Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun offers an epic cleansing in the name of the God-Emperor. It offers a beautifully realized Warhammer universe, including its famous antagonists and weapons. It’s not perfect by any means, not even judging by the standards of the boomer shooter genre, but it’s a bloody good piece of fan service.

Boltgun impresses with Warhammer 40K chops and a fully realized vision of the famous franchise as a modern retro-shooter, light on story but heavy on action and nods to the tabletop game. The level design of its many fast-paced arena fights is enjoyable, but the momentum drags once the new weapon and enemy types run out about halfway through. Nonetheless, the quality's high enough that I never got bored – but I think someone who isn't hungry for a retro-shooter or any 40K game they can get their hands on might be a bit let down.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a decent entry into the retro-shooter genre that will appeal most to fans of the WH40k universe, while everyone else should probably choose a different, better game to fulfill their classic action itch.

I didn’t enjoy Boltgun that much. However, I’m sure it will appeal to gamers who don’t pay a lot of attention to gameplay balance or difficulty level. And if they are fans of the W40K universe and old-school first-person shooters, they will most likely love it.

Warhammer 40000: Boltgun is a nice retro FPS that takes elements from 1993's DOOM by making the fights more nervous and in a recent packaging, which makes it enjoyable to play. Nevertheless, you shouldn't ask too much of it, because basically, it's just about liquidating dozens of enemies in a succession of arenas. Only for the trigger-happy.

It's quality carnage and definitely worth a play. As a bloody excursion into the 40's Warhammer universe, it is undoubtedly worth a visit, among other things for its atmosphere and soundtrack. [Issue#328]

Competent and pretty-looking retro shooter with great splatter effects and decent length. Not all weapons are equally useful, though, and the pathing and encounter design is sometimes confusing. This is still an easy recommendation, though, if a 40K Boomer-Shooter sounds like something you would like.

Fans of the IP will have some fun here, but you likely already know whether you’ll like this game or not. Boltgun competently blends the Warhammer universe with a genre that felt made for it, but offers no surprises. It set out to be a Doom clone, and it succeeded. That’s fine in some ways, but a shame in others because this could have been special with the application of a few original ideas.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a solid throwback FPS that makes up for being too generous with the resources by its excellent weapon, monster and level design. The world of Warhammer 40,000 translates fantastically well to this type of game, with decades of lore and design to draw from to create a fully-realized backdrop. The enemies come in a variety of styles from various normal humans to huge and deadly aliens, and they all mix together well to create firefights that need just enough in the way of tactics to keep the brain a little bit active. The only real challenge, though, comes from the game encouraging sloppy play in its frequent less intense sections, so when it’s time to pay attention it can be easy to get caught off guard using bad habits. Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is an oddly slow burn, but when it finally fires up in the latter half, the action feels worthy of the righteous might of a Space Marine.

Boltgun's boltgun earns a place in the pantheon of great video game weapons, but the rest of the game's arsenal doesn't quite live up to it.