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Finally, a Space Hulk game with Genestealers that look interesting to play

Hey, Space Marines, get off my ship!

When it comes to Space Hulk, we're used to playing as Space Marines cleansing creepy abandoned spaceships of the rabid Genestealer menace. In most cases the Genestealers are mindless AI who try to bludgeon the player's units to death - and there's little else going on.

Space Hulk: Tactics, though, looks like it's put a bit more thought into how the Genestealers work. They play significantly differently than the Terminators and even have their own campaign.

Space Hulk: Tactics is an XCOM meets Space Hulk turn-based strategy game from Focus Home Interactive. In the video, below, we see a decent chunk of Genestealer gameplay, and learn how they work.

Rather than deploy Genestealers directly on the battlefield, you spawn "blips", so-called because they are a visual representation of what the Space Marines see on their scanners. These blips may house up to three Genestealers, and can be revealed when the player chooses, or are revealed when they run across a Space Marine's line of sight. You get more blips by converting a card once per turn. The idea is to use empty blips trick your opponent into fussing with decoys while the bulk of your force is elsewhere.

As you'd expect, the Genestealers are faster and more agile than the Terminators, and have more action points to use. There are a raft of unit types, including the Brood Lord, which can cross the map in an instant and spawn more blips around itself.

Cover image for YouTube videoSpace Hulk: Tactics - Genestealer Trailer

Space Hulk: Tactics looks like a step-up from Full Control's similar 2013 XCOM meets Space Hulk video game, with improved visuals and, as we've seen, a fleshed-out Genestealer race to play about with. It's due out 9th October 2018.