It is no secret the Warhammer 40,000, Fantasy, Age of Sigmar, and basically anything Games Workshop related is one of my absolute favorite things. I indulge in almost all things Warhammer related, and though my wallet has felt Gee Dub’s fatal sting since 2015, my experience with Warhammer really goes back to 2010/2011. That was when I got into the franchise through Dawn of War, the Space Hulk card game titled Death Angel (my introduction to the greatest characters of all time, the Blood Angels), but most importantly, the Space Marine video game. Captain Titus’ trek, in my opinion, is still one of, if not the greatest, third person/hack and slash games ever made. Longtime and newcomer fans’ faith is about to be rewarded, as Space Marine II is on the horizon, but you do not need to wait until later this year to purge heretics in the name of the Emperor, as Auroch Digital’s Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun has you covered in spades.
Set of course in the grim dark future of the 41st millennium, Boltgun serves as an interquel between Space Marine I and II, and stars Sternguard Veteran Sergeant Malum Caedo (voiced expertly by Rahul Kohli), as he shoots, shreds, and shouts at the enemies of the Imperium across the Forge World planet of Graia. His name literally translates to “I kill evil,” so you already know how epic he is of a character. Fans of the franchise will enjoy the lavish attention to detail in all its retraux 1990s boomer shooter glory, from the eye-searing look of the warp, to callbacks to the plot points of Space Marine, including but not limited to its plot device, areas from the first game, and Caedo’s references to Captain Titus and Veteran Sergeant Sidnous. Its plot is not as involved as Space Marine’s, but it is fun, and Sergeant Caedo will go down as not only one of the most kickass Space Marine characters, but first-person shooter characters ever made. Besides love for the franchise, fans of the genre will enjoy his quotes that have callbacks to games like Blood and Duke Nukem 3D (both of which owe it to Bruce Campbell from Evil Dead, he is the king after all!).
The graphics of course achieve what they set out to do. The world of Warhammer 40,000 is done justice in atmosphere and looks thanks to the care of the developers in transitioning both classic and modern miniature models and their art styles to the game. Chaos space marines look like the new sculpts that came out in the last three years, and they act appropriate to lore and tabletop gameplay – a hardcore fan’s dream, and a treat for casual fans alike. You even adjust how pixelated it looks via the “retro” tab in the options, so go nuts!
I need to give special credit to the musical talents of the composers Matthew Walker and Jonno Macnab. Not only are their original compositions excellent, but the team truly hit the throwback nadir when they included the music from D-Rok’s Oblivion album from 1991, a treasure of Games Workshop’s past that will now surely be listened to by more fans and players than ever before, myself included (I am even listening to it as I write this review!). Most of the versions on here, are instrumentals, such as the main menu theme being Turn This Ship Around, however, the full version of Chainsaw Man plays over the end credits.
If all of that has not convinced you of the love and care poured into this game by the developers at Auroch Digital, then let’s get down to brass tacks and talk about the gameplay. While not as complex as a game such as Doom Eternal in its combat, I find it a good comparison. Boltgun allows for quick weapon switching (the only exception being the plasma gun because of its cooldown, and that is accurate to the lore as well as its overheating!) and rewards the player for moving around rapidly and never standing in one place for too long. Your armor is your contempt, appropriately so; thus, your health will actually be protected until your contempt runs out, and both can be overcharged with the smaller item pickups, in a fashionably classic manner. As a space marine, you also “Know No Fear,” which will give you a brief save from death at lower health and recharge as you purge the chaos filth from Graia, so keep smiting swiftly!
It does not quite have the same mobility it does, nor the extra abilities (think air dashing and the super shotgun’s meat hook ability), however it has a similar feel to it all the same, from the different enemies requiring a change up in strategy, to its arena shooter areas. They use the gameplay to further nail down the ideas of the tabletop game transitioned to video game form through the use of the different guns. Each gun has a different strength rating, just as in the tabletop, so while you can shoot your strength four boltgun at a toughness five chaos terminator and eventually kill him, shooting him with strength seven plasma blasts would be far more effective.
If that sounds confusing to someone as a newcomer, worry not, it is in there for the hardcore fans to gush over, and it is quite simply the idea that the bigger the enemy, the more likely you should use a bigger gun, i.e., a common enemy can be melee’d or charged through, but a boss enemy means it is time to break out the big toys, just as in any other first-person shooter. The game also has you covered in difficulties and secrets galore, so there is plenty of extra ammo types, vortex grenades, and special abilities for players to find. The only gripe I can think some players would have is its lack of a map system, and the game does go very old school in terms of being maze like at times, but I see that as part and parcel of the game achieving its goal as a throwback shooter.
Most importantly, however, you have a taunt button used to crack your knuckles and point and shout at your enemies that you will wade knee deep in their blood. If that is not good enough for you, no video game experience ever will be!
Boltgun is not just an excellent entry for Warhammer video games, which has historically been (ironically/appropriately) chaotic in terms of quality, but for first person shooters, especially for the retraux genre. It is a dream game for a hardcore fan of the franchise like myself and I admit that bias (hey, reviewing is subjective anyway!), however the most important aspect of Boltgun is that, references and lore bits aside, almost anyone can pick up the game and enjoy it, especially fans of the genre. With the ending hinting at more to come for the game or a sequel, I can hardly wait for more from Malum Caedo, and would love to see him and Captain/Lieutenant Titus meet up in another game sometime soon. 2023 has been a glorious year for games so far, with great horror remakes, sequels, and retruax throwbacks for shooters and other genres alike. Boltgun is another solid entry in that list, and if the worst criticism you can give a game is that it is just another entry onto a star-studded list, then I think you have a winner. At a price of about twenty dollars, it is a steal. Now go and finish the work that Captain Titus started!
Rating: 10 blessed bolt shells out of 10
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is out for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Related: Reviews by Matt O’Toole
Your local neighborhood nutjob, gamer, and teacher! I'm an avid fan of many genres such as platformers, shooters, horror, etc. I am also an avid tabletop gamer - hugely into the worlds of Warhammer and all of their spinoffs. I'm a big believer in being objective - even if something is not my cup of tea, I want to talk about it on the objective level - is it well made, crafted with love, and with care for the fans? If so, that's a good game in my book for someone and well worth their hard earned dollarydoos!
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