Space Hulk

 PC
Metascore
58

Mixed or average reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 22
  3. Negative: 2 out of 22
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 5, 2013
    83
    Space Hulk is a pretty good adaptation of a great board game. I really liked the game mechanics, so I also enjoyed the single player campaign, even though it was quite short. [Sept 2013]
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Awards & Rankings

85
#85 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
88
#88 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

User Reviews

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User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 169 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 84 out of 169
  2. Mixed: 40 out of 169
  3. Negative: 45 out of 169
  1. Branoic
    Aug 16, 2013
    10
    For me, the game is a 10/10. Is it the perfect game? No. Is it better than a host of other games (XCOM seems to be one bandied around a lotFor me, the game is a 10/10. Is it the perfect game? No. Is it better than a host of other games (XCOM seems to be one bandied around a lot for some reason)? No, and yes XCOM is a better game. So why is it a 10 then? Because they set up from the beginning to make as close a 1:1 digital conversion of the board game as possible, and they absolutely succeeded 100%. It is a 10 for me because it is exactly the game I wanted and expected. I love the board game, and I love this version of the board game.

    Anyone who expected something different has only themselves to blame. It was clear from the very start that this was a board game conversion. Adding any other video-gamey bells and whistles would have just detracted from the simple, tense, claustrophobic elegance of the board game mechanics. Persistent character development between missions? Weapon load out customisation? Please! How would that even work? Each "level" in the game is designed and balanced to be tackled with the squad configuration they give you at the start. The pre-set squad load out, the spawn points and numbers of genestealers, the positioning of the objectives, they are all finely balanced for a tense barely-made-it experience. Buffing your marines and swapping load outs between missions would completely wreck the entire balance of the game! To compensate for that, the developers would need to develop and build in other systems, changing genestealer behaviour abilities to react to your increasing marine stats. And pretty soon after that, you've no longer got a board-game conversion, which is what this is meant to be.

    Seriously, complaining about a lack of RPG elements character progression in this game is the same as complaining that the digital version of Carcassonne isn't more like Civilization!    … Full Review »
  2. Milk_N_Cheese
    Aug 15, 2013
    9
    Let me begin by saying what a great job Full Control Studios did by creating Space Hulk and keeping true to the rules and feel of the boardLet me begin by saying what a great job Full Control Studios did by creating Space Hulk and keeping true to the rules and feel of the board game. Secondly, to all those people that are trashing this game...have you even played the board game? This is the most faithful board game-to-videogame that I know of. It has the exact rules from the board game for better or worse. The point is, they marketed this game as an exact translation from one medium to the next and STILL people are criticizing this game. Before buying a game you should do some research.

    With that out of the way, the fans of the board game will be thrilled to know that this was created with complete love and devotion to Warhammer 40k and Space Hulk. Some of you wish (like I have) that you could just find the real board game and play it again, only to find that the 3rd Edition board game now sells for anywhere between $100.00(used) $400.00(brand new) on sites like Ebay or Amazon. Now you CAN play the board game and experience the joy of seeing those models on the board come to life in a videogame.

    The environment within the game is the first thing you'll notice. What with all the amazing attention to detail. The little touches here and there, the lighting, all of it was created with love. You can easily tell how big of fans the creators were of this game. The Terminators are modeled perfectly and the voices are exactly what you would imagine space marines to sound like.

    I'm not going to go into the game mechanics because this game was made for fans and for tactical turned-based strategists. So all of you who are those fans already know how this game plays out.

    Let's go on to multiplayer. Yes, you can play online with a friend. One person plays as the Terminators and the other player plays as the Genestealers, just like when playing at home with the board game. The only issue I have was that it did not launch with a co-op option in the menu. Now I'm only halfway through the game at the moment but I have not seen any achievements that allow you to unlock co-op mode, though it may be there somewhere. That being said, I do remember seeing a developer interview with him stating that the game will have co-op. He didn't say if it was at launch or if it would come in an update later so I will have to give this game a 9 out of 10 just for that. I had the intent of playing this game together as a team with friends and sadly I can only play versus. It's a simple and small complaint but it was kind of a downer to me. Fighting hordes of genestealers racing towards you with a buddy was a dream I thought I would be able to fulfill. I guess I'll have to wait to see if an update or an unlock will happen upon us in the future.

    So back to what I was saying earlier, don't let those few people distract you. They obviously didn't know what kind of game they were getting into and probably ignored all of the blatant signs of this being a tactical turn-based game replica of a board game. It's perfect in my opinion, in the fact that they said it would be the board game and guess what, it is. I just want to play co-op. Anyways, I've got to go back to slaughtering genestealers. Hope this helped!    … Full Review »
  3. perochialjoe
    Aug 15, 2013
    0
    Unless you liked the super simplistic board game Space Hulk enough to play it for hours on end, you will be very disappointed. This game isUnless you liked the super simplistic board game Space Hulk enough to play it for hours on end, you will be very disappointed. This game is for hardcore Space Hulk fans only and even then they will only get about 2 hours of game time from the Campaign.

    There is no depth in the combat, shots either miss or are 1-shot kill. No unit progression at all. Nothing between missions. No customization beyond changing a standard that hangs in the background of your main menu.

    For $30 on release, this game is only for the most hardcore Space Hulk players and really nobody else. If you can play the board game Chutes and Ladders for hours on end, get Space Hulk. If not, use your $30 towards a good strategy game like X-Com.    … Full Review »
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