Space Hulk Deathwing has ‘mammoth’ environments

Warhammer 40K has a very particular sense of design. One wherein architecture was force-fed a diet of Hulkamania in order to make room for the gigantic beings who inhabit it.  Buildings, spaceships and entire planets in Warhammer 40K boast design elements that were culled from the minds of madmen. After all, when you have entire capital ships that double as cosmic cathedrals built in the honour of Humanity’s crippled God-Emperor, you know that a designer or two must have been smoking some of the good stuff.

There’s a ton of Warhammer 40K content on the way this year, which includes Space Hulk Deathwing. A first-person slaughter-festival, Deathwing has players piloting one of the walking tanks knowns as a Space Marine Librarian from the Terminator squad. For those of you who don’t read up on Warhammr 40K wikis over the weekend, imagine comparing Roman Reigns to a 1980s peak WWF Hulk Hogan. Both impressive powerhouses, but Hulk Hogan clearly outclasses the Ro-man.

Anyway, said game may not feature complex hallways and tricky levels, but they are ornate and massive pieces of galactic architecture. Interiors which are patterned after the standard of space-style described in the tabletop game and various other media. Here’s a bunch of new screenshots of these levels, and the obligatory descriptive blurb from the press release. Click to embiggen.

From a large battle-barge belonging to the Black Templars, to a vessel from the Adeptus Mechanicus, explore and fight inside huge derelict Warhammer 40,000 vessels, oozing with atmosphere and authenticity. You play as a Librarian accompanied by a Terminator squad – either cooperatively with friends, or in solo – fending off Genestealer advances and recovering ancient relics in the mangled ships and asteroids composing the Space Hulk, drifting along the currents of the Warp.

The game features a full story campaign, and all of the weapons from the Space Hulk board game (including the famous Storm Bolter, Assault Cannon, Lightning Claws, and Thunder Hammer). Wielding these relics of war you will fight through the cargo bays of the Adeptus Mechanicus, ancient chapels of a Black Templar warship, and the gigantic engine rooms of derelict ships.

Space Hulk Deathwing is out later this year on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. And I still have no idea what exactly is going on in the game, beyond the fact that there happens to be an army of Incredible Hulks dressed in power-armour and wielding pure weapon pornography against Parktown Prawns.

Last Updated: January 25, 2016