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In 1995, I was a space marine, stomping down corridors and shooting aliens. The game was Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels.

The early levels are a straightforward shooter. I was immersed in my role as a rookie marine named Ezekiel. My teammates protected me. The best part was being sandwiched between two marines, not because it was like a gay threesome, but because they took on all the danger while I could relax snugly in the middle. The contrast of safety and danger was thrilling.

Blood Angels' atmosphere was pleasingly tense and claustrophobic. Your team are orange armoured hulks, plodding down tiny spaceship corridors and turning anguishingly slowly. Your terrified radar beeps faster and faster as never-ending waves of aliens come to kill you. There's blood all over the ship. It's essentially a futuristic haunted house, a lot like in Alien. The dialogue is wonderfully emotional and strained, especially when the marines interrupt each other, though it's also repetitive and unintentionally amusing:

Leader: I can-

Angry soldier: Ezekiel - to your left! EZEKIEL! What are you play-

Leader: Ezekiel! Search this area for archive... Ezekiel! Search this area for archive record.

Usually in video games, the world turns around you. You have to keep moving to trigger set pieces and cutscenes. Here, my team completed the objectives whether I helped them or not. It was soothing to hand over my decision-making to the computer. I liked not having to worry about strategy and tactics. Years later, I would have a similar experience with Natural Selection.

But I never got past level seven of Vengeance of the Blood Angels. It's on this level when the game makes a shift from FPS to RTS and puts you in charge of the entire team. The other marines stubbornly won't move unless you give commands. They lose all initiative. I hated the responsibility.

The newest Space Hulk game, Space Hulk: Ascension, is available to buy at Amazon.