Space Hulk

The Good
Space Hulk is built around one thing; atmosphere. Remember that bit in Aliens when they're waiting for the nasties to come, wondering where they are? Space Hulk takes that moment and turns it into an entire game. Venturing a certain way into a deserted ship, you find a crossroads or a favourable covering point. You set your men up. Every corridor has three lines of fire on it. Nothing could get through. Now, wait, wait, wait... here they come. The first aliens are shredded. Soon, a massive firefight is underway. Everything's under control. But then, Unit 2's gun jams. And Unit 3 finds himself with a very angry pair of teeth up on his faceplate. And now, they're all around you, and there's no escape...

Space Hulk has a simple, intuitive control method. It has excellent sound effects and graphics that function well. And it has a large dose of Atmosphere Factor that makes each mission a sweaty, fear-filled experience. You'll be playing it for a long time.

The Bad
Although there are a wide variety of campaigns and single missions, the fundamental game doesn't change all that much. It really doesn't need to - Space Hulk is a game that knows its strong points - but after a large amount of playing time you do get a little sick of being scared witless by the same situation. There are also a couple of specific situations in which the control method doesn't work well - usually the situations involving flaming, horrible death...

The Bottom Line
Space Hulk is a remnant from that lovely time when a 3d card was something for millionaires and frame rates or polygon counts didn't sell games. Space Hulk uses sound, graphics and timing towards a concrete end: the creation of claustrophobic, terrifying encounters with alien invaders. Try it - you'll be surprised at what it can do to your pulse rate.