🎮[REVIEW] Boltgun is What We Get When 40K Warhammer Meets Classic DOOM

Boltgun is an old-school boomer shooter that takes place in the 40k Warhammer universe. It was developed by Auroch Digital and published by Focus Entertainment.

It took a lot of inspiration from the first DOOM titles and created something that could only be described as a match made in heaven.

Until this point I've only seen videos covering the Warhammer lore, so I was excited to finally play as a Space Marine in the grim dark universe, and it was everything I was hoping for.

📖The Story

You start your adventure as Malum Caedo. A fearless Ultramarine who was sent to Graia, a Forge World taken over by the forces of Chaos. Your job is to go there with your unit and free it.

However, after a catastrophic landing took out all your squad, you have to complete the mission alone, but armed with your trusty Boltgun, the rest of your holy arsenal, and the emperor's blessing.

The story consists of you purging the heretics from Graia and eventually banishing the demons from this sacred ground.

🎮Gameplay

Boltgun's gameplay is pure boomer shooter goodness. You go through stages and engage in arena fights where you are locked in an area until you eliminate all threats.

At the start, you'll only have your Boltgun, and you'll find the rest of your weapons as you progress through each level. You'll also wield a chainsaw sword as your melee, a dash to move faster or tackle enemies in front of you, some grenades for crowd control, a navigation aid in case you ever get lost, and contempt as your armor.

Scattered throughout the stages, you will find Secrets. These are temporary boons to make you and your weapons more deadly.

The game is divided into 3 chapters with 8 levels each, and you'll have a boss fight at the end.

🎨Design

Boltgun's developers showed that they understand the charm of the Warhammer franchise by giving it a visual and sound design that accurately represents it.

Its weapons design is solid. They look and feel like something a space marine would wield, and they never become obsolete.

The visual design stands out for having a pixelated aesthetic that simulates the look of old shooters while playing like their modern version and showing you some brutal action.

Its stages were a mix of giant gothic cathedrals, ritualistic temples, military bases, underground monster nests, and huge industrialized machinery that helped emphasize what 40k is about.

Lastly, the music was great. It wasn't as aggressive as I was expecting from a game like this, but it is still enjoyable and does a good job of complementing the action.

😐Negatives

While 40k Warhammer Boltgun delivered a fun, gory ride that made you feel like a space marine, it was not perfect, and there were a few things that did bother me a bit.

• When you start a new chapter, you lose all your boons and weapons, with the only exception being the Boltgun. This can interrupt the flow of the gameplay and slow down progression.
• It reused bosses far too many times. You have to repeatedly fight the same bosses in different levels. This can get a bit annoying after the first couple of times.
• No permanent collectibles. Most Secrets are things that are only useful during combat. I wished we had something telling us how Griai fell into chaos or records of the guards fighting the invaders.

These complaints didn't ruin my experience, though. I still enjoyed my time purging heretics and blasting demons to bits. I just would have hoped to encounter more bosses instead of the same ones over and over again because that was a bit disappointing.

⭐Final Verdict: 8/10 Excellent

I knew 40k Warhammer Boltgun was going to be a fun game, but it delivered a far better experience than I expected.

The combat is gory, the art style is pleasant, the stages are epic, and the representation of the franchise was perfect. If you are a newcomer to 40k, though, you might not fully understand what is going on since Boltgun is made mostly for Warhammer fans, but you can still have a good time.

For all these reasons, I give 40k Warhammer Boltgun an 8/10 because it's an excellent game that delivers fun, over the top action and respects the spirit of the franchise. And since the sequel was announced to come out in 2026, this is a good time to get into the series so you know what to expect.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

Give a descLoad up your Boltgun and unleash the awesome Space Marine arsenal to blast your way through an explosion of sprites, pixels and blood in a perfect blend of Warhammer 40,000, frenetic gameplay and the stylish visuals of 90’s retro shooters.
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