Space Hulk (PS4)

Space Hulk is a PS4 port of the 2013 PS3 turn-based tactical game of the same name, that was itself based upon the late 80’s/early 90’s table top war game by Games Workshop set in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. It features the Blood Angels chapter of Space Marines battling monstrous aliens known as Genestealers.For the uninitiated, a ‘Space Hulk’ is a mass of ancient, derelict space ships, asteroids, and other assorted space debris lost to the void millennia ago, and used by the Genestealers in order to infiltrate human space for the purpose of conquest and propagating their species. Space Hulks however are also a source of long lost ancient technology, which is what makes them of particular interest to humankind.The plot of the game involves the Blood Angels embarking upon the Space Hulk 'Sin of Damnation' on a mission of redemption and vengeance, hundreds of years after having experienced one of their greatest losses when they lost nearly a thousand of their brothers against the then unknown Genestealer threat on the same hulk.Beyond this initial premise, the story in Space is a little sparse. Missions consist of your team of Space Marines having to complete a variety of objectives such as travelling from point A to B, guarding an object or area from Genestealer attack, surviving for a set period of time, destroying a certain number of enemies, or reaching a stranded comrade – all within the context of capturing the Space Hulk and eliminating the Genestealer threat.Gameplay is turn based and involves you navigating your team of Space Marine Terminators across the landscape, which is divided into a number of ‘tiles’ that form the various rooms and corridors. Each Marine has a certain number of ‘action points’ which represent your capacity to do things such as move, turn, open doors, and fire your weapons. Additionally each turn you are granted a random number (between one and six) of ‘command points’, which you can allocate to allow additional actions.Genestealers appear randomly each turn from a number of spawn points, with their presence initially being indicated by a number of ‘blips’ (representing that of a motion scanner) until such a time that one of your Marines obtains line of sight. Once line of sight is achieved the true number of enemies will be revealed, with each blip concealing anything between one and six Genestealers.In terms of combat Genestealers can only attack at close quarters, whereas the Marines excel at ranged combat, so the key to success is ensuring that you maintain line of sight with any incoming enemies and establish kill zones and choke points in the narrow corridors that force the Genestealers to attack one at a time where they will be easily dispatched by your immense firepower.Fail to cover all possible avenues of attack or deploy your Marines correctly at key areas however and your team will be easily outflanked by the enemy, who has the advantage of constantly replenishing numbers, allowing them to get into close range where their ferocity in hand-to-hand combat greatly outclasses your own.Close combat is resolved by the rolling of computerized ‘dice’ for each combatant, which generates a random result (to which the Genestealers receive a positive modifier to represent their greater close combat ability), with the belligerent who obtains the highest number being the victor, and he who obtains the lowest number being killed. Ranged combat is resolved by a similar dice roll requiring you roll a certain score which is determined by each particular weapons chance to hit - cryptically 31% for the standard Marine Storm Bolter on its first shot at a target, or 56% for every subsequent shot at the same target (representing sustained fire). Each time combat occurs it will be accompanied by a close up animation of the two foes battling each other.Your efforts to resist an assault are assisted by your ability to put your Marines into ‘overwatch’, which if you have enough action points remaining at the end of your turn, allows a Marine a free shot at any enemy that emerges into his line of sight. Additionally if you anticipate being engaged by an enemy at close quarters, you are able to prepare your Marine by placing him on ‘guard’, which boosts his ability to repel a Genestealers hand-to-hand attack by adding a +1 modifier to his combat ‘dice’ roll.To assist with your mission, your Marines also have available to them a variety of different weapons, including the combination of Storm Bolter and Power Fist, which provide a low to moderate chance of success at ranged and close combat respectively; the powerful rapid-firing assault cannon, which is capable of chewing up masses of Genestealers but has limited ammunition and a chance to explode; the flamer which is an area effect weapon with a limited amount of ammunition that can take out massed clusters of enemies but also be used as an area-denial weapon by creating an impassable wall of flame which lasts for one turn, and Lightning Claws or Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield, which give your Marine close quarters fighting power equal to if not greater than that of a Genestealer.In some missions you will also have access to special units to help you battle the Genestealers, such as the Sergeant whose power sword provides him with a modifier that increases his chances of deflecting an incoming attack and also has the ability to re-roll the result when determining 