Space Hulk

 PC
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

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  1. faultytools
    Aug 31, 2013
    6
    Space Hulk is an unashamedly direct recreation of the 1989 board game. It is somewhat of an enigma and contradiction; a game that on one hand should have gone further to bring Space Hulk to a new audience, but at the same time has missed opportunities to capture the spirit of the original game.

    From the offset it is clear that this is an attempt to recreate the original board game as    Space Hulk is an unashamedly direct recreation of the 1989 board game. It is somewhat of an enigma and contradiction; a game that on one hand should have gone further to bring Space Hulk to a new audience, but at the same time has missed opportunities to capture the spirit of the original game.

    From the offset it is clear that this is an attempt to recreate the original board game as accurately as possible. From the missions being exact copies of those found in the board game, to the "normal" difficulty being described simply as "Like the board game", no changes have been made to the core underlying rules. There is the option to play in Easy or Hard mode, although being able to individually set custom rules would have been a nice addition.

    The first major problem that arises in Space Hulk is the speed at which your Terminators move. They lumber very slowly from square to square and turn corners with the finesse of a dump truck. Granted, they may move like this “realistically” due to their bulky armour and the cramped rigid confines of the Space Hulk, but in gameplay terms the inability to skip or speed-up movement is unforgivable. In the beginning you put up with it, but as the game progresses and you play larger and longer maps, it becomes increasingly frustrating.

    The second thing that struck me is just how much you can abuse having Terminators on Overwatch. Overwatch allows your Terminators to attack any enemy in line of sight during the Genestealers turn. If you have two Terminators on Overwatch covering the same corridor, and you save some Action Points in reserve to counter your weapon jamming, there is practically no chance of Genestealers getting anywhere near your squad. Most missions can be broken down into finding a choke point and using this tactic, and it seems to be actively encouraged, if not the only available tactic to the Space Marine player.

    And while this is one mechanic that can be argued is abusable in the board game too, there is another that is related only to the digital game; the Undo button. Moving your Terminators can be quite a clumsy ordeal, so the Undo button is essential in this situation, and at times a game saver when you mess up accidentally. But unbelievably you can Undo your attacks on the enemy until you get the dice roll you require to kill them! While most gamers would avoid doing this, it's still something overlooked by the developers and demonstrates the overall unpolished nature of the game.

    The graphics are basic, uninspiring and at times very unclear; you often need to bring up the strategic map to keep track of your squad, and I often mistook a doorway for an open archway or vice-versa. While sub-par graphics can usually be forgiven in a turn based strategy game, Space Hulk suffers from quite severe slowdown when there are a lot of models on screen and surprisingly long load times, which doesn't make sense given the lacklustre graphics. The "armour cam" is a nice touch, that manages to capture the claustrophobic conditions of the Space Hulk and injects a dose of "Aliens" into proceedings, but has no gameplay benefit, including being of no help when trying to estimate line of sight, which can be troublesome. Animation is awful at times, to the point where I wish they had actually recreated the game fully, even down to unanimated miniatures and tokens.

    The sound is extremely repetitive, particularly when your Terminators plough through dozens of Genestealers while on Overwatch. There is no music in-game music, other than atmospherics. The only positive here is the fantastic mission briefing and sparse in-game voice over.

    As you become more efficient at finding Overwatch choke points, you will find more and more that your biggest nemesis won't be the Genestealer's tactics, but rather yourself! Forgetting to Overwatch, forgetting to use a Terminator or left over Action Points will become your biggest downfall. A simple way of checking if you have used all your points and keeping track of Terminators yet to move before you press End Turn would have been very welcomed.

