Space Marshals 2 Guide
Use the environment to your advantage. Avoid attacks by taking cover. Flank enemies for extra efficiency, but avoid getting flanked yourself! Use the tools of the trade to gain an edge frag grenades, flash bangs, drones, gun turrets, proximity mines and much more. Choose your approach carefully. Some say running into the fray, guns blazing, isn’t always the answer. Use distractions to single out opponents. Use stealth takedowns and silenced weapons to covertly reduce the enemy numbers. Hack gun turrets to turn on their masters. Lure different enemy factions together and let them fight each other.Choosing your load-out is a big part of your tactics. In addition to body armor and grenades you can carry one two-handed and one single-handed weapon - and there’s something for everyone. Shotguns, handguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, crossbows, energy weapons, throwing axes and more.The story of the game picks up shortly after where the other one leaves off, with a bounty having been placed on the Space Marshals, and their needing to escape from the bounty hunters. They land on a nearby planet, and from there, players will guide them through twenty missions. All the main characters have returned. It retains the same aesthetics as its predecessor, so there’s a nice blend of Old West with far flung, futuristic Sci-Fi; stetsons are at home here, along with cybernetic limbs. Everything is colorful, and clear to look at. It also retains the same sense of humor, found in the dialog (goofy and forgetful protagonist, snarky AI, etc), so “more of the same” really works for the franchise here. Playing it on my Shield TV, I noticed zero lag or stuttering. so all the visual ran smoothly. The sound track was fitting as well. While not having a lot of variety to it, it conveyed both a bit of tension, with some action in its sound, so it’s not a bad choice on their part. Space Marshals 2, as you might be able to guess from the title, is about policemen in space. Cowboy policemen to be precise. There’s some double crossing at the start of the story, then you’re chucked into a series of non-linear levels to find out what happened, capture some bounties, and generally be an intergalactic cop. The controls are pretty much standard twin stick shooter. One joystick moves you around, another one aims your weapon. But if you’re expecting this to be a full-on onslaught of bad guys and bullets then you’re going to be a little disappointed. Instead Space Marshals 2 challenges its inner stealth game, throws in a bit of cover shooter, and then laces the whole thing with brief bursts of frantic action that get the pulse racing but are far from the norm.
The gameplay seems to work even without a controller, though having one does make for a superior experience, with the game being a dual stick shooter. The touch controls work well though, with players using floating buttons that remap as needed, from moving or operating objects on one side, and attacking on the other; tapping anywhere else on the screen toggles the sneaking mode. Players typically sneak around and pick their spots for combat with hostiles, mindful of drawing unwanted attention. In a format that is reminiscent of the Metal Gear Solid, players can see the cones that represent the area of view for enemies, along with laser sites for weapons, and other cues from enemies for things they might hear (alarms, footsteps, et al). Players can toggle between jogging (offensive mode), and crouching (sneaking mode), with the former being both faster and noisier than the latter. The hero is equipped with a variety of items, accruing more each time a level is completed (though of the choices available, only one can be taken at a time). These include a pistol of sorts, a rifle of sorts, armor (with modifiers for health, front facing shields, noise and speed), and two throw-able objects (typically grenades, or place-able mines). In addition to these options, players have a new option: the sleeper hold. So, whenever a player sneeds up behind an enemy (or from any direction if said enemy is sleeping), the marshal puts a sleeper hold on the enemy, thus neutralizing them without firing a shot. Adding the sleeper hold was pure genius on their part. It can preserve silence, as some of the weapons are noisy, or hold only a small amount of ammunition; among the weapons, there was quite the variety in ammo, style, damage, and more. Objectives changed on occasion, sometimes mid-mission, but the format was otherwise the same for every mission: get dropped off, complete objectives, and get picked up. When you’re crouched, you’ll automatically perform sneaky takedowns when you’re close enough to an enemy. Running into a fire-fight all guns blazing, especially at the start of the game, will usually end badly. You need to figure out how to take out the criminals one by one, preying on their weaknesses and then using brute force when the time is right. You unlock new weapons, hats and armor as you progress through the game, and the variety of baddies you need to take down shifts from simple goons to tougher bosses and automated turrets.
The story of the game picks up shortly after where the other one leaves off, with a bounty having been placed on the Space Marshals, and their needing to escape from the bounty hunters. They land on a nearby planet, and from there, players will guide them through twenty missions. All the main characters have returned. It retains the same aesthetics as its predecessor, so there’s a nice blend of Old West with far flung, futuristic Sci-Fi; stetsons are at home here, along with cybernetic limbs. Everything is colorful, and clear to look at. It also retains the same sense of humor, found in the dialog (goofy and forgetful protagonist, snarky AI, etc), so “more of the same” really works for the franchise here. Playing it on my Shield TV, I noticed zero lag or stuttering. so all the visual ran smoothly. The sound track was fitting as well. While not having a lot of variety to it, it conveyed both a bit of tension, with some action in its sound, so it’s not a bad choice on their part. The gameplay seems to work even without a controller, though having one does make for a superior experience, with the game being a dual stick shooter. The touch controls work well though, with players using floating buttons that remap as needed, from moving or operating objects on one side, and attacking on the other; tapping anywhere else on the screen toggles the sneaking mode. Players typically sneak around and pick their spots for combat with hostiles, mindful of drawing unwanted attention. In a format that is reminiscent of the Metal Gear Solid, players can see the cones that represent the area of view for enemies, along with laser sites for weapons, and other cues from enemies for things they might hear (alarms, footsteps, et al). Players can toggle between jogging (offensive mode), and crouching (sneaking mode), with the former being both faster and noisier than the latter.
The hero is equipped with a variety of items, accruing more each time a level is completed (though of the choices available, only one can be taken at a time). These include a pistol of sorts, a rifle of sorts, armor (with modifiers for health, front facing shields, noise and speed), and two throw-able objects (typically grenades, or place-able mines). In addition to these options, players have a new option: the sleeper hold. So, whenever a player sneeds up behind an enemy (or from any direction if said enemy is sleeping), the marshal puts a sleeper hold on the enemy, thus neutralizing them without firing a shot. Adding the sleeper hold was pure genius on their part. It can preserve silence, as some of the weapons are noisy, or hold only a small amount of ammunition; among the weapons, there was quite the variety in ammo, style, damage, and more. Objectives changed on occasion, sometimes mid-mission, but the format was otherwise the same for every mission: get dropped off, complete objectives, and get picked up. In another improvement of the game, the prior release unlocked missions as players collected the requisite number of “clues” (white pieces of paper) that were hidden throughout the levels of the game. Failure to find enough forced players to replay completed levels. This time around, that requirement has been removed. Instead of clues, now players can collect coins, that can be redeemed (in groups of seven) for new weapons or other items, beyond the ones awarded at the end of a level. Now allowing levels to be completed successively, while offering rewards for the extra effort, make for a far superior experience. I had to double back for needed clues more than once in the last game, just to be able to unlock the next level. The last major change installed was regarding when a level has been completed. Players can continue on in that level, to wrap up any unfinished business. Scoring for a level is based on player deaths (subtracting points) and neutralizing high value targets (adding points), always having a maximum total of five, either by combing the two, or just not dying (on some levels). So, if players missed one of the kills or optional coins, they could go back through the level to mop up, before exiting back to camp. Considering players can only claim one of the (at most) four items awarded (depending on performance), this is a very nice addition for those that might only want to pass through a level once.
