Space Hulk: Tactics
Space Hulk: Tactics is a faithful adaptation of the board game Space Hulk, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, bringing a unique twist to the cult classic formula. Engage in bloody battles as either a squad of Terminator Space Marines or the deadly alien Genestealers. Battle through two distinct, narrative-driven campaigns: lead, customise, and upgrade a Blood Angels squad or, for the first time in a Space Hulk game, control a swarm of Genestealers! Engage in bloody tactical battles aboard a gigantic Space Hulk Play through two campaigns from the point of view of the Blood Angels, and for the first time the Genestealers! Customize your units of Dark Angels, Ultramarines, Blood Angels, Space Wolves, and even Genestealers with hundreds of cosmetic items, cards, and equipment. Test your skills against other players in the online competitive multiplayer. Create and share your own missions with an intuitive map creation tool
Steam User 14
Space Hulk: Tactics is essentially if the 4th edition of the board game got a massive expansion. It doesn't just play like the tabletop game, it essentially is the tabletop game (to the point where it even shows you the outcome of dice rolls for actions). This adaptation succeeds greatly in making the experience authentic and fun, but it is not without some flaws.
Graphics
Overall very spot on, it helps that this game is made in Unreal Engine 4. Models and environments look sharp, easily readable and detailed at the same time. I was pretty blown away at how much attention to detail was put on all of the models and areas, it really does look like the tabletop pieces brought to life. The art team definitely did their homework, everything in the game feels true to the 40k universe. It's so well done, I'm honestly thinking about painting my models for the tabletop game in this style.
Sound
Sound effects are all crisp, clear and well defined. Guns sound powerful, swords and hammers make nice crunches, and Genestealers sound exceptionally creepy and serpentine. Voice acting is done decently, though there are some instances where they ham it up just a bit too much. It does become apparent in the Genestealer campaign that some of the VA's for the blood angels also do the voices for the marines in the other chapters too. Pretty high up for 40k game standards though, nothing is certainly at Soulstorm levels. The ambient music tracks are nice and the combat tracks are fine. Nothing extremely noteworthy with the music but it's at least a slight step above generic.
Story
The game has two campaigns to pick, one where you control a squad of Blood Angels Terminators, and the other as the Genestealers. I would suggest playing the Blood Angels campaign first, as the Genestealer campaign serves as a prequel to it and spoils some of the plot points (although it's not that big of a deal if you do it the other way around). The Blood Angels campaign starts off with them arriving to destroy the space hulk(if you're not familiar with the lore it's essentially a massive blob of fused spaceships that are hundreds or thousands of years old) that has shown up at the doorstep of a forge world. After a while an Inquisitor from the Inquisition's alien hunter division shows up because he wants samples of the new types of Genestealers found on the hulk. The Blood Angel captain has a lot of contempt for him due to how he feels the Inquisitor is using the marines as tools for his agenda. After a while the librarian(space wizard) of the squad senses a signature of an ancient relic of the Emperor of Mankind. The captain is desperate to find it, ready to sacrifice the planet to secure it if need be. SPOILERS WARNING (although it's not really that big) They initially make it seem that you have to choose between doing one objective over the others (save the planet and destroy the hulk, get samples and cadavers for the Inquisition, or locate and find the relic), however the latter two can be done as optional missions before the final level. I feel this was a huge missed opportunity, adding some nice weight to the story and impact on the universe as a whole based on your actions. The ending is still alright, but it doesn't have as much heft to it if the choices being locked to one path would be. The story does it's job and has some fun moments with the back and forth between the characters (everything with the Inquisitor is great), but it definitely isn't a Citizen Kane or anything.
Gameplay
The game is a turn based strategy game. While mission objectives might vary, the core rules stay the same. To do any action costs action points (AP). Terminators only get 4 AP each per turn while Genestealers and blips get 6. It costs AP to turn 90 degrees as a Terminator, however it's free as a Genestealer. It also costs AP to attack and interact with objects like doors and consoles. Genestealers spawn as radar blips, which can reveal to have anywhere from 0-3 Genestealers in them (or have a special unit). They can either be revealed voluntarily by the Genestealer player or involuntarily if they enter a Terminator's line of sight (LoS).