    If you are looking for a truly faithful copy of the board game in digital form, you won't be disappointed. It suffers from poor graphics and audio, a painfully slow pace, and riddled with bugs and oversights. In all honesty, Space Hulk in any of it's forms is not a terribly deep strategy game. The board game is enjoyable for reasons beyond the gameplay mechanics that have been digitised so accurately, and unfortunately this digital recreation can't capture the feeling of sitting down with a friend, some beer, and a handful of dice!    … Expand
  2. Sifer2
    Aug 17, 2013
    7
    This is Space Hulk the 3rd edition board game in videogame form. That pretty much sums it up for the most part. If you need more than that. It features 3 tutorial missions plus the 12 mission Sin of Damnation campaign. And online versus multiplayer or hotseat play. Co-Op mode, and an editor have been promised for future updates. I give this game a 7 because it's as fun as the board gameThis is Space Hulk the 3rd edition board game in videogame form. That pretty much sums it up for the most part. If you need more than that. It features 3 tutorial missions plus the 12 mission Sin of Damnation campaign. And online versus multiplayer or hotseat play. Co-Op mode, and an editor have been promised for future updates. I give this game a 7 because it's as fun as the board game it's based on. But the production values are a little low in some places. Some animations really could be better, and so on. Of course the biggest deciding factor for most will be the price point. At 30 dollars it's a bit steep if you are not a Space Hulk fan already. I find it a little difficult to recommend at that price. But do not believe those saying it's a buggy unplayable game or not worth getting at all. I have played it just fine for hours, and I believe it's worth it for SH fans an probably worth it on sale for anyone else that's likes turn based squad tactics games.… Expand
  3. Rumblefish
    Aug 17, 2013
    5
    I’ve played 5 hours of this game now and by and large I’ve enjoyed them. Here are some facts though:
    - the game has very low standard textures, animations and art
    - it is clunky (bullets fly through walls, genestealers/marines clip through doors and each other - there is hardly any music and therefore atmosphere in the missions - there are bugs and bugs and bugs and bugs sound bugs    I’ve played 5 hours of this game now and by and large I’ve enjoyed them. Here are some facts though:
    - the game has very low standard textures, animations and art
    - it is clunky (bullets fly through walls, genestealers/marines clip through doors and each other
    - there is hardly any music and therefore atmosphere in the missions
    - there are bugs and bugs and bugs and bugs sound bugs graphics bugs, achievement bugs, ui bugs, crashes, menu bugs, poor spelling and grammar, mission bugs hell I once started a mission and found that I was playing as the genestealers as well as the marines! WTF??
    - maybe they will fix the bugs but they haven’t even kept their own website up to date
    - there isn’t really much content just about 12 campaign missions
    - the customisation options are tiny (basically it’s just a banner you can change a bit), you can’t even edit the loadouts of the individual marines or what guns they carry
    - there is no continuity between missions, nothing to make you attached to individual marines and therefore no sense of risk or loss (if a marine dies, the same guy will be in the next mission).

    In all the game is very cheap, feels rushed and incomplete, it doesn’t work properly and doesn’t offer much depth or content. It is quite fun however.

    Buuuut, the fact they have sold, what would be a decent little $10/£5 title with scope for improvement, for £23 as a full priced game release is nothing short of a disgrace. It makes sense now why there were no previews allowed, no let’s plays or developer’s diary. They knew what they were doing.

    I hope they continue to support and improve the game and that it becomes a really nice title over the next year or two but, like I said, they haven’t updated their own website or bug tested their own game, so what are the chances of that?

    When you can pick up so many amazing games these days for around the £10 mark it really is criminal that they’ve done this. There just isn't really much there.    … Expand
  4. HawkerHulk
    Aug 17, 2013
    5
    It's just boardgame Space Hulk with some graphical frills bells and whistles.

    Certainly not enough to explain the steep price. Badly optimised, graphics are so-so, AI is quite sound, gameplay is what you'd expect from the boardgame and nothing more. Controls are a bit iffy, no option to speed up animations is a very odd choice. Cinematics, voiceovers and the game's atmosphere all seem    It's just boardgame Space Hulk with some graphical frills bells and whistles.

    Certainly not enough to explain the steep price. Badly optimised, graphics are so-so, AI is quite sound, gameplay is what you'd expect from the boardgame and nothing more. Controls are a bit iffy, no option to speed up animations is a very odd choice. Cinematics, voiceovers and the game's atmosphere all seem bland. Overall has a very rushed, unfinished feel ...just a wasted opportunity.

    Until they implement additional features, optimize the performance I'll call this a blantant money grab. Even after the glaring issues are fixed, making it just a decent game, there's still the heavily lacking atmosphere and missed art direction that probably can't be fixed.

    Ironically Games Workshop denied giving licence to Teardown software whose Alien Assault game (originally intended as a Space Hulk implementation) had basically the same gameplay, the right atmosphere, soundscape, additional features like character progression and all of that in easy to read 2D.

