Space Hulk: Deathwing
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Critic Reviews for Space Hulk: Deathwing
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 slogan etched into this terminator's hulking shoulder pads.
An accomplished piece of fan service, but the excitement fades fast and performance problems spoil it for some.
An impressive handling of the Warhammer licence, Deathwing is sadly a less than impressive tactical shooter.
The most authentic-looking Warhammer 40K game so far – when it's working properly – but the action is disappointingly shallow and repetitive.
Space Hulk: Deathwing has great atmosphere and attitude, but is ultimately undone by its frustrating gameplay.
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.
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.
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.
