Space Hulk: Deathwing Reviews
I really wanted to enjoy my time with Warhammer 40K Space Hulk: Deathwing - Enhanced Edition but some of the design choices just made it seem long and drawn out. Adding in killer load times, and sometimes it wasn’t worth reloading from a previous save but instead starting the mission over because you didn’t get out of the way of a missile turret fast enough.
Space Hulk is amazingly lore accurate
With a dearth of decent games based in the Warhammer 40k universe, Space Hulk: Deathwing seems at first glance to be heading in the right direction. With a reverence for the source material that'll appeal to Warhammer 40K aficionados, it successfully evokes the space hulk setting and the relentless battles at its heart. While the basic building blocks of a decent experience seem to be here, the undeveloped gameplay, and repetitive structure – that degenerates into tiresome battles of attrition – mean that even transplanting it into the co-op multiplayer mode and adding more unlocks and rewards won't be enough to keep your finger on the trigger for long.
In all honesty Space Hulk: Deathwing is a good solid game with plenty to keep you shooting and stabbing your way through wave after wave of aliens for a few good hours at least. Maybe with a little more polish and a few gameplay changes we might have had a real contender in the world of co-op shooters but unfortunately with titans like Left 4 Dead and Gears of War still showing us how it’s done years later, Deathwing just doesn’t bring anything fresh enough to really stand out as anything more than a gimmick. By all means give it a try and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed, but unless you’re a huge fan of Warhammer 40K I just don’t think you’ll be wowed.
Space Hulk: Deathwing can't seem to win on either front. As a solo experience, the gameplay is mediocre, the AI is rather inconsistent, and the objectives lack imagination. As a multiplayer game, it is pretty much dead. There's stuff in here for a dedicated Warhammer 40,000 fan to be excited about, especially how the game looks, but it certainly isn't the best outing for the license.
It's a simple enough formula consisting of shooting and completing objectives—usually by shooting
Space Hulk: Deathwing promised a lot - close quarters tactics, bulky combat, and the ever awesome delights of the dark 40K universe. However, while fulfilling in some of those respects, lacklustre AI and some buggy multiplayer ultimately diminished this experience.
While the first fleeting hours of Deathwing was enjoyable, the proceeding remainder of the game is dull, anti-climatic and uninspiring. If you've got a group of friends ready to squad up in honour of The Empire than great. At least you won't be driven mad by the endless traversing of dim light corridors. Keep the Wiki open and at the ready, for any incoming comms will be difficult to chew on if you're listening as a newcomer to the series. The Wiki is well worth a read, even if you don't plan on playing the game. The lore is savoury dand rich like a thick gravy. The general gameplay is pretty crispy though, and often burnt at the edges.
Ultimately, Space Hulk Deathwing is the empty shell of a great game, desperately looking for some substance. It's the perfect game to play for an hour but every moment after this it just gets a little bit more tiresome. The story is gibberish to all but the most ardent of Warhammer 40K fans and ultimately doesn't provide enough variety to propel you through with any certainty. It's Left 4 Dead without the frenetic pace, deep tactics and unpredictable thrills.
Space Hulk: Deathwing is a collection of opposites. Its attention to detail is both astonishing and flawed, its shooting hit and miss, and its co-op gameplay both satisfying and frustrating.
Space Hulk: Deathwing does a great job of capturing the look and feel of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, but it doesn't manage to wrap that around a compelling co-op shooter. The missions are ponderous, the story already forgotten, and the core gunplay leaves something to be desired. Those with a fondness for Games Workshop or fraught co-op action will have wanted this to be great, but it's merely OK.
Space Hulk: Deathwing is a below par title with some excellent art design and satisfying enough combat. Enemy variety is higher than expected, and the unlockable weapons all feel appropriate, but overall it can only really be recommended to 40K diehards.
As a fan of Warhammer 40,000, it's a shame that Space Hulk: Deathwing has these issues that impede what should have been a great game.
With a PS4 and Xbox One release scheduled for some time this year, there is still room for this game to fulfill its potential. Yet, the console audience is even less forgiving than PC gamers when it comes to technical problems. We can only hope that the development team will learn from the mistakes made with the Steam release, use us PC gamers as guinea pigs for as long as it takes (we're used to it anyway), and then bring forth a more solid package on consoles.
Space Hulk: Deathwing is a solid title. It's got a fun cooperative mode and a decent single-player storyline on top of it. It just unfortunately suffers from some issues, like semi-useless teammates and random online disconnects. The collection of weapons and sheer feeling of power stomping around the darkened corners of the hulk are worth at least a look for fans of Warhammer 40k.
There’s a reason that most 40K fans groan at the prospect of the series taking the form of a video game, and it’s because of titles like Space Hulk: Deathwing. Whether technically bad, poorly designed, terribly written, or just flat out no fun to play, there’s almost always something wrong with them, and everything is wrong with SH:D. Despite having Gav Thorpe on hand, the narrative only manages to be interesting in concept, but never in execution. The design is torn between being a traditional Space Hulk game, and wanting to be the 40K Vermintide clone many were hoping for. It’s boring to play, with combat being as uninspired as possible, and the role of the relics being severely under-developed. In many ways, it can’t even get the canon of 40K right, either abandoning it or sticking to it for the sake of design and gameplay in all the wrong places. By Holy Terra, it’s basically heresy! If Space Hulk: Deathwing were a planet, it’d be high time for Exterminatus Extremis because even with the polish that this game is absolutely lacking, it would still be unsalvageable.
Sadly, despite Spacehulk: Deathwing possessing a great atmosphere, I can't recommend the title. At least not in the current state of the game. The single player portion is standard flair that will only appeal to those who are fans of the Warhammer 40K universe. This goes double for the co-op. It's a nice experience but it really doesn't match up to what you find with single player campaign. The technical issues, which is my main concern with this title, simply robs you of any fun. With massive frame rate drops which can plummet on even the most powerful PCs, show the telltale sign of poor optimization. Bugs that can cause all sorts of odd things, including crashing your game also are rampant.
Thunder-hammers, chainswords, bolters, flamethrowers and plasma cannons are just a few of the many pieces of your futuristic toybox, and boy do they do the job of slaying Genestealers.
With underwhelming presentation, disappointing gameplay and lots of technical issues, Space Hulk: Deathwing fails to live up to its potential. The game attempts to stay true to the source material, but even so requires players to be familiar with the Warhammer universe.
There's already a large contingency of the Warhammer 40K defense force saying that people disliking the game just don't "get it," that this is the perfect video game adaptation of Space Hulk. Expect to see them in the comments, saying that I played it wrong. Maybe that's true, and I'm just a big dumb idiot! Or more likely, this game was pushed out too soon. Streum is already working on fixes, including reducing multiplayer crashes. I hope that in the next few months, Space Hulk: Deathwing goes through some drastic changes and becomes a more engaging romp through grimdarkness. For now, I'd say get your bloody jollies elsewhere.