Space Hulk: Deathwing

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 that paradoxical game that’s hard to dislike, but also hard to love. The glorious moments of fervent xeno-purging are too fleeting, and often left me standing in dark corridors, surrounded by my slain foes, looking for any kind of context or sense of lasting accomplishment. There is somewhere in it the embryo of the ultimate Space Marine game, but despite a lot of potential for simple, squad-based fun in multiplayer, it never moves beyond being a stripped-down and poorly running prototype for the kind of game I wish it had been. “So close, yet so far” will be the sloga...

Shred hundreds of aliens in ruined gothic spaceships.

Like Left 4 Dead without the undead heart or Vermintide without the variety and hooks, Space Hulk Deathwing will satisfy only the most die-hard of Warhammer 40K fans. And even then they shouldn't expect much.

It does, however, effectively do just the one thing, and unless big updates are coming I suspect it's going to wear thin. Part of me feels as though this is a brilliant, beautiful Space Hulk tech demo blown up and looped, and I'm not sure how long that can hold my interest. It's a good time for a while, but for a long life its many rough edges need smoothing and more flesh needs adding to its bones.

Space Hulk: Deathwing boasts the best, most stylistically accurate Warhammer 40,000 visuals yet created, bar none. It’s precisely how the grim darkness of the far future should look and feel. However, the incredible eye-candy of this new FPS is not enough to disguise its lackluster story, indistinct gameplay, and stability issues.

An admirable, yet failed attempt at fixing the game.

Games Workshop and the games they lend their IP to tend to be a varied bunch in their universes. The 40K universe in particular, and the lack of consistency found within it, can directly be attributed to the death of THQ. With their death came the end of any exclusivity license. Since then, we've seen poor games like Storm of Vengeance and Eisenhorn: Xenos. Run of the mill titles like Space Hulk, Armageddon and Space Wolf fill the pack for better games like Battlefleet Gothic: Armada and Legacy of Dorn to round it off nicely.

The most authentic-looking Warhammer 40K game so far – when it’s working properly – but the action is disappointingly shallow and repetitive.

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 opti...

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 ...

The Warhammer 40K universe represents a ripe source of inspiration for video games. With its galaxy spanning conflicts, rammed full of fascinating factions, it's mind boggling that there’s only been a small number of great games that’ve made good use of its expansive lore.