Space Hulk (1993 Video Game)

SpaceHulkCover — Cover art for the original *Space Hulk* (1993)

Space Hulk is a 1993 real-time tactical first-person shooter for the IBM PC and Amiga. It was developed and published by Electronic Arts, with support from Games Workshop. The game is a computer adaptation of the latter's 1989 board game of the same name set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Space Hulk was capable of playing digitised speech over the PC speaker, and was later followed by Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels in 1995.

In the game, the player controls squads of armoured, genetically-enhanced soldiers from the elite Deathwing company of the Dark Angels Chapter of Space Marines in missions against alien life like the Tyranid Genestealers aboard drifting derelict starships known as space hulks. The player can switch between squad members to control them in first-person, and also has a time-limited option to pause the action while continuing to issue commands.

The frantic gameplay, monastic briefings, and frightening atmosphere encouraged many reviewers to give Space Hulk positive ratings, but a few were very frustrated by its difficulty.

Gameplay[]

The game has the player managing up to two five-men squads of Dark Angels Terminators on missions against alien creatures aboard derelict starships called space hulks. Tutorials, stand-alones and a campaign make up the 50 missions, which include exterminations, object retrievals, and rearguard actions. Briefings on the background and objectives, along with a small preview map are given before missions.

The player can customise the squads' armaments with weapons such as close range Lightning Claws and devastating long range Assault Cannons for certain campaign missions. Completing a campaign mission gains experience for the squad, allowing them to shoot and fight better on their own in future missions.

The Planning Screen is where the strategic element of the game comes into play. The player uses the top-down maps to issue commands to the squad. Each Space Marine's first-person perspective can be monitored on the Terminator View Screen, and the player directly controls the Space Marine whose view is on the primary monitor.

The other squad members' perspectives are shown on the smaller, secondary monitors, and the player's control over them is limited to weapons fire. The primary monitor's view, and hence direct control, can be swapped over to any Space Marine. The Space Marines' default artificial intelligence is set to "overwatch" mode; they will automatically fire on any obstacles or enemies in front of them. There is an element of uncertainty as the Space Marines' primary long range weapon, the Storm Bolter, may jam on repeated firing, rendering the weapon useless until it is cleared.

The game is played in real-time, but the player can pause the game by entering "Freeze Time" (freeze-time), and continue to issue orders while there is still time running on the freeze-time timer. Once freeze-time is exited back into real-time, the squad executes their orders as their enemies move in. The freeze-time timer can be slowly accumulated up to a minute's worth by remaining in real-time.

Fog of war is featured in the game. Unexplored areas are blacked out on the maps, and Genestealers out of the squad's sight are represented as blips on the squad's augur; a lone blip can represent more than one Genestealer. Genestealers spawn from marked entry points, and can only engage in hand-to-hand combat but move much more rapidly than the players' Space Marines.

Plot and Setting[]

Main article: Timeline of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe

The original Space Hulk computer game is set in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. The game's history states Mankind was already able to cover vast distances of space in a short time via the Warp, where extra-dimensional creatures exist. These creatures invaded Human space and conquered large territories.

The strongest Human psyker, the eventual Emperor of Mankind, drove them back, and with His armies forged the fragmented Human territories into the Imperium of Man 10,000 years ago.

The game takes place in the grid-sectioned interiors of various space hulks, humongous bulks of different starships all fused together, drifting in and out of Warpspace, and home to the aliens known as Genestealers.

Characters[]

Main articles: Dark Angels and Genestealer

The Dark Angels are one of the many Chapters of Space Marines, genetically enhanced Humans trained to fight for the Human Imperium and its God-Emperor. Wearing their toughest power armour, suits of Tactical Dreadnought Armour, the Veteran Deathwing company are able to withstand the dangers of the space hulks, provide visual and audio feeds to their commanders, and go against the Genestealers, four-armed horrors of teeth and claws easily tearing through the toughest of steel, which are almost impossible to defeat hand-to-hand.

The Genestealers lurk aboard space hulks, seeking to capture other organisms for reproduction. Their captives' DNA are altered to ensure their offspring are Genestealer hybrids who can do likewise to other organisms, until the fourth generation hybrids which reproduce purestrain Genestealers.

