Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Reviews
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun does a great job of blending classic and modern day shooters. They’ve done all the hard work in building an authentic aesthetic, as well as making grenades, charge attacks, shields, twin stick shooting and jumping all feel natural, working well within the confines of the game. Unfortunately, the desire to focus around enemy waves, arena shooting, overpowered strikes and overly long levels undoes a lot of that, leaving a lot of potential buried beneath unsatisfying, frustrating content.
All in, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is exactly what I expected when it was announced as "Boomer Shooter" and that is a damn good thing. When it comes to this franchise, you usually have to go into it expecting certain levels of jank much like Necromunda: Hired Gun. Fortunately, here the developers have put out a jank-free, high-quality product that should bring Boomers and Gen Z kids together in a bloody ballet in the glorious name of the Emperor.
In a time when retro graphics have been done to death, Warhammer 40K Boltgun still manages to impress with its visual style. Better still, it feels amazing to play. Your Space Marine feels weighty, but also extremely quick. You get to be just as deadly as an Ultramarine should be, and you will need to be to take on the horde of classic Chaos monsters this game throws at you. Many fans regard Warhammer Space Marine as the gold standard of games from this setting, and I can say wholeheartedly that this game belongs in that conversation. The upcoming Warhammer Space Marine 2 will have to fight to get my attention away from Warhammer 40K Boltgun, because I cannot imagine it having as good a Boltgun as this game does.
While Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun might be one of the more visually impressive retro shooters in a long time, it also provided me with plenty of frustration during my playtime. The monsters, guts, and gore make for exciting gameplay, but it feels like Auroch Digital is trying to milk it for all that it’s worth at times. Boltgun is a natural successor to retro 90s shooters, for better or worse.
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a solid first-person shooter that captures the 90s era well, it’s hardly anything revolutionary. It’s a nice homage that does a solid job of making you feel like the game existed back then, but modern things like mantling, bloom, and 21:9 support give way to its immersion. The game is unapologetically Warhammer 40K, and the weapons and enemies are true to the source material. The Warhammer 40,000 Universe has nothing else like Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun , and that’s what makes it so distinct in the space and genre.
Old school DOOM + Warhammer 40,000 are a match made in Hell