Space Marine 2 decided on 3-player coop, because 4 lore accurate 40K marines would have been a'massacre'.

Space Marines are so legendary in Warhammer 40k that even though I haven't painted a single mini, I know how terrifying they should be. To be sure, I've compiled a list of the facts that I learned today about these genetically modified walking tanks:

• They have two hearts. One of them can pump adrenaline or steroids.
• They are eight to ten foot tall (they did not start this way).
• They have a small liver-like organ which clots cuts instantly.
• They can sleep by shutting down half their brain, allowing them to rip and tear hundreds of hours.
• They have a special digestive system that allows them to eat almost anything. They also have an organ that allows them to eat things in order to gain memories.
• Why not?

This isn't even the third of the ridiculous genetic modifications that a Space Marine has. According to an interview with Yann François, brand and creative director for Saber Interactive’s upcoming Space Marine 2 game (the full version can be found in PC Gamer magazine’s 400th issue), this legendary allergy to death makes it pretty hard to represent them in a videogame.

Francois says that when you read about Space Marines, "Ultramarines or Primaris" - "you discover they're superhumans on a truly crazy scale." They can measure [two to three] meters, and have two or three working hearts.

Francois said that the team tried having four of these absolute unit on the battlefield because of this absurd power scale. It didn't work.

"[It] took a lot of courage for the team to say that [Space Marines] were almost invincible. How can we make it challenging? It could be super simple... This is what led us to create a multiplayer with up to three players. Many people asked, 'why not four players?' They tried it and realised that it was too simple... it was a slaughter. "Three was a good amount."

It's not just because it's a crowd or a magic number. It also has a lot of comedy value. I can see why they chose three. They could have easily changed the numbers behind the scenes but these are Space Marines. Making them weaker would be a high-ranking heresy. You could add more enemies but this game is already a swarm.

It seems the simplest solution to force players to become three musketeers. According to PC Gamer's Robin Valentine, the game is proving to be a pretty authentic representation of the Emperor's largest boys in digital flesh.