To juxtapose this, however, the genestealers, as well as a few of the wall textures look a lot weaker up close. The layout, and detail, of some of the rooms that play host to the game’s set-pieces are absolutely fantastic the developers have also made great use of UE4’s lighting features, something especially noticeable due to the nature of the setting. But, the extra gun, and adaptability of humans when it comes to wave defence certainly outweighs that.Īs an entry into Warhammer 40k’s setting it’s fantastic each part of the hulk has had a massive amount of effort go into its visual design chapels and dormitories, as well as endless service tunnels all look worn, ruined, or both. It’s an interesting switcheroo, in the single-player your librarian character can level up through finding relics or finishing levels it’s a simple affair, with two passive ability trees, and one ‘PSY’ tree that gives you a few more magic-esque attacks. Multiplayer/Co-operative however rips out the two AIs, takes away your super-suit and instead lets you pick from five classes to tread almost the same route, but with up to four human players, and a somewhat more streamlined campaign. Otherwise it’s a classic first person shooter, one with squishy enemies trying to overwhelm your position as you empty rounds and cartridges into the hordes. There’s a minimal instruction wheel which lets you move around your associates (or just tell them to follow you), or boss around your healer. The 9-level (at about an hour long each) single-player campaign has you embarking throughout the Olethros space hulk as a librarian – not the swotty, bookish type, but a ‘psy’ wielding, iron-clad powerhouse, and one who is in charge of two other space marines, a healer and ‘technical’. Much like most Warhammer 40k stuff however it is a combination of misery, corrupted Latin, and grim refusal to call a suicide mission by what it is, nor give it the satisfaction of earning its name. That’s not to say that the Deathwing story is bad, it isn’t. Each of these titles are, including Deathwing, single-player however vastly better in multiplayer. Resources are scarce, and you can be easily overwhelmed if you don’t stay focused. The ‘horde game’ element that I refer to, would be its contemporaries in Left 4 Dead, Vermintide, Alien Swarm, Sven Co-op, and Contamination you push forward to an objective point, a wave of enemies trigger as you then defend or rush the next target.
Space Hulk: Deathwing is, surprisingly, not very much like that however its tactical options are stripped down, in single-player, to an order wheel, and in multiplayer to… where you stand? Not that this is a bad thing SH:D may not be like the board game it takes its name from, but it is a pretty good multiplayer horde game. Victory is tough, a careful creep up long hallways against seemingly endless genestealers, hoping that your covering fire will be effective enough to cover your squad as the terminators carefully time reloads. Space Hulk classic, unlike this outing, is a slow, tactical affair and one best played with your terminator squad (the toughest of the tough), carefully leap-frogging one-another down tight hallways, covering and deploying overwatch like an overly cautious XCOM: Enemy Unknown player. Space Hulk, unlike most of the various products that build up to complete the Warhammer 40’000 canon, is something I’m very familiar with I’ve played the board game (albeit not the first, 1989 edition), as well as at least five different computerised versions, including two mobile ones. Scratching and scuttering sounds echo through the creaking ruins that make up the Olethros space hulk as a Librarian commanding a squad of the Deathwing of the Dark Angels Chapter you must lead the way through the ruins, a nearly immovable object versus a nigh unstoppable force.