Recently, there has been a resurgence of old school shooters, including Prodeus, which has been a real hit. Nevertheless, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun has what it takes to stand out in this new era of DOOM-like blast-’em-ups. Its unmistakable Warhammer 40k aesthetic is certainly a hook to set it apart from the rest.
You play as a big and bulky space marine, who makes the controller vibrate with every step. Chainsword and eventually, an arsenal of oversized guns are you’re main weapons. You’re tasked to purge heretics from what’s essentially an abandoned planet. As the campaign progresses, you are massacring everything in your path. It is a dense, but rather repetitive campaign, in which you proceed from level to level, massacring all who stand in your way.
As far as the core gameplay goes, Boltgun is great fun to play. The weapons are satisfying, the controls are tight — although you might need to tweak your sensitivity settings a bit — and the action never stops. The lack of enemy variety becomes a problem as you progress, and bigger battles against waves and waves of heretics start to feel like a slog as a consequence. However, that last point begins to weigh the game down as you progress. It’s not that the surprisingly lengthy campaign completely outstays its welcome, but it definitely drags at times.
There are some brutal difficulty spikes that are only adding to the frustration. If you play Boltgun on the normal difficulty setting, you can still suffer cheap deaths, whether it is from pinpoint enemy accuracy, or because of how bullet sponge enemies spawn one after another as you round a corner. Despite the fact that Boltgun is meant to be played at a fast and furious pace, these moments can often be the cause for the game’s slowdown.
I think Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a much better shooter than most of its predecessors. And if you can ignore all the repetitive elements and the roadblocks, it’s a pretty solid game. The visuals are excellent, the guns generally feel good. And the soundtrack is suitably punchy – but don’t expect anything beyond these basic foundations.
