Space Hulk Ascension (Warhammer Classics) Review (PC)

A year after the first release this new version of Space Hulk looked to build on the foundations of the first game and bring the digital version of the franchise close to the realms of a turn based strategy game rather than a recreation of a table top board game and as such a host of new features have been implemented.

The maps for three new campaigns have now been designed from scratch and players get the choice of leading one of three Space Marine chapters into the decaying hulks. You can pick from the Ultra Marines, Blood Angels and Space Wolves with each chapter having a few different specialisms and skills.

As you progress through the campaigns your marines now level up and begin to gain access to different weapons and equipment. This gives a bit more of a tie to your marines and helps to differentiate them. Starting out with a basic Storm Bolter and Power Fist Combo you’ll soon have access to a range of weaponry which makes your load outs much more flexible. The Genestealer side of things has also been worked on with numerous variants now stalking the narrow corridors of the ships.

The game certainly seems a lot less clunky as well and turns have a better fluidity to them. Though hulking marines are never going to be zipping about the place it certainly moves along at a better pace than the original game and you never quite feel safe. Of course, you shouldn’t feel safe because this is a very difficult game. Even as an experienced player of the board game we found even getting though the initial missions difficult and one of two mistakes can easily end your mission.

That wouldn’t be so bad but there are two major issues which can stop the game being as fun and tactical as it should be. One is the lack of a tactical map which is perhaps the most crucial. The layout of levels is revealed as you explore the ship which is something that probably sounded like a good idea at the time. In reality, in this type of game you need to be able to work out well in advance where you need to place you Terminators. As they have such limited movement thinking up flexible tactics on the fly really isn’t a worthwhile option and wandering into a room only to find it contains a host of entry points for the enemy just doesn’t cut it.

The other issue is the general murk of the levels. It can be very hard to pick out basic features on the ships such as doors and air vents. The amount of times a Genestealer took out one of our marines from a space we didn’t even know about was infuriating and is something that really needs to be looked at. You can change the gamma levels to brighten things up but when you are looking at a dark map from almost a bird’s eye view it’s still very difficult to pick some things out. The command wheels on your Terminators are also very small. 

Overall, the game has certainly developed from the original but it has done some very good things while also introducing some bad things. We like the skill progression, the use of different chapters and the new maps. But we really could do without the murky levels and the fog of war which stops tight tactical planning - which in a game as tough as this is really needed.

Overall 7/10

The three Space Hulk DLC'sa re also included and can be read about in more detail here -

Imperial Fist DLC 

Salamanders DLC

Dark Angel DLC

Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege Review (Switch)

One day Konami might get the hint that we need Castlevania games to come out a bit more often. At least we have Belmont’s Curse nearly upon us. During those long periods of drought, it seems indie developers have taken it upon themselves to try and fill the void. We have covered a fair few here and Saint Slayer in the next in line.

It’s curious that side scrolling, linear, Castlevania likes always stick to the 8-bit pixel look. You would think someone would take on the 16-bit era at some point. Saint Slayer is another that looks a lot like the first three NES Castlevania games. It follows a standard linear level structure and even has a little between level map just in case you still didn’t get the inspiration.

Luckily, it plays a bit less clunky than the 8-bit Castlevania games though. You are limited to the usual jump, attack and special attack options, but there are also a few Metroidvania elements thrown in as skills which you can acquire, such as a slide which is vital for taking you under traps at certain points. There’s also a little bit of a Duck Tales inspiration with our hero able to use his spear to pogo around on spikes.

That isn’t to say the game is easy though. It’s pretty damn tough, especially if you have no experience with the rhythm and flow of these types of things. If you are happily playing on your NES or Master System though, you’ll have a much better time of it.

The loose plot follows a farmer in seventeenth century Europe who needs to fight through twenty-one levels to stop a mad priest from stealing relics and summoning all sorts of gothic horrors. It has a weird tone which moves between wacky dialogue (and one scene where a donkey knocks you off a cliff), to straight up horror with starving prisoners, bodies hanging from the ceiling and rotten meat which makes you sick if eaten.