    Wasted. Opportunity. Do not buy until they patch it somewhat at least.    … Expand
  5. Nekator
    Aug 16, 2013
    7
    Imo Full Control did a nice job converting the board game to PC.
    It´s fun to lead your marines in strategic positions to take care of the oncoming genestealers.
    Graphics and especially sound is well done and adds to the atmosphere. Also the video feature for each marines sight is a nice bow to the old Space Hulk game imo. What i´m missing most is the lack of a good story (also the cut    Imo Full Control did a nice job converting the board game to PC.
    It´s fun to lead your marines in strategic positions to take care of the oncoming genestealers.
    Graphics and especially sound is well done and adds to the atmosphere. Also the video feature for each marines sight is a nice bow to the old Space Hulk game imo.

    What i´m missing most is the lack of a good story (also the cut scenes... so far only one at the beginning, which is quite good and makes me want for more) as well as a customization option for your marines, most especially for their weapons.

    So it´s just a series of missions, which are quite interesting and the multiplayer option.
    So, there is much done well, but also some things which leave quite a gap to improve.    … Expand
  6. ce111
    Aug 17, 2013
    6
    If you want a game that is a fast paced, high adrenaline, explosionfest than this game is not for you. However, if you want a strategic, board game styled game set in the Warhammer 40k universe than you may want to think about picking this one up.

    Pros: The game has a highly strategic element to it. Especially in the multiplayer games. Also, the multiplayer games are designed so that    If you want a game that is a fast paced, high adrenaline, explosionfest than this game is not for you. However, if you want a strategic, board game styled game set in the Warhammer 40k universe than you may want to think about picking this one up.

    Pros: The game has a highly strategic element to it. Especially in the multiplayer games. Also, the multiplayer games are designed so that you can play your turn, leave the game and come back later once your opponent has moved; perfect if you have a laggy internet connection. The game is simple enough that even a new player to the Space Hulk series will be able to pick it up. The HUD is fairly straight forward and easy to understand and the tutorial is efficient and thorough.

    Cons: The $30 price tag is a bit much considering how little content is really in this game. A lot of the bells and whistles that have come from the 40k franchise in the past have spoiled a lot of us and thus this game seems rather lacking in the customization and personalization department. The campaign is short and there are still quite a few bugs.

    Conclusion: It may be best to wait until this game goes on sale or more content is added. However, if you are a hardcore fan of Space Hulk than you should definitely check this game out. The graphics are a bit on the low side but since this is from a smaller dev it isn't such a big deal.    … Expand
  7. Redge
    Aug 16, 2013
    7
    You'll like this numeric version as much as you like the board game, no more no less.
    If you're not familiar with the world of Space Hulk, go carefully: it's absolute fan service.

