Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels

Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels
File:Space Hulk Vengeance of the Blood Angels cover.jpg
Developer(s)	Key Game
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Platform(s)	3DO, MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation, Sega Saturn
Release	1995 (3DO) 1996 (PC, PlayStation, Saturn)
Genre(s)	Real-time tactical first-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels is a video game published by Electronic Arts in 1995 for the 3DO which was later ported to the PC, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn. It is based on Games Workshop's board game Space Hulk and is the sequel to the 1993 game Space Hulk. Like its predecessor, Vengeance of the Blood Angels combines first-person shooter gameplay with real-time tactical elements. Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels is part of the Warhammer: 40,000 universe.

Plot and setting

It's the 41st Millennium. For 20,000 years mankind has expanded forth throughout the galaxy aided by a phenomenal invention known as the Warp Drive, which allows huge spatial distances to be traversed in a matter of hours. Under the auspices of the Emperor; a psychic so powerful he is essentially immortal, a pan-galactic Imperium has been established in which mankind has spread and prospered. The defenders of the Imperium are the Legiones Astartes, or Space Marines, bio-genetically engineered warriors of superhuman prowess, ever vigilant to destroy the many threats that face mankind across the cosmos.

The player is one such Space Marine, belonging to one of the oldest and most honourable Chapters known as the Blood Angels, whose battle honours date back as long as the Imperium has existed. You have acquitted yourself well even among such heroic company, and it is thus that the player finds him/herself assigned to the Terminator company. Among the thousand warriors that compose a Space Marine Chapter, only the hundred most valorous and gifted brothers are deemed worthy enough of this honour. Terminators are the Chapter's ultimate warriors. Protected by this suit that makes them all but impervious to conventional weaponry, and armed with the most devastating weaponry available, Terminators stand in fear of no foe, no matter how potent.

Among the most insidious of mankind's enemies are Genestealers, a strange and terrifying alien race, reptilian in appearance, they are huge armoured six-limbed beasts, preternaturally swift and unbelievably ferocious in combat. A genestealer knows no fear, charging into combat irrespective of any threat to its life. Incredibly hard to kill and all too capable of inflicting death themselves, it is no surprise that Genestealers are considered one of the foremost threats to mankind's survival. However, there is another more frightening element to their nature: Genestealers are incapable of reproducing amongst themselves, and must rely on other races to expand their population.

The method they employ for this purpose is terrifying upon encountering a suitable host, such as a human being, a Genestealer will fix its piercing eyes upon it, mesmerising it much like a Terran snake does its prey. While the host is thus hypnotised, the Genestealer will extend its tongue, which contains a hollow, pointed tube known as the ovipositor in a gruesome parody of a kiss, depositing a small egg-like cell that contains the Genestealer's genetic profile. This cell behaves like a cancer, malignantly coursing through the host's system and altering its genetic profile. The victim shows little outward sign of the infection - in fact, he gains some of the 'Stealer's remarkable strength, resilience and longevity, becoming healthier than he was before. The effect is only really evident once the victim comes to reproduce.

Once they come to mate, the offspring of any victim is born as a Hybrid, a corrupt creature exhibiting characteristics of both Genestealer and host species. The Hybrid itself is equipped with an ovipositor, which it uses in a similar manner to its Purestrain parent. This cycle continues, with each new generation of Hybrid resembling the host species more closely. By the fourth generation, the offspring is barely detectable as alien save for a few give-away signs such as unnaturally sharp teeth and a purplish tinge to the skin. The offspring of this fourth generation is procreated in the conventional manner, and can result in either a Hybrid, a normal member of the host species or a Purestrain Genestealer, the only manner in which Purestrains can be produced. All the generations are linked in a psychic community, so Purestrains, Hybrids, and hosts all conceive of themselves as constituents of the same brood.

The manner in which Genestealers carry out their reproductive process is of exceptional danger to the Imperium, as whole planets can fall to the Genestealer threat; the affected humans look and act no different from normal, and the hosts are extremely secretive about the insidious curse they bear. Indeed the first an external agency may know about the presence of Genestealers is once a whole planet has been affected by the curse, requiring total cleansing and repopulation. Imperial authorities are thus extremely keen to terminate the Genestealer menace at source, before it has a chance to affect any nearby planet.

