Space Hulk: Deathwing Reviews
It's a simple enough formula consisting of shooting and completing objectives—usually by shooting
While it still could be saved the technical state of the game is so bad that it cannot be seen for what it does right. Even the good parts of the game are plagued by the negatives and the frequent FPS drops make gameplay vomit inducing.
As a fan of Warhammer 40,000, it's a shame that Space Hulk: Deathwing has these issues that impede what should have been a great game.
Space Hulk: Deathwing is a squad-based shooter, like Left 4 Dead or Vermentide, but its gameplay lacks innovations and the AI is not cooperative. The situation is saved thanks to the atmosphere and the graphical component.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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 accomplished piece of fan service, but the excitement fades fast and performance problems spoil it for some.
Space Hulk: Deathwing is a game clearly developed without care and passion: the only two positive features are the storyline and the beautiful mood of the series.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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.
Sadly, Space Hulk Deathwing is very much a one-trick pony, a trick which others have done much, much better.
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.
Thunder-hammers, chainswords, bolters, flamethrowers and plasma cannons are just a few of the many pieces of your futuristic toybox, and boy do they do the job of slaying Genestealers.
Space Hulk: Deathwing is a collection of opposites. Its attention to detail is both astonishing and flawed, its shooting hit and miss, and its co-op gameplay both satisfying and frustrating.
Space Hulk: Deathwing is a solid title. It's got a fun cooperative mode and a decent single-player storyline on top of it. It just unfortunately suffers from some issues, like semi-useless teammates and random online disconnects. The collection of weapons and sheer feeling of power stomping around the darkened corners of the hulk are worth at least a look for fans of Warhammer 40k.
Space Hulk is amazingly lore accurate
It's surprising how thoroughly I ended up enjoying Space Hulk: Deathwing. Its bulky, typical Warhammer 40,000 design is noticeable throughout, even though it implements a welcome sense of atmosphere that is rather rare within the franchise.
Singleplayer felt so mechanical, so repetitive – whereas with humans and no unlocks to pursue in multiplayer, it felt tense and organic.
With its reliance on deeply confusing fluff and numerous bugs, Space Hulk: Deathwing is only for fans of Warhammer 40,000 who absolutely can't wait for a patch.
There’s a reason that most 40K fans groan at the prospect of the series taking the form of a video game, and it’s because of titles like Space Hulk: Deathwing. Whether technically bad, poorly designed, terribly written, or just flat out no fun to play, there’s almost always something wrong with them, and everything is wrong with SH:D. Despite having Gav Thorpe on hand, the narrative only manages to be interesting in concept, but never in execution. The design is torn between being a traditional Space Hulk game, and wanting to be the 40K Vermintide clone many were hoping for. It’s boring to play, with combat being as uninspired as possible, and the role of the relics being severely under-developed. In many ways, it can’t even get the canon of 40K right, either abandoning it or sticking to it for the sake of design and gameplay in all the wrong places. By Holy Terra, it’s basically heresy! If Space Hulk: Deathwing were a planet, it’d be high time for Exterminatus Extremis because even with the polish that this game is absolutely lacking, it would still be unsalvageable.
An impressive handling of the Warhammer licence, Deathwing is sadly a less than impressive tactical shooter.