Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels

The Good
Back in the days when my Amiga 600 was still functional I had a great but unbelievably difficult game called Space Hulk. It had depressing synthesizer violin music playing during the horrendously long loading periods. You actually played approximately a third of the time, because you usually died very quickly. The rest of the time you waited for the game to load the next mission. Despite this it was a very good and unnerving strategy/action game. "Blood Angels" is more or less the same thing, but with pretty good 3D-graphics and more action and without the loading sessions. In other words, it's a good game. It's not as scary as the first game, but it's scary enough and just as challenging. My heart jumped many times as the evil genestealers jumped at me from behind just as I thought I was going to get away. If you want good old fashioned strategic horror action, you'll find it here. Easy controls and nice sounds as well.

The Bad
In the old Space Hulk game you had four screens to control several space marines at once. This was incredibly difficult but great fun. In "Blood Angels" you have to complete a lot of missions and get promoted before you can command your comrades, and even then you don't have as much control over them as in the original. This both good and bad. It makes the game is slightly easier, although still way too hard, but it doesn't feel as complex and scary as the first game. Sometimes the AI of your fellow marines is frustratingly bad. It's hard enough to survive as it is, without having to babysit a bunch or morons that constantly get themselves killed. If you are up to a real challenge you should check this game out despite the complaints, but if you're easily frustrated this is probably not the ideal game for you.

The Bottom Line
Strategic horror action with quite a steep learning curve. Easy controls, difficult game.