The prime manner in which Genestealer came into contact with humanity is through the use of Space Hulks. These are spaceships of human origin which have become lost in Warpspace, either through a malfunction of the ship's Warp Drive, or just as a consequence of travelling in a medium as uncertain as Warpspace. The human occupants having died, Genestealers and their Hybrid brood move in, settling down to hibernation until the drifting Space Hulk comes into contact with a species riper for infiltration and domination.

So thus, it is that whenever a Space Hulk is detected in the proximity of a human planet, the stalwart warriors of the Space Marines are detached to rid the Hulk of its Genestealer cargo, preventing any chance of another planet falling victim to the Genestealer curse. Such is the combat prowess of the Genestealer that only the Terminator squads have met with any success. That is the player's status and this is the player's mission: rid the galaxy of the Genestealer menace once and for all.

Gameplay

In the initial stages of the game, the player controls a Terminator and must follow the orders given to them by the sergeant. As missions are completed and the story progresses, the player increases in rank and will subsequently have control of the squad or squads where there are more than five terminators under your command. The enemies featured in this title include the Genestealer as well as Hybrids, Chaos Space Marines, Magus, and Patriarchs making their appearances from the middle through to the latter stages of the Campaign game mode with only the Genestealers fought at all stages of the campaign.

Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels, in addition to the main campaign storyline, has four training missions and thirty-four solo missions spread across three main categories: Space Hulk Originals, Classic Missions, and Famous Missions. All of these levels were also featured in the game's ten-player network mode, available over TCP or IPX networks with and additional six missions playable in either co-operative and a special deathmatch scenario in which players compete to kill the largest number of Genestealers in order to win the game.

The vigil (game modes)

In the Adeptus Ministorum of the Blood Angels, there is a chamber steeped in the history of the Chapter, tended by the mightiest Librarians, psychic brothers charged with preserving the spiritual sanctity of the Chapter. Only the most worthy Space Marines are permitted entry. Those applicants who wish to bear the honour of Terminator Armour must first undergo the Vigil, a state of deep psychic trance that allows the Space Marine to experience the lives and actions of the greatest warriors that have served the Chapter. During the Vigil, the Space Marine will experience visions and dreams of past glories and defeats, allowing him to take command of long dead warriors as they fight on through eternity. If the initiate is accepted by the spirits of his ancient brethren, he will emerge a full day and night later a newly ordained Space Marine Terminator, ready to face real combat.

Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels features numerous game modes including a long and challenging single player campaign but in addition to this there are four training missions as well as thirty-four solo missions spread across three categories:

Space Hulk originals

The Space Hulk Originals are missions that are based on the original Space Hulk board game, they are among the easier missions that the player can play and should serve as the perfect introductory levels to help newcomers hone their skills because they have considerably relaxed win-conditions.

The missions that make up the Space Hulk Originals are Suicide Mission, Exterminate, Rescue, Cleanse And Burn, Decoy, and Defend.

Classic missions

The Classic Missions are a selection of six missions that were part of the original Space Hulk game released on the PC and the Amiga 500 and are almost immediately more noticeably difficult than the Space Hulk Originals, usually with very strict win-conditions such as requiring the Terminators to travel from one side of the Space Hulk to the other whilst not losing a single life to the Genestealers, to missions that are so broad in scale they test your concentration, planning, and resolve.

The missions that make up the Classic Missions are Purify, Swarm, Baneful Foe, The Perimeter, Tech Support, and Honour On Trial.

Famous missions

The so-called Famous Missions chronicle the achievements of the most heroic Terminators of times past. Mastery of these missions will prepare the player for the ultimate challenge the player will face in the Campaign. The missions are split up into a further six sub-menus, the menus and their missions are shown in the table below.

Sabathius	Bethor	Vicconius	Saphon	Malloc	Amael
Sang-Froid	Torchuous	Caged Fury	Chilling Encounter	Unholy Amalgam	Grand Hall
Blockade	Allocate	Escort	Gauntlet	Phantom	Sanctum
Entomed	Penetrate	Spiral Of Strife	Triad	Plunder And Purge	Vigil
Torpid Adversary	Funeral Pyre	Inferno	Execution	Snatch	Tempus Fugit
				Nemesis	Pursuit
					Clandestine Evil

External links

• Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels at MobyGames