Space Hulk (1993)

Space Hulk is a real-time tactical and first-person shooter game by Electronic Arts, released in 1993 for the MS-DOS, Amiga, and NEC PC-9801. It is one of the many (and the second) video games set in the universe of Warhammer 40,000 by Games Workshop; in this game’s case, it was based on the board game of the same name.

The game would eventually get a sequel, Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels, in 1996 for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and PC.

Gameplay
You command a squad (or two) of five Space Marine Terminators in over 51 missions (21 of which are played in sequence as a campaign) against Tyranid Genestealers.

Plot
Centuries before the events of the game, the Dark Angels Chapter have stopped a Genestealer incursion in the Tolevi system; one of the Chapter’s Captains, Lithonius, led his men to invade the Space Hulk Sin of Damnation, when it vanished into the Warp.

Now, the Sin of Damnation has returned, and you and your fellow Battle Brothers are ordered to board the Hulk and purge it.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) A nice opening logo sequence that uses a catchy song by D-Rok, "Get Out Of My Way".
 * 2) Innovative gameplay. The game’s HUD consists of 5 different monitors, with a primary monitor for the Marine you’re controlling and 4 secondary monitors for your squadmates. Not only that, you can also use a top-down map to issue orders. And lastly, you can order them to assume Overwatch mode, which makes them automatically fire at any nearby enemy or obstacle.
 * 3) Creepy sound effects that when combined with the lack of in-game music, the fact that your Marines are cumbersome and slow while the Genestealers can and will outrun them, not to mention having surprisingly excellent AI (being able to ambush your squad, as well as taking cover behind corners), makes the game very suspenseful and scary at times.
 * 4) Each of the missions have various objectives, ranging from moving your squad to a certain point, to retrieving objects and burning marked areas.
 * 5) Over 10 different weapons, ranging from ranged weapons such as the Storm Bolter and the Assault Cannons to melee weapons such as Power Fists and Thunder Hammers.
 * 6) Very challenging, as mentioned above. Much of this comes from having to command over five Marines while fighting off large numbers of Genestealers at the same time.

Reception
The game was met with positive reception from critics; many of them found the game scary and intense. Tony Dillon of CU Amiga even said that the game is not for those "with a weak heart". Lester Smith of Dragon magazine deemed the game as an excellent adaptation of the original tabletop game.