Space Hulk: Deathwing

Space Hulk is set within the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and historically has centred around heavily armoured soldiers facing off against Genestealers, with the space hulks in question being big huge lost ships and debris drifting in space. Whereas 2014's Space Hulk: Ascension was a strategy game, Deathwing is an FPS, although that doesn't mean tactics and strategy are thrown out of the airlock.

One would think that with armoured suits as ludicrously oversized as the one your wearing in Space Hulk: Deathwing, you're pretty safe when it comes to how much damage you can take, however, you'd be wrong. The best thing about Streum On Studio's shooter is that it strikes a perfect balance between making you feeling powerful and vulnerable at the same time. It's amazing how even in your giant armoured suit you can still feel so exposed, but yet you still have the power to cause untold destruction with the outrageous arsenal at your disposal.

Basically, the danger comes from the multitudes of enemies that flood you from every angle at any time. In a one-on-one fight you'd beat most Tyranid enemies with no problem, but because they come in droves, that's where tactics come in. Whether in single-player or multiplayer, you and your teammates, be they AI or human, must work as a unit and stick together to make sure you're not overwhelmed, which can easily happen when enemies are coming out of the grating beneath your feet, from the ceilings above you, or even "outta the goddamn walls!"

This Aliens reference is particularly appropriate here as we were reminded of the film throughout Space Hulk: Deathwing. Even the plot, in the loosest sense, is the same - soldiers find something (in Deathwing's case a space hulk), they investigate, find there's something afoot, and monsters come along. Not only that, but the fact you defeat wave upon wave of alien enemies adds to the similarities even more, especially since you're exploring the dark corridors of a spaceship at the same time, your radar flashing red when enemies are nearby, showing movement spots on the HUD.

Teamwork is a necessity to survive this threat, as we've said, and the design of team commands is great in solo play. By holding the space bar and moving your mouse, you can give quick and easy commands to your allies Nahum and Barachiel, no doubt most often you'll use 'heal' on either yourself or a teammate. There are many commands, however, and tactical options make the game more fun as you can take a considered approach to each situation. For example, using commands you can enter a room, get a teammate to seal the door behind you, have another teammate defend a corridor while you go on ahead to the objective, then get them all to follow you back out again. Of course with AI teammates also comes annoying little moments like when they lock each other behind a door, but for the most part it works well. Oh, and if things get too hairy you get a certain amount of psygate usages a chapter, teleporting you out of the level and letting you adjust your loadouts.

Your arsenal is another highlight. You unlock weapons as you progress, and if you upgrade enough you can also unlock weapons for your allies too. These are varied enough that'll you'll find yourself switching and trying different ones out to find your favourites. For example, we found a nice balance with Barachiel having a Thunder Hammer to get up close and personal, ourselves with the minigun called Vengeance at mid-range, and have Nahum behind us as a healer with a slightly weaker gun.

All of this is combined with your own psychic powers which, as a Librarian, you can use to devastating effect. Once you get enough of the good weapons and psychic powers (such as Inferno which sends fire roaring towards enemies), the destructive powers you possess will allow havoc to be wrought, something that we can assure you is incredibly fun without requiring too much grind to unlock.

Going back to upgrades, there are three trees to pursue, and at certain points along each tree are new abilities. These have to be carefully considered, as you aren't awarded many, and you often find yourself being forced to choose between whether to save up to get an awesome psychic power or investing in something less exciting but that will help the team survive.

It's a great looking game on top of all this. Whether you're trudging through corridors looking to see where aliens will jump out at you next, or dispatching enemies with a volley of bullets, it all looks great and the lighting compliments it all very nicely. Flickering lights in corridors and dimly lit passages become spattered with blood as you scour the space hulk of the Tyranid threat, and it all feels hauntingly devoid of human life; the dark, oppressive colours reminding you that the environment is always hostile.

All in all the campaign took around 12 hours for us to complete, and that was without taking the time to smell the roses, so to speak. For those who want to get more out of the nine chapters on offer, however, there are the Relics to collect, which are ancient artefacts hidden in each chapter for you to find; something that completionists and fans of the Warhammer 40,000 lore will no doubt enjoy. Considering the size of the maps, this is no quick task, nor is it an easy one, and we could see it adding a considerable number of hours to the game.

Co-op bolsters the experience further, allowing you to play the entire campaign with a squad of four. We found that this was great fun, and although we played online with randoms, we can imagine it would be even better with four good friends, rampaging through corridors and shouting commands at each other. There's also a different levelling system, meaning you unlock weapons as you go along in a different way to the campaign. Basically, slaying endless hordes of Tyranids is fun, but it's more fun with friends.

Co-op is where Space Hulk: Deathwing's issues start to creep in though. There were server issues when we played, and we connected to one game in ten, which was frustrating when we were trying to test it. Once we got into a game there were disconnections, although it often worked fine. It's easy enough to set up and join matches, but when you're in one it's annoying to be kicked out again. It's just a bit too hit and miss.

Beyond that there were more technical hiccups, and from trawling the steam forums it's clear that there's plenty of people who've suffered performance-related issues, however, we have to say that we don't think they're ruinous to the experience. If you're really, really hung up on frame-rate there are drops which are noticeable, but considering there's tons of enemies on screen sometimes, along with gore, bullets, psychic powers, and more going on, we can forgive that, and it's far from unplayable. There were two crashes in the dozen or so hours we spent playing, so it would be remiss to say there weren't problems, but it would be equally remiss to say these affected our enjoyment in a major way.

Otherwise we're talking about minor niggles. For example, the characters move very slowly, and sprint doesn't last long, which is understandable given the huge armour you're all wearing, but it makes for tedious navigation from one end of the map to the other. Also, whereas your weapons stay the same in each chapter unless you change them, psychic powers get reassigned each time, which is a bit annoying.

For the most part Space Hulk: Deathwing is a game that shooter fans can have great fun with, even newbies to Warhammer 40,000 will find plenty to admire. Sure, the setting holds more appeal for existing fans, and character depth and story aren't always as impressive as they could have been, but it remains an intense, gory, and gripping shooter that gives you plenty to sink your teeth into, and the issues we had with it weren't enough to stop us enjoying our murderous rampage through the space hulk.