I am not being hyperbolic when I say that Space Marine 2 has some of the worst, most frustrating, time-wasting matchmaking that I have ever seen in 20+ years of gaming.


I dread queuing for operations, and I dread when operations end. Why? I know in my soul that I am in for several minutes of loading screens, failed to connect errors, duplicate class conflicts, max level hosts sat at the armouring hall for minutes at a time (what could possibly be taking you so long?), joining lobbies that haven't even selected an operation yet and having to repeatedly quit to the main menu when the matchmaking inevitably breaks.


I could go on for several paragraphs listing the host of frustrations, but I don't see the need. Anyone who has played Operations for any significant amount of time knows just how frustrating the experience is.


Much like Darktide post-release (I offer this comparison purely because it's another PvE 40K game), every second spent not actively playing a mission is an experience in frustration. While with Darktide it was because of deep-seated, questionable design decisions, with SM2 it is entirely due to a poorly thought out and poorly implemented matchmaking system.


Almost all of this stems from the bizarre insistence that each player have their own instanced (completely identical, non-unique, non-customisable) battle barge lobby. Menu-based matchmaking? No. A lobby finder? No. Being able to preview your teammate's classes and level? No. Of course not. Instead, let's go with the worst possible system imaginable.


Even if you were to absolutely INSIST upon this awful matchmaking system, there's still no excuse for it to be the way it is. World of Warcraft figured out seemless (no loading screens required) multiplayer instances way back in 2008 - almost two decades ago.


I ADORE this game, but I simply cannot overlook just how bad the matchmaking experience is. It is what consistently drives me away from the game. New operations? Great. New weapons? Awesome. New cosmetics? Cool. But what we want - what we CRAVE - is a functional, seemless matchmaking experience. Please Saber, for the love of the Emperor, overhaul the PvE matchmaking experience.