In game terms, the Genestealers and Space Marines were designed to be assymetrical foes, in terms of range and speed.

Story[]

The campaign consists of a series of 21 missions, and is exposited by pre-mission briefings. The game manual's prologue states the Dark Angels Chapter repelled a Genestealer incursion in the Tolevi System many standard centuries before the current events in the game. One of their heroes and his warriors were aboard the invading space hulk the Sin of Damnation, when it vanished into the Warp.

The current campaign starts off with the player being sent to investigate a Dark Angels distress call from the Tolevi System. A nest of Genestealers is instead uncovered on the planet Ma'Caellia, and their Hive Mind has to be destroyed. However the Genestealers are too many, and the player is forced to execute a fighting withdrawal.

As the infestation on the planet is wiped clear by an Exterminatus action using with virus bombs, the Sin of Damnation enters the system, and the player is ordered to assault the space hulk. The player's squads destroy the Genestealers' gene banks, and their Genestealer Patriarch. The ending has the player going deep into the space hulk to discover the source of the original distress call.

Development[]

Games Workshop's board game Space Hulk, published in 1989, was their next tabletop game to be converted to a computer game after 1992's Space Crusade. Work started in 1991 as Electronic Arts initiated and managed the project's development. Games Workshop was readily on hand to provide materials and answers for the development team to keep the game faithful to the Warhammer 40,000 background.

The interiors of the space hulks were created by ray tracing rendered frames of the walls, passing much of the work to the computer. This method cut down the time needed to introduce new sets of walls for the game from two weeks to twelve hours. The non-tutorial missions were taken from the board game and its Deathwing Campaign expansion set. The team was also able to to get digitised speech to play over the PC speaker without a sound card. The game's opening tune, "Get Out Of My Way" was played by British hard rock band D-Rok, with Brian May of Queen as a guest guitarist.

Nine new missions, new cinematic animations, along with new digitised sound effects and speech (which did require a sound card) were added to the CD-ROM version of Space Hulk. Unlike the IBM PC version, the Amiga version is not installable onto a hard drive, hence disk swapping was necessary to run the game. The game was ported to the NEC PC-9801 in Japan by local game company Starcraft, and released on March 3, 1995.

Reception[]

Space Hulk was praised by several reviewers for its gameplay atmosphere. Amiga User International liked the heroism invoked by the monastic tone of the briefings and the Space Marines' organisation. Even 11 years after game's release, in 2004 PC Format ranked its voice acting as one of the best gaming atmospheres ever.

The dark graphics of long narrow corridors, coupled with the moody music, sets a claustrophobic tone, increasing tension. This tense atmosphere coupled with engrossing gameplay, the realistic aliens and their excellent sound effects scared a few reviewers. The tension was reported to be due to constant switching between real-time and freeze-time. As the Genestealers were very much faster than the cumbersome Space Marine Terminators, the reviewer had to constantly switch between managing the squad in freeze-time and controlling individual Space Marines in real-time to ensure the squad wqas in good condition to complete the mission. Amiga Force, however, commented this "start-stoppy" gameplay breaks the flow of action. Amiga Computing reported Space Hulk stood out as a very deep game; players would have to pore through the manuals and tutorial missions to be able to handle the Genestealers.

The enemy artificial intelligence (AI) were praised by many as excellent. Game Bytes claimed the Genestealers were able to take cover behind corners, and wait until they had backup before attacking. They would also use decoys to lure the player into traps, and flank the squad from the sides or the rear. Amiga Force, however, complained that the AI of the Space Marines not under the player's direct control were terrible. When attacked from the side, they did not turn to meet the threat but died without reacting to it. It was also claimed the squad's aim and reactions were much worse than under the player's direct control.

These factors contributed to what most reviewers agreed was a very difficult game. Amiga Computing reported the Genestealers were too quick until strategies were mastered to counter them. Even with the "Freeze Time" feature, some of the missions were felt to be very difficult. Amiga Force complained that trying to co-ordinate five-Marine squads to fend off these quick enemies was just frustration in the making as one single mistake got all of them killed in an instant.

