Although rumours (and leaked video footage, although Relic have now said that this came from a cancelled game and parts from it have been used for this game) have been circling around on the Internet for a while now THQ and Relic have now officially announced the existence of a new Warhammer 40k game. Warhammer 40k: Space Marine will be an “Action RPG” for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

The new game puts you in the incredibly huge boots of the Emperor’s glorious genetically engineered Adeptus Astartes (which are sometimes referred to as Space Marines, hence the title of the game); whom are fending off thousands of Orks that have decided to attack an Imperial planet. There’s not much more information apart from what you see in the video above; but apparently you will be engaging in large-scale conflicts whilst using devastating weapons like chainswords, bolters and even orbital strikes. All this will be splattered with WH40k’s trademark gore, but it wouldn’t be the dark evil future without it.

The 40k universe is a favourite of mine, but I do have some issues with the largely generic title that Relic have chosen. Yes, Games Workshop largely created the bald space marine types we see in a lot of video games today but I can’t help thinking that Relic could have chosen a more attractive title, considering how many similar games are out there for your average consumer. Similarly calling the game WH40k: Adeptus Astartes would appeal to the fans of WH40k, but the average person wouldn’t have a clue what that title meant. It’s a bit of a conundrum, but I hope that they rename the game before release.

Despite my concerns about the games name I am looking forward to this. Relic have a great history, having already used the 40k license in the excellent Dawn of War games, but are largely focused on the RTS genre. However, if they can channel the rich lore of the 40k universe into a decent action game then it may just be one of the biggest releases of the year - at least in my eyes!

Pre-E3 2009: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine First Look - IGN

Apparently THQ doesn’t seem to be aware of the state of the economy right now and has sent our beloved Queen a gold plated Wii in order to promote their latest game. The shiny gold Wii and Wiimote, along with a copy of Big Family Games, arrived on the Queen’s doorstep at Buckingham Palace.

Apparently THQ thinks that 24 classic family games will appeal to the Royal Family, and will have the Queen flailing her arms in the air in no time at all. THQ product manager Danielle Robinson explains why they felt the need to pull such a tacky marketing stunt.

“The Royal Family is arguably the most important family in the country so we felt that they had to have a copy of the new game. But we thought that Her Majesty the Queen wouldn’t want to play on any old console, so an extra-special gold one was commissioned. We hope that she and the rest of the Royal Family enjoy the game!”

Gold it may well be, but I’d rather not have something so incredibly tacky in my living room. They also had the cheek to send the Queen shovelware, not that she’ll notice the quality of the game as it’s not like she’ll be playing it (although she has apparently shown interest in the console in the past).

Meanwhile we peasants have to make do with the regular old Wii, which wouldn’t be that bad if Nintendo would actually release colours other than plain white.

If you’re itching to fight more wars for our beloved Emperor then you’ll be pleased to know that Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 2 will be with us on 20th February. However, if you can’t wait that long then THQ have announced that a beta will be available later this month.

The beta will be hosted by Steam (which is awesome by the way) on 28th January, but those who own the last Dawn of War expansion, Soulstorm, will get early access on 21st January. It will include all four races - including everyone’s favourite Tyranids - and five multiplayer maps, plus Games for Windows Live TrueSkill Matchmaking.

If you still can’t wait that long then I implore you to pick up Soulstorm if you haven’t already. Not only will you get the early access mentioned above, but you will also get plenty more gameplay to tide you over while you wait for the sequel to one of the best recent RTS games that the PC has to offer.  The expansion pack introduces the Dark Eldar and the Sisters of Battle to the mix, which should sound good to any loyal 40k fan.

If you haven’t had the chance to play the original Dawn of War then you can pick up the complete collection (that’s the original game plus all the expansions) for less than £15. That’s clearly worth it for so many hours of excellent RTS gameplay.

The term ‘GTA Clone’ is thrown around way too much. Nothing is original these days and everyone takes inspiration from somewhere, it’s just whether or not they can actually build upon what originally inspired them. Besides, there’s always room for competition in the market; although it’s often the case that ‘GTA inspired’ games don’t really make much of an impact. The original Saints Row was pretty successful and I see no reason why its sequel can’t be as successful. In fact, I believe it may be more successful based on recent happenings in the video game world. As I previously wrote a lot of people felt GTA IV was a disappointment because some of the whacky over-the-top fun that had marked previous outings (such as driving a monster truck off a huge mountain) was reduced due to Rockstar’s attempt to focus on realism. It didn’t make it a bad game - and the humour still remained - but it did seem like Rockstar was handing the stupid factor off to someone else. This is where Saints Row 2 steps in, and they even tried to win over those disappointed GTA fan boys with the comparison video below. Saints Row was known for its improvement of some of GTA’s features, and while GTA IV also fixed many of those it seems that, yet again, Saints Row 2 is set to try and win one over on GTA.

The picture above can pretty much sum up what you’re going to get out of Saints Row 2. The list of activities in the video above is pretty exhaustive compared to GTA IV’s, in my opinion, pretty lacklustre offerings. It’s hard to see how you could avoid getting at least some fun out of the game, even if the game’s humor is far more slapstick than the satire we’re used to in the GTA franchise. The hot dog costume signifies the great deal of customisation and choices you have in Saints Row 2, far more than the few outfits available in GTA IV. Now you can completely customise your characters appearance (including the ability to play a female character), such as their age, weight, features, voice, fighting style etc. Clothing is far more modifiable than before, meaning that you can modify the colouring and layout. These options also extend to your gang, so you can have your gang all decked out in the same costumes (which, thankfully, can also be ninja costumes) and also modify the graffiti tag they use. You can also completely deck out the ‘cribs’ that you and your gang call home, adding items such as pool tables, TV’s and minibars.  This is all without touching the apparently ‘extensive’ vehicle customisation options. Weapons start with the basic submachine guns and handguns (which can be dual-wielded) but you also have access to flamethrowers, sledgehammers, satchel chargers, katanas, shock pads etc. Additionally you are now able to pick up items of the scenery to use as melee weapons.There’s far more I could get into, such as the respect system, the ability to own businesses, the new combat system, the new gangs, multiplayer (and the co-op mode). However, I don’t want to make this post too long - as I tend to make a habit of that. The point is that Saints Row 2 packs a massive amount of features, but it remains to be seen if the gameplay can be engaging enough to make let you experience them all. Yes, like I’ve done with this post they’ll be plenty of comparisons to GTA but, if the game is good enough and sells enough, it may just have established it’s own franchise that widely differs from the new realistic approach of GTA. There’s enough room in this world for more than one sandbox game, they just have to be good enough.

Saints Row 2 is out on November 7 in the UK, annoyingly the US version hits on October 14. You’ll also have a choice of Xbox 360, PS3 or PC.