Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun represents the best and worst of 90s-era FPS games, so while it has a solid foundation, it fails to deliver truly compelling content to go with it, making the game difficult to recommend to anyone that’s not a hardcore Warhammer fan or who isn’t desperately nostalgic for the 90s.”
“Boltgun is the first truly exceptional Warhammer 40,000 game since Dawn of War 19 years ago. An intense, retro-themed FPS in the stylings of Doom and Quake, Boltgun follows the \”Sternguard Veteran,\” a nameless, faceless soldier of the Ultramarines requisitioned by the conniving Inquisition and let loose on the traitorous Black Legion and their daemons.”
“The scale of these levels can be beyond belief. A collapsing cliffside bastion early on boasts an array of mammoth gun emplacements held aloft by great wrought iron girders, the picked-clean corpses of the titanic warmachines that once carried them to battle slouched over in the distance.”
“Across three chapters and a few dozen levels you’ll cleanse, purge, and kill every single Chaos-worshiping heretic and daemon on the extremely brown-and-gray forge world of Graia.”
“The retro cred of Boltgun is undeniable. It takes something like eight to 10 hours to beat the campaign, which starts a bit slow but ramps up quickly into a strong middle section, and ends on a spree of unremarkable end levels that’re punctuated with some really unexpected and fun gems.”
“Speaking of weapons, there are eight of those plus your chainsword, which you can mash the button to rev in melee and make your enemies explode into strawberry jam. I was a particular fan of the sticky grenade-firing Vengeance Launcher (making its triumphant return from Space Marine) and the Heavy Bolter which, in true retro-shooter fashion, never requires a reload – it just keeps firing until your ammo pool is dry.”
In conclusion, Warhammer 40K: Boltgun is an intense retro-themed FPS game that has its ups and downs. While it has a solid foundation for gameplay mechanics and level design, it fails to deliver truly compelling content to go with it. The game is difficult to recommend to anyone that’s not a hardcore Warhammer fan or who isn’t desperately nostalgic for the 90s. However, if you’re looking for an exceptional Warhammer 40K game since Dawn of War 19 years ago or if you’re interested in playing an FPS game in the stylings of Doom and Quake with an Ultramarines soldier fighting against Chaos-worshiping heretics and daemons on Graia forge world then this game might be for you.
