See how hard Space Marine 2's photo mode goes in the hands of an expert Warhammer 40,000 painter

It is a wild time to be a Warhammer fan.

Strangely, the most anticipated Warhammer release of the year hasn't been a flashy new 40k miniature or the launch of an entirely new edition of Age of Sigmar—it's the Space Marine 2 videogame. It's all the Warhammer and wider gaming community is talking about, and—as a long time 40k fan—I've been enjoying all the things you'd expect: the brutal combat, the elaborate customisation and of course the excruciatingly detailed depiction of the grimdark setting.

But although I love a good hack and slash game (Doom and Vermintide are other huge favourites) I definitely came to Space Marine 2 as a fan of the tabletop game first. Painting, customising and photographing my own miniatures is one of my greatest joys in life, which brings me onto what is secretly the best feature of Space Marine 2: the photo mode! 

At any point in the campaign you can pause and start an in-game photography shoot. And it does not skimp on features, with filters, frames, depth customisation and even different facial expressions to play with. Obviously, photo modes aren't a new thing, but trust me you need to try it in Space Marine 2. I’m not sure what kind of  dark magic the devs used, but it feels like every single time results in the most dynamic and beautiful shots I've seen. Which might sound strange to say when talking about Tyranids getting bisected with a chainsword, but it really is like top tier official Game Workshop artwork. 

Like many other fans, I quickly took to my social media to gush about some of my favourite photos, and  PC Gamer reached out to ask if I'd like to share some from my play-through. I jumped at the opportunity faster than an assault marine in PVP. 

Here's my showcase, I hope you like them, and don't forget to click on the icon in the top right to see each image fullscreen:   

Titus vs the Warrior 

This is one of the first pictures I took in photo mode, which essentially got me hooked on stopping to take shots mid-battle. It’s taken in the heat of combat with a tyranid warrior and it demonstrates the depth and quality of framing you can achieve. The detail they’ve put into both the characters, enemies, animations and even particles is outstanding and translates to still images.  

Death from Above 

This is one of my favourite pictures (even though I'm seconds away from getting my ass handed to me by a particularly nasty lictor). The lighting and movement on each of the lictor’s tentacles feels so intentionally posed, even though this is just a fraction of a single animation. 

Beauty in Destruction 

My first time picking up a melta weapon. I expected the classic glowy explosion but the colours it ended up producing when mixed with tyranid gore were surprisingly stunning! 

Close Call

When avoiding a psychic blast from a zoanthrope (one of my least favourite enemies in the game) I managed to capture this extremely cool Matrix-style shot!  

A Moment of Reflection on the Battle Barge 

At times this game definitely feels like a love letter to Warhammer fans. Even if you’re not as clued up on the lore or the setting as others, the game drops you into such an enigmatic and aesthetically rich setting that I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people end up visiting their local GW to start a space marine army.  

Clash of the Titans

One thing which has definitely slowed my progress in the campaign is pausing around 15 times a second to try and capture the ‘ultimate’ combat still and, although at times it feels like i'm playing a space marine version of Pokémon Snap, I think this shot is a contender for my best so far.

Stay Vigilant

If you’re sick of incomprehensibly huge fountains of blood obscuring your shots, then catching Captain Titus in some of his ‘idle’ animations is a great way to get some different and more unique poses. 

Fly my Pretties!   

One reason this game is so satisfying to play is the quality of the different environments which you’re put into. I love this pic because of the sense of scale with the imperial ship, civilian city and the vastness of space all dominating the background. 

Take Aim! 

Often, catching a character in mid animation can produce some funny comedy poses—but when I tried snapping Titus mid-roll it produced this epic super hero-esque pose. The guy doesn't have a bad angle, it seems! 

Power Pose

More proof that it’s pretty much impossible not to look cool in power armour. 

War on an Epic Scale 

The camera options in photo mode are really intuitive, enabling you to edit your focal depth, camera angle and also your depth of field. Try pulling back to capture dramatic wide shots with mind-boggling amounts of detail like this one.

The Moment of Victory

Celebrating my victory over a massive carnifex by capturing the moment in glorious HD. Again, the lighting really helps make photo-mode a feast for the eyes!