There is a first person view mode that looks really cool but can feel a bit janky to use. You can get used to it, but I greatly prefer playing in the top down isometric view. It lets you see more info on screen and better plan out your moves, plus the controls feel really fluid and natural for the the terminators. For the Genestealers it feels a bit clunkier since you can't switch between blips and units if you spend some AP on the one you're controlling. Sometimes I forget this and end up wasting a turn, but it's half my fault so it's whatever. If I had to pick a single word to describe the gameplay loop for both sides in the game, it would be brutal. Space Marine Terminators can kill waves of Genestealers with so much as a mean look, but Genestealers can also quickly overwhelm the squad and rip through their armor like tissue paper. To win as a Terminator, you need to keep LoS clear and covered with overwatch fire (destroying doors helps greatly with this). And for Genestealers, you need to ambush and close the distance with large swarms as you have no ranged options. If you're already familiar with the tabletop rules, the biggest change is the addition of the card system. The terminator player gets 3 cards to pick that can have devastating game changing bonuses (stuff like +2 to a ranged shot, etc). The catch is that some of the more powerful cards cost Command Points to use. You generate one CP per turn. Instead of playing a card you can also choose to convert a card to gain extra AP to use on anyone in your squad, however you can only covert one card per turn). This system replaces the random extra command points in the tabletop, and to be honest I really like it. There might be some concerns with balance, but it's a lot more varied and engaging then the classic system. Outside of missions you're put into a world map of the hulk. Completing missions rewards you money to spend on squad upgrades like new weapons, more powerful cards and modules that give an individual Terminator extra buffs. As you progress on the map, the threat meter on the left goes up, if it goes up too high you get ambushed by Genestealers. When this happens you're presented with two options: either leave a random marine behind to cover the area or fight the mission head on. Leaving the marine behind means he cannot be used in the next mission, but that nothing bad happens. If you choose to fight the mission, you either gain or lose money depending on if you win or lose. Some of these missions are fine, however some of them are so insanely difficult that you have next to 0 chance of winning. This doesn't happen all of the time, but it's not a huge deal if you lose a few missions. The map as a whole feels like a more stripped down and less complex version of similar systems in games like Darkest Dungeon . It works and has it's moments, but I wish it had more complexity. The Genestealers also use the card system, it effects what blips they can spawn instead of giving extra AP like terminator conversions. The Blood Angels campaign is a great time, a playthrough on normal should take around 20-30 hours at most. The Genestealer campaign sadly isn't as long, taking around 5-10 hours. There WAS an online multiplayer system, but sadly it was shut down some time ago without any warning. This means that the game is effectively single player only now, there's not even an option for hotseat local multiplayer.
Final Thoughts
As a fan of the tabletop game, I think Space Hulk: Tactics is an excellent expansion on the core game and it's rules. But since the multiplayer is down, you won't be getting too much out of the game once you've beaten both campaigns. Get it on sale.
Steam User 12
After playing this for a few hours I was getting some seriously weird nostalgic feelings of Déjà vu and then I suddenly got all these repressed memories coming back from what must have been the beginning of the 90's.
I now vividly remember gazing up entranced at the space hulk board game artwork on the top shelves out of my reach in Toys R Us and being so excited to get my hands on the box not even knowing what it actually was.
Much to my parents disdain and considerable resistance I insisted on spending all my birthday money on purchasing it even though at that tender innocent age I knew nothing of Warhammer 40K and its eternal war, but I was enthralled.
When finally getting my hands on it and looking at the magical contents listed on the back my eyes glazed over with all the potential wondrous glories of men in in suits of armour with big guns killing aliens.
This cost a considerable amount of money at that time and meant I would not be able to buy any other toy for over 6 months until Christmas time.
A serious commitment for a child of perhaps 9 or 10 years of age and a precarious situation to be in if the game turned out to be a big age inappropriate waste of money as my parents kept telling me.
I now understand this was the Emperors divine guidance leading me down his chosen path for my enlightenment.
After getting the game home I recall the first week of the summer holidays spent forlornly at home repeatedly asking my mother every day to play the board game with me diligently setting it up each morning only for her to promise that she would play later or tomorrow.
At the end of the week I confronted my mother as eloquently as a desperate young boy could beseeching her to finally honour her constant promises to play this game with me, and she eventually agreed.
After trying to explain the rules as quickly as possible unable to contain my excitement and enthusiasm I began my first turn and after only barely moving a few pieces my mother stood up and exclaimed :
Sorry David this is so boring I can't play this and then just left the room.
Devastatingly anticlimactic my realisation that my mother preferred to do the ironing or dishes then purge Xenos with me.
I now know the proper way to deal with heretics but at that tender age I was just filled with a profoundly disappointing sadness.
