Space Hulk: Tactics

First off, my play time is a bit exaggerated as I've left the game paused for extended periods. It's probably closer to 7-8 hours.
TL;DR: It's a solid tactical game with turn based play, and the negative reviews don't give it the credit it deserves, many seemingly complaining about issues the reviewer easily could have remedied, or about issues that so far have been nonexistent in my play through. Playing on standard difficulty. No graphical issues or game crashes. No prior experience with the board game.
Now, more detail. I've looked at this game a myriad of times, hesitant to purchase it due to the mixed reviews and the fact I've never played the board game. I remember playing one of the 90s Space Hulk games on my uncle's PC around 10 or so, and absolutely getting my ass handed to me before quitting. I've been wanting a rematch. I enjoy 40k, and I enjoy tactical games, but it took me until I saw the game on sale for 85% off to decide it was worth the risk. I'm happy to say it was, and I would happily buy this game at full price.
The negative reviews are blown out of proportion, and a majority of people leaving those reviews seem to have issue with problems they're causing themselves, and it's a damn shame the game has to suffer for it. To call out a few examples:
Existing Negative Review: 'Playing on veteran and the game is too hard, too unfair. It feels impossible.' Solution? Reduce the difficulty.
Existing Negative Review: 'The animations are too slow, and it hinders the game.' Solution? Open the settings menu and navigate to the animations option, where the speeds can be changed.
Existing Negative Review: 'There are no defensive missions, there aren't enough turns, and no good firing lines.' I'm honestly not sure how far this person played, as the missions have never felt rushed to me, regardless of turn amounts. The average seems to be about 12 turns, but some have more, and a rare few have less. I take about 2 minutes per turn to strategize and move. I can however confirm that there ARE defensive missions. So far I've played a few missions where the goal is to survive for so many turns, which requires defensive play against waves of enemies. I've also encountered a mission where an objective (specifically a console) needed to be defended for so many turns. I can also confirm that I have had absolutely no problem finding good firing lines in damn near every mission. I typically place my units on overwatch with vision down a 6-12 tile corridor.
Is the game slow? Yes. Is it hard? Yes. Is it meant to be? Again, yes. But it is also very rewarding. You have to think about every single move you make, where you're placing which units at the start, which corridor you'll have a line of sight down, how much AP each unit has left and whether it's enough for a defensive or offensive action, how much AP the Genestealer units have and either keeping enough distance not to get picked or putting a unit on overwatch to keep yourself alive... There are lots of little things to keep track of, but I have never once felt the game was unfair, and the gameplay feels tactical and smooth once you get the hang of it. It definitely won't be for everyone, but if you're on the fence, I recommend picking it up, especially if it's on sale.

When I first bought the game, I was very frustrated by the U.I. I didn't understand the gameplay mechanics, every match I played I got my ass handed to me. I watched a few videos about the game, along with a few about the board game. I came back the next day, and I've been crushing it. I feel like if you don't understand the actual board game mechanics then you'll be lost understanding how to approach the game. The gameplay is repetitive yes but it's based on a board game between 2 people, and it's only supposed to played a few times then put down for a while, this does not bother me. I like to plum the depths of derelict craft drifting in and out of the warp and that is tedious dangerous work. As the terminators you are pressured to move fast, if you don't the genestealers are going to overwhelm you. I like it now since I've taken the time to understand everything.

Good Game. Cards are fun, so is squad customization. Other than that, UI is a bit more confusing. It's similar to the board game, in that the space marines are kind of screwed from the beginning. This game's RNG will drive you crazy. Save game is your friend. That said, if you like slow, tactical games instead of mindless shoot-em-ups, you might like this. The game itself is pretty good in terms of the campaign so far (I am playing the blood angels). It is worth its price and the mechanics and game-play are that of the actual board game, Is a decent game, but full potential was never reached by the developer which is common for this quick grab developer.

I'm not sure what's up with the technical issues, bugs and crashes other commenters are experiencing, but after trying out the first few missions, I've found nothing of the sort, much less anything game breaking. As for the game, it's a pretty fun, mostly arcady turn-based tactics experience, meaning that you'll be playing more for the refreshing mechanics and the cool little ideas thrown in the loop, and less for the W40K lore, even if it's there. The voice acting and audio design are all excellent.

a very fun but brutally unforgiving in the early game.

Heavy Flamer does a lot to trivialize the difficulty but that point it is earned.

and those filthy Xenos scum deserve it anyways

Picked this game up on sale and played through the campaign, I would say it's worth it. You can customise your squad as you progress through the story so you're not stuck using the same team every game. The graphics are nice, the UI was a bit confusing at first and took sometime to get used to. I had to turn the animation speed up otherwise the game would be very slow pace. All in all, not a bad Space Hulk game!

I've been playing this off and on for a good while, I always come back to it at some point. Great game, nice spin on the classic game, and lots of little exciting moments, especially when the dice roll your way when you need it the most. I play on the Steam Deck now, and it works great but you need to use an older proton version for it to run.