    For 30$, a campaign editor would not have been luxury.
  8. Tarradax
    Aug 18, 2013
    6
    To start with: I have played more hours of the original Space Hulk board game as a kid than I care to admit. There, I said it.
    With that in mind: Space Hulk is a grand ol' disappointment. It's not a BAD game per se but it is not a good game either. It's sorta... There.
    The graphics are mediocre, the sound is just about passable, animations are plain bad and the overall experience is    To start with: I have played more hours of the original Space Hulk board game as a kid than I care to admit. There, I said it.
    With that in mind: Space Hulk is a grand ol' disappointment. It's not a BAD game per se but it is not a good game either. It's sorta... There.
    The graphics are mediocre, the sound is just about passable, animations are plain bad and the overall experience is nowhere near where it should be. To top it all off, this is a game that costs the same as Borderlands 2... You do the math. A careful "Avoid for now" verdict, hope that somewhere along the line a serious overhaul will patch it up, optimize it and add some more game to it. For now, avoid.    … Expand
  9. 5hassay
    Aug 24, 2013
    7
    I am simply putting this review here to counter the number of unfair reviews. If you're a fan of War 40k, then I'd recommend this title at the price of 30$ USD, assuming you can have faith with the devs to fix stuff. If you're not a fan of War 40k, then you might want to wait a bit, or take the risk of falling in love with War 40k. The game at the moment seems to be victim of the commonI am simply putting this review here to counter the number of unfair reviews. If you're a fan of War 40k, then I'd recommend this title at the price of 30$ USD, assuming you can have faith with the devs to fix stuff. If you're not a fan of War 40k, then you might want to wait a bit, or take the risk of falling in love with War 40k. The game at the moment seems to be victim of the common "released too early" problem. However, the devs seem to be doing well with fixing the stuff and working well with the community. There are no game breaking problems--you can play the game well enough. There is a glaring issue with multiplayer though: When joining a pool you get put against offline opponents for some reason. The gameplay is pretty fun if you like turn-based games. Voice acting is good. Lots of little bugs, some possibly gameplay bugs that would be really lame in multiplayer. Really, this game should be charging $15 USD, but I think the Games Workshop licence (for War 40k) is what is really pumping up the price unjustly. I love War 40k games so I pre-ordered this, and I don't regret it, although the price did hurt a bit.… Expand
  10. Mothman13
    Aug 15, 2013
    7
    Space Hulk is a really intense tactical board game in a computer game form. Thus it is a slow turn based game, if you are expecting something else you will be disappointed! I think the game captures the warhammer 40k "feel" very well and during the missions the player has to make some hard decisions and the roll of the "dice" adds the element of suspension. All in all, good job Full Control!
  11. unevenpolecat
    Oct 14, 2013
    7
    Just like the bolter in this game it is way to broken to pay 20 or more dollors for. it gets a 7 because the personality of the space hulks are still very cool.
  12. Vampyre
    Aug 27, 2013
    7
    Some initial problems were quickly corrected. It's basically a computerized version of the board game. If you're looking for more than that, you'll be disappointed, but it doesn't sell itself as anything it's not.
  13. Rudboy66
    Aug 25, 2013
    7
    Overall pretty solid game, especially if you are a Warhammer 40,000 fan. I feel the game went live as described and hits the mark very well. Right now I don't think the game will have a lot of replayability, but that will come with DLC. Challenging and an all around good time, perhaps it was $10 too high, I think it would have been a steal at $19.99.
  14. ManRammer
    Sep 8, 2013
    6
    Me personally, as a former board game geek, would give this 10 out of 10.

    But objectively speaking, with all the technical problems and lack of new content, it feels like i can't give it higher than a 6. It's a good game, I had my fun. But after the few missions there is just nothing more. It feels like an editor would be really useful to make this game great. I still love you,    Me personally, as a former board game geek, would give this 10 out of 10.

    But objectively speaking, with all the technical problems and lack of new content, it feels like i can't give it higher than a 6.

    It's a good game, I had my fun. But after the few missions there is just nothing more. It feels like an editor would be really useful to make this game great.

    I still love you, Space Hulk. I just have to be fair.    … Expand
  15. Gnawer
    Aug 21, 2013
    5
    The game is OK at the areas it inherited from board game: simple tactics and cool space armor. As a PC game, it is not very good. Game pace feels really sluggish, sound effects are noticeably bad. Also for a PC game, it's too simple. It could clearly benefit from more weapons and tactics.
  16. Ferd
    Aug 27, 2013
    7
    The game is a great port of the board game. The move and fire mechanics are a little clunky and not very forgiving if you make a mistake. I would have liked to see a little more options to be able to reverse a move. other than that I have to say if you love the board game you will really like this game. I would have given it a 10 had there been a map editor. One of the biggest dislikes ofThe game is a great port of the board game. The move and fire mechanics are a little clunky and not very forgiving if you make a mistake. I would have liked to see a little more options to be able to reverse a move. other than that I have to say if you love the board game you will really like this game. I would have given it a 10 had there been a map editor. One of the biggest dislikes of the board game was setup and tear down. If I get a map editor that would be awesome!… Expand
  17. Rtheom
    Jul 13, 2014
    7
    This is really faithful to the latest edition of Space Hulk. They did a great job recreating the game to the letter, and being able to see it in live action is just icing on the cake.

    However, it would be nice to play as the Genestealers against AI Space Marines, and a few more options to edit the controls would really be welcome. Needing to scroll the camera with the mouse gets really    This is really faithful to the latest edition of Space Hulk. They did a great job recreating the game to the letter, and being able to see it in live action is just icing on the cake.

