Space Marine 2 devs will adjust Veteran difficulty to make it 'slightly more fair,' but they really don't want to do an FOV slider—and you can just forget about shoulder swapping

17 hours ago 20

(Image credit: Saber Interactive)

Space Marine 2 is doing fine, but that doesn't mean it can't do better. Earlier this month, after the first hotfix went live, the dev team said "we're reading all of your feedback with great attention," and now to prove it, Focus Entertainment has posted a lengthy Q&A addressing many of the "hottest topics" submitted by players.

Top of the list is connectivity issues, which are causing lost saves and making it difficult to play with friends: Addressing that is a "top priority" for the development team, Focus said, and server capacity is being increased to better handle the demand. Bot companions, which have been criticized for being "inefficient" in solo play, will also be tweaked to be more effective in boss fights, and may be made more active regarding "specific objectives in the campaign" in a patch further down the road.

A related change will be made to the Veteran difficulty level, which some players apparently feel is too difficult because those bot companions aren't helping to complete objectives. "[Veteran] will remain challenging but it will be slightly more fair because we will tweak AI aggressiveness on this difficulty," Focus Entertainment said. "Other difficulties will remain untouched."

An FOV slider may happen at some point: Focus said it really doesn't want to add one because the Space Marine 2 camera "is very cinematic and constantly changes position and FOV based on what you are doing." But an awful lot of people have asked for the option, "so we are considering it anyway."

What they're not considering is a left-right shoulder swap, which would apparently be a huge job—"everything in melee combat was made based on the fact that you hold pistol in the left hand and melee weapon in the right hand (because it looks badass)"—nor will class restrictions on cloaks and tabards be removed, because they're "part of class identity; you get to recognize snipers because of those elements."

There's quite a bit more granular info to dive into, and Focus described this as the "first batch" of Space Marine 2 Q&As, implying that further batches will follow at some point. If you have any relevant questions or suggestions yourself, step one is to check the year one roadmap to ensure it's not already in the works; if not, then step two is to drop it on the new Focus Together community hub.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.