Space Hulk (2013 Video Game)

Cover art for Space Hulk (2013)

Space Hulk is the new-and-improved turn-based tactics video game of the original 1993 classic, developed by Full Control and released on 15 August 2013. This version of Space Hulk is a 3D digital turn based strategy game that recreates the classic claustrophobic board game experience for single player and multiplayer cross-platform play between PC, Mac and on iOS. This version of the game features the Blood Angels Chapter of Space Marines battling the grotesque aliens known as Genestealers. Space Hulk has received mixed to average reviews. Review aggregator Metacritic has estimated an average score of 58 out of 100 based on 22 reviews, with most reviewers citing a lack of polish and a too stringent adherence to the tabletop game rules.

Gameplay

First released as a board game in 1989, Space Hulk has seen multiple expansions and editions up to the limited 3rd Edition in 2009. Space Hulk is based on the "Sin of Damnation" campaign from the Warhammer 40,000 (3rd Edition) board game which includes a robust 12 mission single-­player and co‐operative campaign. Recreating the tense battles of the board game, multiplayer mode will allow players to go head-­to-­head as one player controls the Space Marines and their opponent the Genestealers, in the ultimate fight for domination. Cross platform functionality in multiplayer mode allows players to compete against friends whether they play on PC, Mac or mobile. The Space Hulk level editor will enable players to design their own levels, share them with others online and in a central hub explore creations of the community.

Main Features

• Blood Angel Terminator Squad
• Fearsome Genestealers with challenging AI
• Thematic 3d environment
• Single player campaign based on the "Sin of Damnation" hulk
• New coop multiplayer levels against the Genestealer AI (upcoming)
• Multiplayer head-to-head recreating the board game experience against a friend
• Cross platform multiplayer between PC, Mac and iOS
• Level editor with ability to share creations (upcoming)
• Game expansions in the future as DLC
• New Co-op Game mode added supporting up to 4 players

Plot and Setting

The new version of Space Hulk is set in the isolated corridors and tomb-like chambers of an ancient vessel known as a Space Hulk, lost in the graveyard of space. Players lead a small army of fearless Space Marine Terminators into battle in a ferocious fight for survival against hordes of predatory alien Genestealers. This version of Space Hulk, like its predecessor, is set in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe.

The Space Marines are the most powerful warriors of Mankind, defenders of humanity and guardians of the Imperium. All of the Space Marines in the Space Hulk game wear thick Terminator Armour and are equipped with awesome firepower. Only Space Marines are brave and determined enough to enter the horror-infested space hulks and face the dreaded Genestealer menace that lurks within. Opposing the Space Marines are the insidious, repulsive and horrific Genestealers. These alien creatures come from deepest space with one purpose: to destroy. They are savage, six-limbed beasts with fangs and claws that can rip through the thickest ceremamite armour with ease. Incredibly strong and lightning fast, supremely adapted for killing, Genestealers are virtually unstoppable.

Disaster at Secoris

In the years 996.M40, an Imperial Navy patrol passing through the Secoris System detected a large space hulk drifting in-system, drawn by the star's gravitational pull. The fourth world of the Seocris System was a populous Hive World, inhabited by more than fifty billion humans -- a hub of commercial and military activity -- and the threat posed by the closing space hulk was immense. Wary of boarding the vessel with his crews, the commodore commanding the flotilla sent an astropathic message to the nearby fortress-monstery of the Blood Angels on Baal. The Chapter responded in full, led by Commander Sangallo, and within three weeks, the might of the Blood Angels had come to Secoris. When the Blood Angels assaulted the massive space hulk, they encountered heavy resistance, and within thirty minutes, Genestealers were roused from their hibernation in great numbers.

Soon, the advancing Blood Angels found themselves surrounded by thousands of Genestealers. Under the covering fire of the 1^st Company Terminators, Sangallo tried to extricate his surrounded squads and was eventually forced to send forward the Blood Angels protecting the landing zone to provide a "safe corridor" back to the boarding craft. The Genestealers quickly took note of the Space Marines' tactics and attacked to separate them from the ammunition and support personnel at the boarding site. The battle quickly descended into anarchy as some squads attempted to break through to their objective while others fell back towards the boarding torpedoes. Divided, the Blood Angels were picked off, squad by squad, swamped by the overwhelming numbers of their foes.

The battle ended when Sangallo had no choice but to order a general retreat. Though kill estimate put enemy slain at close to 12,000, there seemed an unstoppable tide of creatures. Of the entire Chapter, only fifty Space Marine survived. The action had been a complete catastrophe for the Chapter. The shame of defeat would last far longer than the losses inflicted.

The Sin of Damnation

"Bountiful fate has presented us with the means by which we might repair those wounds upon our souls caused by the weakness of centuries past. It is not only our duty but our right to face the darkness again; to stare into the abyss of the unknown. This time we shall be the cleansing light in the shadow, the burning beacon of righteous war. Restore the honour of the shamed fallen through the death of your foes!"

— Lord Commander Dante, Chapter Master of the Blood Angels

The Blood Angels approach the Space Hulk, Sin of Damnation

In 589.M41, fate, or perhaps the will of the Emperor or the machination of the Chaos Gods, provided the means for the Blood Angels to repair the deep wounds to their Chapter's soul for the failure that occurred a little more than six hundred years earlier at the disaster at Secoris. The Blood Angels were contacted by the Rogue Trader Borrak Vorra, captain of the Windrush, had dropped out of Warpspace almost on top of a gigantic space hulk only a few light yeras from the Blood Angels' home system of Baal. When word came of the new space hulk the Blood Angels seized the opportunity to redeem their past failure. Under the leadership of Captain Raphael of the elite 1^st Company, the Blood Angels sent a task force to intercept and investigate the vessel. Dubbed the Sin of Damnation by the Blood Angels, the space hulk was large, made from the wrecks of nearly a dozen different vessels. Scans performed by the Rogue Trader vessel revealed high concentrations of alien lifesigns aboard and Captain Raphael treated the entire vessel as hostile territory, suspecting a large Genestealer presence. Strike Force Raphael moved to intercept the hulk, deployed squads of 1^st Company Terminators via boarding torpedoes. A vicious battle erupted throughout miles of tangled corridors, chambers and ducts as the Blood Angels battle furiously against the hulk's Genestealer infestation. A force of eighty 1^st Company Terminators eradicated a force of more than 40,000 genestealers, cleansing the Sin of Damnation and its secrets were plundered in the Imperium's name.

Sources

• Space Hulk Official Website
• Gamespot "Space Hulk Review," by Brett Todd
• IGN "Space Hulk" (2013) Review by Rob Zacny
• The Huffington Post, "Space Hulk" Review: Games Workshop Classic Returns, Dice and All, by Michael Rundle
• Metacritic "Space Hulk" for PC Review

Video

Space Hulk Launch Trailer