Andy O’Flaherty reviews Space Hulk: Deathwing…
Ever since the original Space Hulk board-game was released by Games Workshop in 1989 there have been many computer games that have born the name, and pretty much all of them have been slow-paced strategic titles that require patience and planning to succeed. For those familiar with Space Hulk, this particular title follows the exploits of the Dark Angels’ first company ‘Deathwing’ as they explore various Space Hulks seeking information on their heritage. For those not familiar with Space Hulk or the Warhammer 40,000 franchise know this – you play as a commander of a group of super-soldiers (who talk like they are from Asgard) as you search giant crumbling space wrecks that are largely inhabited by aliens that bear more than a passing resemblance to H.R. Gigers’ Alien.
The story, such as it is, is this – players assume the role of a Librarian leader of one of the Deathwing Terminator companies, and along with 2 other terminators explore derelicts that formally belong to the Dark Angels chapter in pursuit of recovering long lost pieces of history and heritage. The Librarian is able to attune to the psychic remnants of these long lost vessels, and as such the plot is slowly revealed through bizarre flashbacks and visions. The story seems somewhat surplus to be honest, although I should imagine that 40k fans will enjoy the nods toward classic Warhammer lore – such as the Horus Heresy.
Plot aside, the first thing you notice upon booting this game is how gorgeous it is. The colossal gothic environments, despite looking dark and depressing are full of tiny details, impressive dynamic lighting effects, and other nice touches such as steam/gas and heat hazing. The characters look like super-detailed versions of the board games’ miniatures, are chunky, well animated and are fantastic realizations of the Games Workshop characters. The creepy aesthetics of the environments are full of combat damaged scenery, slimy gore, and makeshift barricades that give the feeling of being very late to the party. In many ways it reminds me of the environments of Doom 3, but in much grander detail.
Sound wise the crumbling and creaking environments sound fantastic and perfectly complement the derelict setting. The chatter between your team is convincing (in a somewhat cheesy classic 40k way) and the shrieks and screams of the swarms of aliens as they move in to attack… and are subsequently blown away is eerily effective. The weapons sound satisfying – conveying a sense of brutal weight which enriches the player’s joy as they tear through the advancing hordes.
Unlike many first person shooters around today, Deathwing is a slow and calculated affair. Running in mindlessly blasting away at anything that moves is the fastest way to see the game over screen. Careful planning and cautious progression is the order of the day, and using your characters’ full array of weapons, psychic powers and squad commands is the only way to survive. Unlike some of the other entries in the Space Hulk franchise, you can only control the squad leader, and a command wheel can be accessed to issue orders to your other 2 team-mates – whether it be to seal doors, defend a location, or heal injured parties. In many ways the game feels a lot like Left 4 Dead meets Alien Isolation, and if you think that seems like a great idea you are not wrong. Blasting away at the swarms of Tyranids as they scurry across walls, up out of air vents or sneak up from behind is often just shy of overwhelming, with the highly destructive Dark Angels’ weaponry feeling just powerful enough to deal with the threat without it just becoming a tedious shooting gallery. As you progress through the missions your squad can be upgraded with additional psychic powers, more effective defense, or increased resistance to different types of attack. New weapons also become available as the game progresses, and using the ‘Psygate’ (a safe haven you can teleport to a limited number of times mid battle that allows you to heal and change your load-out) allows you time to breathe during the more hectic encounters.
As good as the game is, there are issues. There were many occasions where my character would stop responding temporarily, allowing me to move left or right, but not forward. Other times my team mates would get stuck in the scenery, requiring me to enter the Psygate to free them, and there were several occasions where the game would crash (one time I took damage while exiting the map screen – the game really didn’t like that, and another time the game just didn’t bother loading the graphics to the room I had just entered…). These bugs can quite easily be fixed by patches I should imagine, so aren’t really deal breakers. Aside from bugs there are other problems – the in game map is incredibly hard to make out so is practically useless, and for some reason pressing ‘M’ will only exit the map screen if you have moved the map. The game is also brutally hard – even on the easy difficulty, and especially later on the player can quite easily become absolutely swamped by enemies they couldn’t possibly deal with. I have also heard reports of many users having difficulty running the game properly, and allegedly the multiplayer mode also has its fair share of issues – but I can’t really comment on that as I did not test that aspect of the game.
Pros:
+ Fantastic visuals
+ Unsettling aesthetic
+ Tactical and cerebral gameplay
Cons
– Punishing difficulty
– Slow gameplay is not for everyone
– Many technical issues and bugs
In conclusion Space Hulk: Deathwing is a more than competent entry into the franchise that despite looking fantastic, having great atmosphere and staying faithful to the original game is perhaps too difficult for newcomers and has many bugs and glitches that rear their head too often. Hopefully some patches will rectify many of the issues by the time the console releases come around, but as of right now the game is good…. but flawed.
Rating: 7/10
Space Hulk: Deathwing is available now on Steam, with PS4 and XB1 releases incoming early 2017.
Andy O’Flaherty – follow me on twitter @mambatabac
Originally published December 19, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
