Space Hulk Resurrects! (But Will It Save?)

September 9, 2014 by brennon

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So now we know, Space Hulk has returned... and it looks pretty much the same as last time!

So while we all run out and pre-order what is one of the most magnificent products Games workshop has released in the last five years, I know one or two of you in the community, will be wondering about the motivation behind this release.

There is no doubt Space Hulk is a hugely popular title, and its 'original 3rd ed re release' five years ago had a huge impact on GW and 40K. In many ways it re-energized both, and paved the way for the less successful Dreadfleet, but also a huge growth in 40K.

From a pure money making perspective, this re-release is a no brainer, but I reckon if you asked any industry watcher if they expected what is essentially exactly the same product to be released again, I would hazard a guess you would have got a resounding 'no way GW don't do that'.

Certainly I would have expected the design team to be let loose on the rules to bring the game up to date and perhaps add options for more players etc

On the topic of plastic terrain, I would have said it's unlikely, but wouldn't have completely ruled it out as we are talking about the one company who have the ability and power to create something truly outstanding. At the very least I would have expected a redo of the tiles to be more in keeping with the fab new direction the design team would have taken us in regarding the rules etc.

But we didn't see any of that (except a couple of extra missions and a new tile for the most part)...

So what gives?

As releases go this should be massively profitable (No Tooling - No Design etc), and maybe that's what the company needs right now, which is fair enough. The product itself is still fantastic, and hopefully will bring players back into 40K in their droves along with a heap of new players if we're lucky (and perhaps that's the goal here rather than a pure money making exercise).

Right now this could be a Win for the Company, and a Win for people who love to play games... unfortunately for me at least... I'm still left feeling a little bit underwhelmed!

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What do you think?

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