Architecture in Space Marine


Space Marine is a first person shooter designed by Relic and Published by THQ in 2011. A big part of what makes this game so great is its environmental design. Space Marine draws obviously and strongly from the Gothic era of archtecture. All throughout the game the player observes tall, spires and vuildings that resemble cathedrals and churches that reach toward the heavens and accept the light of day through their many windows. 

Image retrieved from: http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/spacemarine/images/2/25/Sm_psychic_scourge_2.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111008091406

The reasoning for this is the same as in the days of old: to be closer to their God and to let His light reach them wherever they may be. Inside these buildings there are long corridors that stretch high up into the ceiling with and decorated with lavish ornamentation. What makes space marine interesting is their coupling of Gothic architecture with technology. Alongside these Gothic buildings the occasional smoke stack that spews forth clouds of smoke while in other areas a Gothic inspired weapon cache will hide a new advanced weapon for the player behind a crackling energy field. Not only does their architecture aspire to greatness as in the period of Gothic architecture in reality, it also purveys a story. 

Image retrieved from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MN8QIOGqnbHf_gLoTw932W-WJyD5QIxkVifzRScwxN2hP3BaLcJS2hXFZtgNLykMO32mQuzKvozF_t5YMjFC1M8VRUp11Ugfqs4PD2vNPQBpumSHkO_i-B_ZiEoU3KKyS-CmgiRgsWjK/s1600/space_marine_02.jpg
In space marine the character is placed upon a planet under siege by brutish aliens and no where else is this better portrayed than in their buildings and environment design. Where once there stood a great Gothic building, resplendent in its glory is now defiled by crude, hurriedly put together structures and barricades signifying alien territory. It is the players mission to make their way through these levels, slaying the aliens and taking the story told by the environment. 

Image retrieved from: http://cloud-2.steamusercontent.com/ugc/594741209317130017/30F1AD0557995F29FC9FF4D19FAD0CA9FE8199F1/
In some areas the player will encounter a lull in the action, a scene in which they feel they must observe their surroundings: crumpled against the wall are the bodies of some loyal guardsman, blood strewn around the walls and on the cobblestone pavements of the trenches they were to hold. The immediate buildings lie in ruins, their once great majesty now reduced to naught but rubble deliberately expressing the might of these aliens to the player. 


Image retrieved from: http://testroete.com/production/spacemarine/spacemarine-19.jpg


 The player is often greeted by large and imposing buildings in the distance and it is only now that I realise that the developers were leading me to that point by placing a grandiose and impossibly large building in the distance.

Image retrieved from: http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/spacemarine/images/d/d8/Sm_chapter_2_gun_battery.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110916115447

This Gothic Architecture is present throughout the entirety of the game and really adds a dark and hopeless air to the game. Quite the juxtaposition to what Gothic architecture was supposed to represent!

 Here are a few more screenshots that show only but a fraction of what Space Marine has to offer:


Image retrieved from: http://cdn4.dualshockers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/SpaceMarine-2011-09-09-23-53-57-92.jpg

Image retrieved from: http://peter.corrosivetruths.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/vlcsna-2011-08-30-11h51m52s91.jpeg

Image retrieved from: http://testroete.com/production/spacemarine/spacemarine-7.jpg



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