Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

 PC
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 46 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 46
  3. Negative: 1 out of 46
  1. We Got This Covered
    May 23, 2023
    40
    Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun belongs in every game dev's syllabus, filed under "why encounter design is a pillar of any retro shooter.
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  1. Ars Technica
    May 24, 2023
    I had a blast. Boltgun makes for a nice little break from today's far more complicated first-person games—or just from modern life itself.
  2. Polygon
    May 23, 2023
    Auroch Digital has done a great job of deploying retro visuals and the trappings of older shooters alongside modern sensibilities to bring the game to life. The abyss of Chaos looks downright disturbing, even captured through an old-school lens. These trippy environments and crude daemon designs combine with visceral and satisfying combat to make Boltgun a blast, and it’s nice to explore the world of Warhammer through such a ridiculous, blood-smeared filter.
  3. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    May 23, 2023
    I’m really glad that I checked it out as, despite some issues, Boltgun is marvellous fun. It’s a highly entertaining shooter that had me grinning from ear to ear on many an occasion, and is one of, if not the best representation of the Warhammer 40,000 universe available on your personal cogitation device.

Awards & Rankings

51
#51 Most Discussed PC Game of 2023

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 50 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 39 out of 50
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 50
  3. Negative: 3 out of 50
  1. Pickle
    May 24, 2023
    6
    What a disappointment.

    Boltgun is the perfect example of the intricacies that take in conforming an actual worthwhile shooter; mechanics    What a disappointment.

    Boltgun is the perfect example of the intricacies that take in conforming an actual worthwhile shooter; mechanics and systems that go beyond the superficial, because Boltgun has everything going for it, except for the gears going behind it.

    This is a title with serviceable combat at first, that slowly turns into a grind and a repetitive one at that, you fight numerous enemies but not much that change in their actual mechanics, they all just kind of shoot at you, or charge at you, there’s no reason to change your strategy in how you tackle the obstacles the game presents. There is a system tackled on, one that involves some weapons hurting enemies more than others, but the issue with this mechanic is that for the most part, you’re relegated to using the plasma cannon as the universal weapon in the game that causes the most damage to enemies, the issue? This weapon has poor rate of fire and is extremely inaccurate, it truly is as if the crosshair and your shots are desynced while using it.

    Then there’s the level design, or lack thereof, the game developers took it to heart to create arenas in which to pin enemies against the player, but none of these spaces feel well throughout or rationally designed. Is as if the developers thought, “why don’t we just throw enemies of random quantities and types to the player”. It becomes a pain after a while when you’re getting swarmed by a number of enemies that take too much damage and seemingly appear out of nowhere without any sort of order, thought or rhyme or reason to their existence other than to just overwhelm the player.

    The game has multiple difficulty settings but they’re all poorly balanced, easy is fairly easy but sometimes it can get challenging, normal is fairly easy at the beginning and then becomes an extremely challenging difficulty, and this issue changes between levels, independently on what chapter you’re in -of the three-, the game has.

    And the levels are also fairly generic, and there’s never a sense that you’re progressing through a plot of anything, there’s not a sense of progression or purpose in this game, some might say that the strength of boomer shooters doesn’t lie in the story, but I digress. Most boomer shooters tell incredible stories, but they don’t use cutscenes, instead they use environmental storytelling, or notes at times -as it was in the most recent and incredible Cultic-, that came out a few months ago.

    The game seemingly progresses at random intervals and without that much thought as to why you’re doing what you’re doing, at one point you’re at a snowy mountain, then in some sort of massive castle, eventually in a desert, but it never explains to you how you got there, the loading screens give a vague idea as to why you’re there, but for the most part these descriptions only mentioned you’re there to “investigate” they hardly elaborate on why or what are you looking for?

    This is a shame too, because the game starts with a really well animated cutscene that sets the game as a link between the original Space Marine game that came out in 2011, and its sequel -supposedly- coming out this year. It’s a shame because they could’ve done so much in the way of elaborating this link and retracing the cliff-hanger that that game presented, yet beyond this initial setup, the game never really elaborates it in any way. There’s exactly three chapters in the game and there’s exactly four cutscenes in the entire game… which eventually are also so badly written and directed that they hardly press for an idea as to why you’re even heading to different directions in the planet you’re in.

    It's just a really poor excuse of an experience that after a while becomes a shallow mess of repetitiveness, and after a while I just didn’t want to play it, I wasn’t interested in the repetitive and empty gameplay, nor in the nonsensical or non-existent story. It was just a shell of what could’ve been a much, much better game.    … Full Review »
  2. RunFish12B8
    May 27, 2023
    0
    The game is poorly optimized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  3. MaikElpipas
    May 25, 2023
    10
    It is truly a great shooter, up there with the best of the best boomer shooters. Fun, fast, violent and charming.
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