    However, it would be nice to play as the Genestealers against AI Space Marines, and a few more options to edit the controls would really be welcome. Needing to scroll the camera with the mouse gets really frustrating at times. Aside from that, not a bad game if you can find it on the cheap. I wouldn't say it's worth the full price, even being a huge 40K and Space Hulk fan, but it's pretty great at killing a few hours. Save the full price money for picking up a copy of the actual board game.    … Expand
  18. rudemech
    Aug 24, 2013
    7
    I'm a 30-something tabletop gamer, and ex-Games Workshop tragic. The 1st Edition of Space Hulk was the first wargame I ever played, and remained one of my favourite casual pick-up games throughout my gaming history. I didn't get to play the 3rd edition rules, but having read a copy, it is obvious that the game is faithful to them. That means, I can multi-player with my distant friends, andI'm a 30-something tabletop gamer, and ex-Games Workshop tragic. The 1st Edition of Space Hulk was the first wargame I ever played, and remained one of my favourite casual pick-up games throughout my gaming history. I didn't get to play the 3rd edition rules, but having read a copy, it is obvious that the game is faithful to them. That means, I can multi-player with my distant friends, and barring the beer, inquisitive housecats and heavy metal soundtrack, it's just like the good ol' days. That gets the game a 10/10 before I start picking away at the bad stuff.

    Criticising the game on the basis of random internet opponents taking too long, or the absence of features that weren't originally in the rules is fairly pointless, so I'm going to concentrate on the other stuff.

    The game loses a point for the poor graphics up close hinky animations, low frame rates etc that just aren't acceptable these days.There's also plenty of visual bugs, like Terminators shooting off at an angle to the target, or moving units temporarily popping into walls. I play with the kill-cam turned off, yet I still get the odd close-up! I had the audio bug early on, but 1.03 fixed that.

    As an aside, my version of X-com developed an instant-lose bug (ie: start the mission, get dumped straight to the failed mission screen) that killed my Classic Ironman campaign dead about 2/3 of the way through. Loading old saves didn't fix it, so I un-installed it in disgust. I guess even AAA games can have their off days.

    Minus another point for missed opportunities to improve the atmosphere. The 'did you know' loading screens are far too casual; don't tell us about the history of the computer game, give us some of the wealth of background information that the WH40k universe is famous for. Although experience unit progression has no part of this game, I'd still like to see the Marine's names change as casualties are replaced, and for detailed statistics to be kept for each unit, battle honours awarded etc.

    Minus another point for the AI I've caught the AI doing absolutely STUPID things, like not turning a 'stealer to face _before_ breaking cover. That gives my Terminator a free overwatch shot, something no human player would ever do. The AI is also quite poor at using the different entry points to full advantage. A mission like "Alarm Call" would play quite differently against a human. Incidentally, that's the first mission I failed in the campaign, and it wasn't even due to bad luck, so it's not all bad.

    That leaves me personally with a pretty solid 7/10, which I think is fair. If you're playing Hotseat mode, and they haven't fixed the blip count issue yet, lose another point. If you think the game is overpriced, trim another point off for me, the nostalgia value offsets the relatively high cost. So maybe a 5/10 overall. Certainly not the 0 point stinker that some people would have you believe.

    If the developers fix the issues and add some more (REASONABLY PRICED) content, this game could mature quite nicely. I for one would like to play through the Deathwing campaign again.

    For all its foibles, sometimes this game just gets it so right. When your Sergeant is fighting a rearguard action in "Alarm Call" and gets cut off from the rest of the squad, holds off 20+ Stealers with overwatch fire, takes down two more in close assault before finally falling THAT is what Space Hulk is about.    … Expand
  19. ivan_fukitman
    Sep 28, 2013
    7
    Could have been way better with little effort(like giving littles bonuses to campaign survivors to make them more valuable)... Animations are awfull and menu seems kinda empty...Games mechanics are the same as the board game so... 10/10
  20. namazu
    Aug 2, 2014
    5
    As a Games Workshop fan, I had to play this game. unfortunately, there wasn't much to do in this game. the combat and interactivity was very basic and not very fluid. The only thing I liked about it was the little shoulder cam which looked like a shoutout to the old Space Hulk game.
    I got bored very quickly after the first few missions. I think this game would be better on a mobile device.

Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

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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. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Oct 24, 2013
    60
    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]
  2. games(TM)
    Oct 23, 2013
    50
    It's hard to recommend something so limited. [Issue#140, p.114]
  3. SpazioGames
    Oct 17, 2013
    60
    Space Hulk really lacks polish and just twelve missions are not enough to keep the interest for long.
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