Space Hulk

Space Hulk brings the original board game to digital life. This means good mechanics, enriched with asynchronous cross-platform multiplayer, but poor variety.

Full Control has taken a board game and brought it to the PC, staying true to the source material all while breathing considerable life into the actual gameplay experience itself. With a bit more time, and much more content, I’d be recommending this one to any turn-based tactics fan straightaway.

The main problem with Space Hulk, though, is that its designers couldn't let it deviate from or build on the simple rules of a board game experience that lacks tactical depth.

Enjoyable enough, with an undeniably good design pedigree, but marked down for the rush feel and lack of polish. [Dec 2013, p.68]

At its heart, Space Hulk is still a classic board game highly recommended by a legion of fans and well worth playing, but this adaptation is littered with thorny little issues, from superficial graphical glitches and incorrect text on the main menu to occasional UI quirks–like incorrectly calculating the optimal movement paths for marines, forcing you to do it square-by-square, and even a few exploits involving being able to re-roll or undo actions that really shouldn’t be allowed.

The new Space Hulk is a by the numbers interpretation of the original board game. Fifteen mission, nothing more, nothing less. Far from the glory of Vengeance of the Blood Angels. [Issue#234]

Space Hulk really lacks polish and just twelve missions are not enough to keep the interest for long.

Space Hulk misfires more often than it should have. Players disconnect at random, games crash. Glitches happen and the occasional typo will surface like a bashful shark. Still, it can be an engrossing few hours in spite of the lack of polish.

Space Hulk could have - and should have - been better than this.

This is a satisfying game--especially to the longtime Warhammer 40K devotees who have been waiting for a new Space Hulk video game for nearly two decades--but it could have been so much more.

There are certainly rough edges aplenty to be picked at, but also a deep love of the source material; everything from the voice-acting to the detail on gun barrels is steeped in that grim 40K atmosphere. The look and feel of this Space Hulk delights the boy in me, who long ago abandoned Games Workshop but never quite lost faith in the Imperium of Man.

As soon as this gets a map editor, I'll happily bump up the score [twenty] whole points. Until then, this extremely authentic and well done representation of the beloved board game is frankly just missing one of its most important features.

Space Hulk is remarkably faithful to the source material, something that works for and against it in equal measure. Altogether the game shows potential but feels undercooked.

Quotation forthcoming.

It's hard to recommend something so limited. [Issue#140, p.114]

An ordinary game coming out from the original recognized board game. The only thing driving you forward is your effort to beat the game's developers who have chosen to create a hardcore turn-based strategy game after lots of trial and error. There's nothing more to it.

As a replica of the board game, Space Hulk is a success. Unfortunately, as a videogame, it's barely average. [Oct 2013, p.91]

The game mechanics of the original table top game make for an odd videogame experience. But if you know the original, you will understand this take on this classic; but unfortunately, Full Control didn't really polish the game, which is full of bugs, has poor production values, and lacks content.

Full Control have done a very faithful recreation of the board game, and with a few tweaks it could have been fairly decent.

Space Hulk offers little value as a videogame and is in many ways even inferior to the board game. The slow pace doesn't translate well to the digital version, with sluggish and boring games as a consequence. We'll forgive it for its lack of atmosphere and uninspired look, but that the very important multiplayer is plagued by technical problems is an unforgivable flaw.