After this I then remember taking the board game on our annual 2 week family summer holiday to Devon in some godforsaken campsite in a mouldy tatty caravan I again hopefully set the game up each day on the little plastic dinning table at the back.
My brother aware of how desperate I was to play the game would feign interest and convince me he genuinely wanted to play and after not even finishing his first turn would get bored and frustrated and declare the game was rubbish and stupid relishing in upsetting me only to repeat this cruel trick on me again after a few days.
I remember on one day during the holiday my father (who was super competitive even with his children) agreeing to play but only after studying the instructions for what seemed like hours the evening before totally destroyed me in a couple of turns and then to my frustration never agreed to a rematch ever again.
I also remember after a while desperately going out into the campsite attempting to befriend and convince other children about how much more fun it would be to come back to my caravan to play a board game with me then run around having fun in the sun.
I recall now I even began trying to tempt them in with promises of showing them the rest of my Booglins collection if they would come inside with me just to play the game with me a little bit first.
What I'm trying to say is there is no way this game deserves mixed reviews as its a faithful adaptation with excellent graphics, music and atmosphere and I wish I had it to play by my myself instead of that cursed board game when I was younger to save me all that emotional trauma which I now have to repress again.
Steam User 11
A hidden gem among a deluge of Space Hulk games. It properly uses the rules from the Space Hulk board game with some minor changes most of which are good. The timer for Space Marine players is gone which makes a lot of sense for a single player game so you can think over your tactical choices. It's no longer a d6 for Command Points instead there is a card system. The cards give between 2 and 4 command points so less of a range but more average. You also can play cards which get some pretty powerful effects.
I think the game's biggest issue is a very steep learning curve. This is accurate to the board game however where genestealers were heavily advantaged. As the game goes on you unlock more heavy weapons, cards, and the powerful librarian with psychic powers. This means the game gets easier as you get more powerful abilities and options. I was still often failing a mission on the first try but I welcomed the challenge and the penalties for losing are negligible.
I recommend this game, it has tactical depth and genuine difficulty. Go into it knowing Space Hulk is a very difficult game as the Space Marines and just try to have fun.
Steam User 8
its warhammer
Steam User 6
If you are not into powerfist CBT experience and just looking for xcom 40k this may not be the game you are looking for and perhaps should try the other turn-based games on the franchise.
Straight up, Space Hulk tactics is brutal, and will punish every single mistake you make without mercy.
If you are into the high tension and planning your turns carefully, it's great.
Multiplayer apparently doesn't work but I never bothered with it, and tbh there's the real board game and tabletop simulator for that. Still, buyers be ware.
Steam User 7
Unlike Ascension, Space Hulk: Tactics is a truthful adaptation of the boardgame. It resembles the first one more than the sequel. This one, however, does not imitate the boardgame's campaign like the first one did. If you like the boardgame, you will not be dissapointed.
The Good:
+Its Space Hulk
+The Genstelaers got a campaign
+There's a functioning multiplayer
+Map Editor
+You can download and play scenarios other players made
The Bad:
- There's only one playable chapter for the campaign
- The cards you draw and the die you roll are predetermined at the game's start. There's no rng once you re-load a savegame
-The cutscenes' volume is not affected by your settings
Steam User 5
Really tough call on this one, could have been a thumb down.
I love 40k. The universe is well rendered here, graphics are pretty, genestealers look nice, terminator are always good, etc. Story is basic but serviceable. But unfortunately, under the patina of modernity, it's really just a string of classic board game battles with very very limited depth.
You need to be OK with mechanics of a physical board game designed in 1989. Units are either alive or dead, no hit points, no attrition, no chance to make up for mistakes, all or nothing. All combat is either kill or miss, no in between (and determined by rolling a few D6s no less). This makes the whole thing very very luck dependent (and save scum appealing), fluky, often frustrating. Progression is uber basic, and again, identical to the physical game. So if you want fidelity to the original with minimal update, go for it. But while those rules were practical for the relatively simple physical board game that Space Hulk was, if you want a modern video game with sane/reasonable randomness, deep progression and customization, and combat where your whole fight doesn't hinge on a single mistake (or even worse, single bad dice roll), then look elsewhere. Especially when playing as genestealers, basically the only way to succeed is to have a lucky streak. The idea is to keep throwing units in the grinder until you do.
I never bothered (nor wanted) to play this multiplayer. So I'm not sure about that. I read bad things in other reviews. So beware I guess.
Just know what you are buying.