Space Hulk: Deathwing Enhanced Edition Reviews
If you really love Warhammer 40K and have a great deal of patience, you might like Space Hulk: Deathwing Enhanced Edition. For most, though, it'll just be an exercise of tedium.
Those wanting a great squad-based shooter or a truly essential Warhammer 40,000 game will have to keep searching. At a glance, Deathwing seems like a solid adaptation and it nails that distinctive Space Hulk look and atmosphere, but there's just not enough variety or depth to keep players engaged beyond those first few encounters.
While the Enhanced Edition does make for a more tolerable experience, Space Hulk: Deathwing is still held back by an incredibly under-designed campaign, along with clunky mechanics that ooze into the multiplayer. The aesthetic, and overall tone, does shine, but the core gameplay loop feels severely lacking. While it's by no means bad, the combat simply isn't engaging enough to justify long playthroughs and the improved performance does nothing to fix the fundamentally inconsistent level design. Space Hulk: Deathwing might resonate with fans of Warhammer releases, but casual gamers are better off looking elsewhere for co-op first-person shooters.
I can't see me playing a Special Mission each day, but that's because I'm not sure I can spend more time with this unpolished hulk. As much as I've been clamoring for another action WH40K game since Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, it pains me to say this one does not fill that void. Deathwing has so much potential sitting there with the Dark Angels alone, not to mention roaming a Space Hulk, it's an absolute shame it falls short of the Emperor's expectations. I've been looking forward to this one since I first saw it at several E3s ago. Too bad it's as void and as lifeless as the derelict ships of the Space Hulk itself.
It seems like it will be a very long time before you would find yourself playing the same mission on the same map multiple times. Combining this with all of the new skins, guns and abilities to unlock makes for a compelling reason to jump in and play pretty regularly.
If you were to compare Space Hulk: Deathwing Enhanced Edition to many other modern day first person shooters at face value, it’d come up short in almost every regard. It’s clunky, slow paced, stereotypical and corny in the extreme but for those gamers who also have a love for 28-millimetre tall Space Marines and the world in which they wage war, this game offers something more. Space Hulk: Deathwing makes very little effort to be accessible to those who don’t know a foam sword from a power sword, instead opting to attempt to be the most authentic recreation of Space Marine Terminator combat to date.
At the end of the day Space Hulk: Deathwing Enhanced Edition feels like a fairly solid addition to the Warhammer 40k Universe. Its setting and visuals offer a great look at the dark gritty universe and the deliberate choices in combat mechanics will make you feel like a Space Marine. However, those same choices will definitely be a turn off to a lot of FPS players and when coupled with some awkward AI it's safe to say this title won't be for everyone.