Space Hulk: Ascension Edition’s dev diary removes randomness

Okay, so this Space Hulk: Ascension Edition dev diary isn’t removing randomness, but it’s explaining the removal of randomness.

Space Hulk: Ascension Edition is Full Control’s second attempt at making a Space Hulk game. While the original was a faithful recreation of the board game, this… isn’t. This is Space Hulk modified to make it work a bit better as a computer game.

I’m not going to cover the entirety of this (16 minute!) dev diary, but a few of the big changes are the removal of randomness, the addition of exploration, and a proper single-player campaign. There are no more dice rolls, with “rolls” being replaced with percentage chances or deterministic results! Command Points aren’t randomised; they’re given as a buff based on how close your Terminators are to their sergeant!  You can’t see the layout of the Hulk or the location of the Genestealer blips until you actually explore! The single-player campaign is a branching tree with a squad that carries over from mission to mission, and different paths feature different missions and different upgrades! Terminators level up, and can be outfitted as you like! Combi-bolters! Cyclone Missile Launchers! Different firing modes! Different types of Genestealers, with acid/flesh hooks/armour plating! 100 missions!

So yeah. It’s Space Hulk, turned into more of a computer game – if anything, it sounds like Space Hulk meets XCOM. There are also improved visual effects, lighting, animations, and a bunch of other stuff, but I can’t really put that into text. Go have a look at the dev diary below for some proper details.

Space Hulk: Ascension Edition is due out this winter.