Game Bytes praised the game's graphics for its dark and forbidding hallways, detailed Space Marines, and disgusting Genestealer animation. It also stated other games should follow Space Hulk in having recorded voices serving a functional purpose, such as warnings. Other reviewers have, however, pointed out the lack of variety in the game. There is only one enemy, the Genestealers, and all the mission environments were simply long corridors broken up by the occasional room. The game is considered by several reviewers as one of the few Warhammer 40,000 computer games to that time worth playing.

The One applauded Space Hulk as the most successful "board game to computer game" conversion retaining the essence of the board game's game play while dispensing with what most found as tedious dice-rolling and turn sequences. Game Byte lamented the failure to include a mission builder which was one of the endearing elements of the original board game.

The One and CU Amiga Magazine agreed Space Hulk is a good example of a game with a perfect balance of strategy and action. Amiga reviewers unanimously complained that the difficulty coupled with the inability to install the game on their hard drives made the frequent disk swapping a very tedious process.

External links[]

Space Hulk at MobyGames
Space Hulk for Amiga at Hall of Light Amiga Database

Sources[]

CU Amiga Magazine (October 1993), by Tony Dillion, pp. 82-84
The One (October 1993), "Game Review - Space Hulk," by Rob Mead, pp. 70-71
The One (October 1993), "Review - Space Hulk," by David Upchurch, pp. 50-53
Game Bytes 12 (July 1993), "Space Hulk from Electronic Arts," by Bernard Dy
Space Hulk (1999 Sept 14), "Planning Screen - Planning Map," by Electronic Arts ISBN 1-55543-665-X
Space Hulk (1999 Sept 14), "The Imperium (The World of Space Hulk — Missions)", by Electronic Arts, pp. 2–4. ISBN 1-55543-665-X
Amiga Computing (December 1993), "Space Hulk," by Simon Clays, pp. 130-131
Amiga User International (December 1993), "Space Hulk," pg. 84
Patterns in Game Design, "Patterns for Game Sessions," by Staffan Bjork & Jussi Holopainen, ISBN 1-58450-354-8
Space Hulk (1999 Sept 14), "Deathwing Campaign (The World of Space Hulk — Missions)," by Electronic Arts, pp. 30–43, ISBN 1-55543-665-X
Space Hulk (Instruction Manual) (1999 Sept 14), "Artist's Biography — Nick Wilson", by Electronic Arts, pg. 33, ISBN 1-55543-665-X
Space Hulk (Instruction Manual) (1999 Sept 14), "Artist's Biography — Andy Jones," by Electronic Arts, pg. 34, ISBN 1-55543-665-X
Hugi Magazine 32 (August 2006), "Save Game Hacking: The Legend of Kyrandia," by Azhar Mat Zin (aka Fable Fox)
Kerrang! 422 (1992 December 12), "Rock N Blues Weekender"
CDAccess.com Space Hulk (N.D.)
PC-98x1 Gamelist (Japanese). PC-98x1 GameWorld (n.d.), "Starcraft" (スタークラフト?), "Space Hulk" (スペース・ハルク?)
Datormagazin (September 1993), "Space Hulk" (Swedish) by Göran Fröjdh, pg. 66
Amiga Force (December 1993), "Reviews! - Space Hulk," by Ian Osborne, pg. 57
Amiga Format 84 (May 1996), "Re-releases - Space Hulk," by Steve McGill, pg. 53
Computer and Video Games 145 (December 1993), "Reviews - Space Hulk," by Rik Skews, pg. 35
PC Format 166 (October 2004), "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War"
The One 78 (March 1995), "Replays! — Space Hulk," pg. 58
Amiga Power 31 (November 1993), "Space Hulk," by Tim Tucker, pg. 82
Eurogamer (2004 September 24), "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Review," by Kieron Gillen
E3 2004 (2004 May 13), "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Review," by Tom McNamara
GamerDad (2007 January 04), "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War," by Dave Alpern
G4tv.com (2004 January 13), "Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior," (PS2) Review)