'command points' at the beginning of each turn; or the Librarian who uses his Force Axe and psychic powers, which include the ability to boost his fighting power, erect invisible barriers to deny the enemy access to areas for a turn, or attack them with a psychic storm.Graphics and animations are functional but unspectacular. Character models are faithfully represented reproductions of their table-top counterparts, although visually the game is very much last-generation. Sound is likewise quite simple and does very little to invoke the atmosphere of what it must be like to navigate through the shadowy corridors of a derelict space craft.Gameplay is a little stodgy to say the least. Space Hulk lacks any of the depth, polish or shine of more celebrated turn-based tactical games like the XCOM series, although each level does provide a challenge for the gamer, however some levels being fiendishly difficult - sometimes to the point of frustration.There is a distinct lack of variety involved in the game, with a limited number of Marine types and weapons, only two different types of enemy – the Genestealer and the ‘Brood Lord’ (essentially just a large Genestealer), and missions are restricted to simple objectives such as ‘go there, protect this, destroy that’. There are a large number of missions availible - probably the best part of fifty overall - but they are all very formulaic.Complete certain campaigns and you will unlock the ability to play as the Space Wolves chapter of space Marines, who have a greater tendency towards close combat, are more likely to be equipped with weapons such as the Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield or lightning Claws, and also enjoy an additional +1 modifier in close clombat, although in all other ways they are simply a colour-swap for the Blood Angels, play very much in the same way, and still dont lend a great deal of replay value to the game.On balance Space Hulk is a very run of the mill experience that is a bit of a poor relation as far as games of the genre are concerned, is almost 100% faithful in terms of rules and game mechanics to the nearly 30 year old board game that inspired it, and will probably have little lasting appeal for any person who isn’t an avid fan of the Warhammer 40,000 universe and its properties.The board game was far from a perfect experience even at the time of its initial release, and this game uses the same excrutiatingly frustrating rules system which means you can miss a target with half a dozen shots even though its stood right next to you because the rules lack a modifier that makes shooting a target a foot away any easier than shooting a target at the opposite end of the game board. Your Marines have almost zero chance of surviving an attack at close combat (well, a one in six chance against enemies that attack in hordes and can each attack upto six times a turn, so pretty much zero!). The fact they are wearing armour that is the equivalent of a walking tank is irrelevent - if you get hit once, you die. Your weapons are apparantly the finest in the Imperium has to offer, but they have a little better than a one in three chance of jamming (or exploding in the case of the assault cannon!) with every shot. Finally, victory in any scenario is generally more a matter of keeping key units such as the Librarian, Flamer or Assault Cannon alive as it is your tactical ability.Space Hulk isnt a terrible game - its just terribly mundane and terribly dated. Both turn-based tactics games and table-top war games have moved on quite a bit in the past 30 years, but sadly Space Hulk hasnt.What space Hulk will probably do is tide the avid Warhammer 40,000 fan over for a month or so until we will see the release of ‘Space Hulk: Ascension’, which if early previews are to be believed will address and correct all of the issues and deficiencies apparent in this game. Until then, at a little over £20, Space Hulk is just about worth the price of admission.

I love Space Hulk. Never bought the tabletop game but was introduced to the Warhammer 40k videogame version of it with 'Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels' for the Sega Saturn back in the 90s.Sure, the controls of this updated version are not the most user friendly, and a manual - even just a digital one - should have been made available fro players, but after some persistence, it’s now second nature.And I’m enjoying it tremendously. Would I have paid full price for this game? Not at all. But at this price, it’s a bargain.

Was hoping for so much more, sadly the game did not live up to my expectations.Being an avid Space Crusade/Hulk fan I have own most if not all of the games in these series. When I first saw this available for pre-order it went straight on to my list. Upon loading the game and starting the first mission I was immediately underwhelmed by it, firstly the graphics are nothing to write home about, the multiple views on one screen are somewhat pointless and the movement and fluidity of the game just don't feel right. I found myself dying far too often as a result of the guns jamming after every salvo and the close quarters combat were 50/50 if you survived.What I was hoping for was an updated version of the old classic I had on the Amiga 500 (Space Crusade), what we seem to have here is a poor imitation that hits well wide of the mark.

GREAT ITEM GOOD PRICE SUPPLIED QUICKLY.:)

Item delivered promptly and as advertised.

A bit dated and clunky now.