Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Interview and Screenshot

When you’ve finished gazing at this single new Space Marine screenshot, you’ll want to check out this interview with Relic Entertainment’s Bonnie Jean Mah, who is currently the narrative designer on the Warhammer 40k action RPG.

What do you do as a narrative designer at Relic?

There are two of us on Space Marine. A narrative designer is basically the guardian of the story from start to finish. So, we develop the story with the team leaders. We figure out how that story is going to fit within the gameplay, and there’s a lot of back-and-forth to make sure it’s going to work for both.

Then we design how to tell the story. We can tell the really important story beats through animated movies called cinematics. We can tell the story while you’re walking through the world. It’s really a give-and-take.

Then we go and write the script, record it with the actors, and then we get the dialogue in the world. That’s where we are right now. We’re seeing what’s working, what’s not, and we’re adjusting how we tell the story to make it make sense as you’re actually moving through this game.

What do you like about the story that will be told in Space Marine?

So, Space Marine is about Captain Titus, and he is the Space Marine that’s been sent to save a planet being invaded by Orks. What I liked about this story is it’s the chance to write for a hero that’s basically the ultimate hero of this universe. Space Marines are the height of military engineering and sophistication, so basically he’s a Knight Templar.

What I like about this is, how to make him relatable? Because he is this iconic figure, so we still want the player to care about him and to care about the people around him and the people he’s trying to save. So, what I’ve loved about that is having to create characters not only Captain Titus, but the people around him to show that he is a true hero and believable as well.