…and not in a “bad” way in the slightest.
by now i played through the sm 2 campaign on the hardest difficulty and made myself comfortable with coop missions in the lower brackets while leveling up.
the apples and oranges do apply very well here, still both are good games in their own way.
if anything the comparison would end at the common theme 40k on my part, for even at the very core first person / third person they diverge pretty distinctly.
before i get into gameplay mechanics i´d like to give praise where it is due, the atmosphere is great and offers a very vivid and immersive window into the 40k world, especially being a mere tourist still learning the ropes and lore.
what space marine 2 does better is depicting the enormous scope the world has to offer, which is a given having multiple maps based in the open.
corridors ain´t a fair comparison and while the artwork seems a solid draw, the jaw dropping “gosh i wish i´d be there and see this for real” point goes to space marine 2 ( even if my guardsman life expectancy would be around 15 minutes give or take )
and here´s the kicker, being in the shoes of a space marine makes me cherish my reject on the flip-side even more.
now i got sm2 as the greater scope in the back of my head while i stroll through the hive city´s corridors and narrow hallways and enjoy the feeling of being low in the food chain and still do what i do.
so while both are immersive in their own way, this point is a clear darktide thing, first person perspective cant be topped when portraying that “hey that´s me” feeling.
music i don´t think i need to mention, jesper kyd´s king and while the sm2 soundtrack isnt bad, if caught a few youtubers that add the darktide soundtrack very quietly in the background 
now for the bread and butter, gameplay mechanic and mainly the combat.
night and day, apples and oranges and nothing that should be compared in my book when it comes to “quality” for each method serves its game.
that´s not to say sm2 feels console-ish and therefore clunky.
quicktime events were never my cup of tea, need to swallow them to get access to the game and while it might be a “difficulty thing” in terms of window of opportunity, they feel very unintuitive compared to what the actual character model tries to telegraph.
it´s like a failed attempt copying dark souls mechanics (yes i know sm 1 also had qt events, but glory kills refilled health not armor, so thats a different mechanic in my opinion) where the former visually conveied very accurately whats going on, the blue and red indicatiors rather omit the animation frame while said frame isnt even accurate on the “telling” and “hitting” part.
getting pavlov´ic indoctrinated to react on a) and b) but with seemingly random delays and stagger in case of failure is quite frustrating to say the least.
even with all the stuff going on on screen, it isn´t a “hard” game per se but getting into one stunlock by accident, facing another “blue phase” and not even being able to enter commands and therefore eat up the following attack literally screaming :" yes i can FKKING SEE it" happened a few times to be honest.
and here´s the thing, darktide offers such a rewarding flow to its combat mechanic where you´re the master of any engagement for better or worse that it´s easy to forget other games do no such thing.
in all fairness, lead platform seems to be console sadly, so controller input is the background idea of combat and it shows.
never did i pick a game where quick time events took the decision making portion of my combat inputs and i only did here for the fantastic warhammer 40k atmosphere sm2 offers in return.
but all in all it´s soooo much more rewarding chopping down hordes and elites with my karsolas/ogryn in a fluid sliding motion of my pure free choice and skill, the repeating glory kills get dull after a while in comparison.
where darktide has it´s rock paper scissor layout with disablers/area denial etc sm2 feels rather static with blue/recharge and red/hoof it.
toughness regeneration never felt so “natural” after baiting 5 tyranids into leaping in order to keep your shields up even if you could have chopped them up in a fraction of time.
now, before this derails into a complete personal “codex”, final verdict:
space marine 2 is worth your money and time if you´re into 40k for the visuals and atmosphere alone.
it is a “fun” game if you can see past the odd cheap boss mechanic thats a console left-over from the olden days.
the campaign never has a dull moment, so far i only raged at a semi-boss for in a very condensed room visually destroyed pillars and benches remained a solid obstacle hindering your dodge attempts and the final boss having some bullsht parry/evade mechanics that don´t seem to trigger even if you physically lept over the shockwave it sent your way.
other than that it´s a very entertaining 8 hours on hardest difficulty (you will die at the odd situation) with “believable” and fitting characters you´d expect from a 40k space marine environment.
writing is reasonably “over the top” but never in a bad way, if smurf marine was a job description available in real life i´d apply for astartes treatment 