You can collect orbs which act as the in-game currency which can then be spent at the travelling merchant. Interestingly the orbs stay with you through multiple playthroughs. This means you could potentially farm them on the easier settings and then use them when moving up the difficulties. It adds a light consideration about if you should restart the game after death or use the various passwords to continue your progress – minus any upgrades of course.

Level design is generally strong, and bosses are well structured in the ‘learn the attack pattern’ kind of way. An early fight with a monster riding a donkey is a bit silly and frustrating as you must keep dropping boxes on its head, but most others work well. Some levels are too long though. Level eleven is set in a prison and after your hundredth death it really does begin to look samey and bland. Generally, though the layouts and look are varied.

Overall, Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege does pretty much what it sets out to do. It’s a huge homage to a NES styled Castlevania game in that its mostly successful. The biggest thing though about pretty much all of these is they are never quite at the level of the games they are influenced by. While this is a fun diversion, it won’t keep you away from proper Dracula slaying for too long.

Overall 7/10

Nine Sols Review (Switch 2)

Nine Sols came out a while ago but with the release of the physical version it seemed the perfect time to take another look at it. A 2D action platformer at heart it has some light Metroidvania elements and some of the most beautiful hand drawn graphics we’ve seen on the Switch. It attempts to merge Taoism with cyber punk, merging eastern philosophy with sci-fi.

It’s a complicated story to unravel but basically follows the idea that a virus wiped out an alien race, but they somehow managed to store their consciousness in a virtual reality system. If that’s not weird enough, to power the system innocent beings need to be sacrificed to it so their brains can be harvested for power. Or something like that.

Players control Yi, a sort of cybernetic creature that decides he doesn’t want his human friend to be sacrificed and sets out looking for the Nine Sols to defeat and harvest so that he can gain the codes to the Eternal Central Cauldron. Basically, you jump around beautiful levels and hit stuff with your sword, occasionally upgrading to a new skill and taking on awesome boss fights.

That’s doing the combat system a disservice though. Yes, you can bash stuff with your sword but there are also a lot more nuanced things you can also do. An early example of this is the deflection mechanic. If you successfully deflect an enemy blow, you can then dart past them, attach a bomb to them, charge it and then explode it. As you progress, you’ll gain more skills such as a dash, double jump and the ability to send a little robot out to get into places you can’t otherwise reach, a mechanic normally used for shutting down security systems and opening doors.

There’s also a cool grappling hook mechanic which lets you swing around the place, and you can of course wall jump and even run up certain surfaces. There’s certainly no shortage of ways to get around the beautifully stunning locations. It’s a good thing the game looks so great as well as it’s also pretty damn tough. Even early on enemies pack a punch so you’ll need to get to grips with the combat system quickly. If you die, you’ll need to go back and find your body to retrieve any lost experience as well.

Experience is important as there are various skill trees you can expand upon to boost your health and other stats. And in the style of Hollow Knight, you can equip talismans which add other changes and skills as well. When you get a good build together it’s certainly rewarding to go cutting through the enemies and at times, when it’s all flowing together perfectly you will feel like a complete bad ass.

Overall, Nine Sols is a really a very beautiful looking Souls game in terms of its approach to combat. Fans of Hollow Knight or any of the Sekiro games will soon feel at home, despite the bright colours and tech filled levels. It’s certainly rare to find a game with this much depth and such a clear design vision. It won’t be for everyone, but everyone should try it.

Overall 8/10

Warhammer Classics Round up (Steam)

Recently, a load of Warhammer games have been picked up and republished on Steam. We will be covering some in more detail in coming weeks. But here is a round up of one of the bundles that is available currently. It’s worth noting that almost of all of these are complete packages that include any DLC or extra content released.

Space Hulk and Space Hulk: Ascension

We have covered both Space Hulk and Ascension before a good few years ago. The first Space Hulk game does a pretty good job of recreating the board game experience. As a result, though it can feel slow and clunky in places. Ascension adds a bit more into the mix with the ability to level up your characters and having maps created from scratch. Both games are incredibly tough, but fans of the original game or Warhammer 40,000 are well served here. Just don’t expect anything too pacey.

