Space Hulk: Deathwing Enhanced Edition
Game Verbs - what do you actually do in Space Hulk: Deathwing Extended Edition?
Stomp – along dark corridors. You occupy a huge suit that gives your movement a mech-like feel. Your companions (controlled by AI when playing solo or other players during online co-op) are similarly bulky. This often presents confusion during intense swarm battles as the AI tends to always move into your line of fire (and people online, for that matter). I often just left them to it and kept going, as genestealers just keep coming anyway, so a quick mission is a good mission!
Teleport – Pressing the touch-pad launches a countdown, and let me tell you five seconds can seem like an eternity as you’re being completely swamped, while the defeated bodies of your comrades watch your impending demise with death-shrouded eyes. Thankfully, the portal resurrects your buddies and heals you up. It also gives you a chance to change your weapon load-out if things aren’t working for you. Portals are limited and act as auto save points. It’s a super drag to die without having used a portal at all on a level and be pushed all the way back to the briefing part of a level – infuriating, actually. I had this happen a couple of times and almost stopped playing. A checkpoint system is sorely needed.
Switch weapons – a lot! It takes a while to find what works for you, and most guns have an annoying habit of jamming just when you don’t want them to (note, developers, this is not a good fit for this game. It doesn’t add tension, it’s just plain irksome). You can also change classes, which gives you different special moves, but I didn't find any one particular class that felt too different from the others.
Zoom – Because your left hand is taken up by a melee weapon, the traditional FPS muscle memory of holding L2 to look down your sight is gone. Instead, a click of R3 zooms your vision, highlighting enemies in a yellow glow for single-player (but not doing so in co-op, for some reason). This is essential for two reasons. First, enemies are crack shots and will hit you from hundreds of metres away. Second, the game’s graphics are such that it’s almost impossible to tell industrial architecture from foes, even when they are close. The game really needs to either brighten environments significantly or implement some other graphical system to highlight enemy placement.
Backtrack – Missions send you through overly-complex maps chasing down objectives, which change across the map, resulting in a lot of backtracking. This would be okay except for a couple of issues. One, the game lets you close doors behind you as a defensive tactic, stopping incoming vermin from attacking you from that direction. However, for some strange reason, you can’t then open closed doors on your return, the things get jammed, requiring you to break the door down. Too bad if you need to backtrack later as that tactical option can only be used once. The second issue is that the sprint ability is awful. It uses up stamina too quickly and you have to hold in L3, which just feels awkward. You therefore have to slowly wade through already-explored sections, which isn't fun or interesting.
Shoot – Okay, obvious! The shooting feels okay, depending on your weapon. I found the Mk2 stormbolter suited me best, offering fast fire without the need to wait for the wind-up of a chain gun. This really is a game where you need human companions who know what they’re doing so you can coordinate your firepower.
Smash – Melee is the close-range option, but I used it sparingly. It was only when the screen filled with attackers that I remembered my sword or mace. While melee is effective, it’s usually better to shoot on retreat.
Timeline - how long to beat, any trophy/achievement issues, how much is left after passing?
The campaign will take around 9 hours to complete solo, less with co-op. Then you have the Special Missions and class customisation to ostensibly extend your stay. The Special Missions let you return to previous mission areas with randomised objectives and enemy spawns, which if I’m honest doesn’t sound too different the campaign in the first place! Then there’s the XP system, where you can upgrade class and weapon skins, runes, attachment and perks. I found it all terribly confusing and didn’t feel an iota of inspiration to try and earn anything here, but super Space Hulk fans will appreciate the option.
Gameplay from the first mission:
Saving Frustration - any issues with the save system for parents/players with regular interruptions?
As mentioned, portals act as saves and it’s annoying to have to use them instead of a decent checkpoint system. Otherwise, things pause as they should, except for during online co-op, naturally.
Patchwork - how is the game being supported with updates?
This is the super-duper-console-patched version, so I wouldn’t expect too much.
Online - any multiplayer details and population trends
I managed to get co-op games easily and things ran okay. The frame rate was still an issue and we rarely managed to beat a mission, but you still earn XP for time/effort spent, which can be spent on customising and upgrading your big dude. There were around 30 active hosts at the time of writing, with most sporting two or three out of the maximum four-person squad.
Summary - an elevator pitch to sum up the experience
Space Hulk: Deathwing Enhanced Edition is a rough-around-the-edges-squad-shooter-horror-hybrid that manages to evoke a decent atmosphere. It struggles in the graphical department and the frame rate is constantly on the dip, but there was something honest about my experience that kept me loading up missions, even after suffering defeat at the hands of blithering squad AI or the game’s woeful check-pointing. Online co-op is a must here, and if you can get some decent pals along for the ride I think there’s the potential for some fun.
