus Mode showcases how this sort of system works in a mission based scenario.


Images of cut content show items like combi-bolters (bolter + plasma gun in a single weapon) and bayonets too. The images also suggest a level of customisability for squad members, which would’ve been a welcome touch. Of course, this is said from the outside looking in; its implementation would decide how successful an idea it was.

The story of Titus only emerged after the shift to being purely action, so a lesser story element and at worst, bland non character protagonists has been implied as a possibility, which might’ve harmed the atmosphere since it’d give players less context for the game’s events.

While that hypothetical version of Space Marine never was, it hasn’t disappeared completely. Exterminatus echoes what might have been, with its elite squad facing down literal armies and objective based play, though perhaps not to the scale that was originally intended:

“Exterminatus definitely allows the player to experience part of the core Space Marine fantasy," says Berger. "[But] Exterminatus took effort and several iterations before it turned into what it is now and imagining extending that to the whole campaign really helps explain why we didn’t do it.”