Space Hulk: Deathwing - Enhanced Edition

It starts strong, has a tight atmosphere, a lot of flavor - but bugs, sound and control issues, no free saving all bog it down. After a few hours, monotony sets in and the vibe goes downhill. The game UI (not HUD) is weirdly cumbersome. It also feels not finished (rushed to the end).

I'm just getting into Warhammer 40k and after having played and highly enjoyed Necromunda: Hired Gun, I wanted to give this one a spin as it sat in my library for quite some time already. It's a game that was made with Multiplayer Co-op in mind and it sadly shows. In Singleplayer, your team mates show barely any initiative and while they are capable in fighting, they will not heal unless being told, get to the right side of the door you're trying to lock, get out of harms way and run straight in front of your barrel while you're trying to fight. You can commandeer them just fine but in the heat of the battle, this is often a luxury you don't have. I finished the game entirely in Singleplayer and had my fun with it, but if you got some friends to play with, I'm sure you are going to have a better time. Now AI isn't the game's only problem as there were quite a few other glitches from map markers over missing dialogues to in-game sound effects playing during briefings/cutscenes. Nothing game-breaking, but certainly that chips away at the experience. In the beginning I was also very confused and later annoyed by the fact that enemies essentially spawn endlessly from (clearly marked) spawn nests, and while I would still like to have an option of special game mode where it was possible to destroy these nests, I started to appreciate what the developers were going for. You have to push onward, claim every step, lock doors, plan your routes and it becomes a quite tense and exhilarating experience - although it can sometimes be a bit random and sway heavy between easy and barely manageable. The hordes of enemies are naturally also taking you away from being able to enjoy the awesome levels and their atmosphere and with a well fitting ambient sound design, they're really the highlight of the entire game. In short: flawed, but enjoyable. If you feel like blasting away hundreds of Xenos that would make Starship Troopers look like a walk in the park, give this game a go.

I'm a big fan of the W40K universe, especially since playing the excellent Dawn of War video game back 2005. So I was interested in the concept behind Deathwing, though all of the poor reviews warned me off from buying it. When it was on sale for less than $10, I took the plunge. Well, I can say that the game looks good. But that's about all of its merits. The gameplay is plodding, repetitious, and tedious. Unlike W40K: Space Marine, none of the characters are interesting, and the pitched battles with Tyranids from room to room gets old fast. I wouldn't recommend this game even at a low price. There are much better W40K games out there, even of the FPS variety.

This is not Vermintide 2. I see people comparing these games, and at face value, one would think this is Warhammer 40K version of the Vermintide power fantasy. Not. It's a bit of tactical, you just have to point your gun and shoot, if the xenos(morphs? one type of them reminds me of the alien...) get to close, press Q to shred the impure (is that how WH40K fans says?) but get out in the open and death shall be served, heal too many times and you might not heal at all later. You've got to make wise choises, resources are limited and you're not semi-invincible, you can't jump out in the crowds of xenos screaming "FOR THE EMPEROR" with a chainsaw blade screeching at hand. It's a bit of survival, because of what's written above, the point is to .... I think the overarching objective of the game is to seize control of the space ship, eliminate the xenos and defuse any threat that might lie there. So the point is to stay alive, do what you must and get out. But there is a bonus for killing xenos and finding collectibles. It's possibly horror, because it's dark (ScArY dArK) all the time, enemies might come from anywhere, and compounds with above. But, I think that it would not be tactical enough for people who enjoy tactical games, it would not be survival enough for people who like survival games and another person might say it's not horror at all. and Guns are alright, not comparable to the F.E.A.R. shotgun (obvs.) but neither bad, it definitely could be better, this games lacks (more) flying guts and ground xenos meat. but certainly, it's Warhammer 40K. So possibly it's for 40K fans, and people who would like something a bit tactical, a bit survival and a bit scary. it's not the 40K version of Verminite, that's for sure. It is its own thing, and there is cross-play multiplayer.

Thought about buying this for a while and after playing 2 hours, have decided that its not worth it. Very one dimensional around shooting rather than close combat. It feels more like a game where the trigger is held all the time and its all about firing at a horde until they disappear before waiting for the next group to come through.