Warhammer: Dark Omen and Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat

Our first experience of both these games was with their release on the first PlayStation. You would have hoped that using a mouse would have brought a better control scheme, but they are extremely clunky with a very small window to view the actual battlefield from, as most of the screen is filled with the user interface. Yes, instead of using the mouse you must control the game with different on screen buttons. These were clearly developed with the console ports in mind. If you can get into them, they are tough and engrossing, but we really struggled and found the games far too frustrating to stay with for long. Still, if you want to take on hordes of Skaven or the Undead it certainly has some scale to it.

Warhammer: Mark of Chaos

Finally, proper mouse controls come to Warhammer. Many see this as the sort of precursor to Total Warhammer. It’s like the Lord of the Rings strategy games in terms of it using smaller groups of characters and telling its own story. There are campaigns from the Empire and Chaos sides with the DLC adding the Orcs and Goblins. Further races such as Dark Elves and Skaven can be played in multiplayer. It’s certainly not perfect but it’s a game we fought our way through on the Xbox 360 and loved, and naturally it plays a whole lot better here. It’s a lot of fun with a solid campaign and a decent enough multiplayer mode. A good progression from Shadow of the Horned Rat and Dark Omen and though it’s lost a bit in terms of looks it plays perfectly fine still. 

Final Liberation

This is the PC attempt at getting Warhammer 40K Epic into game form. The controls are pretty good and it’s easy to identify your troops and move them around. There is also a ton of units and things you can do with them. It is crazily tough though. Taking on the first mission on the easiest setting we found our Marines always missed their shots, while simple groups of Orks managed to destroy heavily armoured vehicles. Once you get the hang of it though it’s an engaging game that certainly deserves a second life.

Warhammer 40,000 Chaos Gate

Note, this is the older version of the game. The Games Workshop attempt at UFO: Enemy Unknown. Build your squad, equip them and then send them into different missions to take down imperial cultists and demons. It works well and there are a ton of customisations and weapon options available for tackling levels in different ways. You can even use terminator marines and other specialist categories like apothecaries and tech marines. It looks dated but plays well. It’s worth playing for fans and we can see people losing a good few hours of their lives to it.

Warhammer 40,000 Fire Warrior

Looked upon as a disappointment on release, Fire Warrior is a perfectly ok FPS game. Now the hype has died down it certainly has it charm (although it was certainly never going to be a Halo killer). You play as a lone Tau warrior trying to fight off the Space Marines and forces of Chaos. It plays well, has some impressive set pieces and runs at a decent pace. It certainly is never going to be a stone cold classic, but fans of the theme and genre will find a lot to like here.

Warhammer 40,000 Rites of War

It seems there is no genre or template untouched by Warhammer. While Chaos Gate took on the Enemy Unknown template, Rites of War goes down the turn based hexagonal grid route and draws inspiration from Panzer General. The game has players taking control of the Eldar as they first fight, then unite with imperial forces to fend off a Tyranid Hive fleet.

Like a lot of these games, it’s a mix of good and bad. The classic mechanics are addictive and work well but missions are overly repetitive and pestered by small annoyances. Enemies have a habit of running away and healing before you can finish them off and characters can only carry a single object, so if you get to the end of a mission with no troops left to pick up that vital artefact you can’t complete the mission. And no, you can’t drop other objects already picked up. All that said, the core of the game is good. If you are looking for something that’s a bit more of a slow burn approach to Warhammer, then this is well worth a look.

Man O’War Corsair

Corsair is pretty much the definition of being an overlooked gem, if it was an indie game at least. It’s certainly the Games Workshop game which had the most potential if it had continued to be updated. It’s basically a rip-roaring pirate adventure set in the Warhammer world. Not only can you fire on other ships at range but also board them and let crews fight it out on deck.

There’s certainly a lot to like but the game is unpolished and messy. A lot of the ports look the same, sea monsters descend into predictable attack patterns and while naval combat is fun, when you get up close it looks tired and feels clunky. If you are forgiving though there’s a lot of ambition here to admire.

There are a host of other games falling under the Warhammer Classics banner as well such as Blood Bowl 1 and 2 and Talisman. It’s great to see them all being given a second chance on Steam and we will certainly be looking to cover more