Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

 PC
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

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  1. Adam_Warlock
    May 25, 2023
    10
    Smooth and responsive gameplay, with a variety of weapons. A great audio design & soundtracks. Filled with gore and bloody strikes, the perfect combo to purge the heretics.
  2. MikComposer
    Jun 7, 2023
    7
    Solid seven. The game has cool oniums atmosphere, fitting soundtrack for the most part, and well done presentation and intense action. Guns feel really good for the most part, especially the title boltgun. Gameplay is smooth and fairly precise. However, the level design could be more varied, as as it is, its very much a table top style map with mostly 90 deg angles and same repeatingSolid seven. The game has cool oniums atmosphere, fitting soundtrack for the most part, and well done presentation and intense action. Guns feel really good for the most part, especially the title boltgun. Gameplay is smooth and fairly precise. However, the level design could be more varied, as as it is, its very much a table top style map with mostly 90 deg angles and same repeating walls, which 1. gets a bit boring, and 2. It's easy to loose track of where to go next, with lack of map making it more tedious. On 16" screen it is also easy to not be able to see enemies from far. Finally the arenas aren't much fun - the best fun is when traversing the level and shooting things instead of running in circles in the arena not being able to tell what's going on. If levels layout would be more interesting, less repetitive, and arenas more focused, and with more layout variety I'd give higher score. In the end unfortunately I've got bored.… Expand
  3. AndersBjorkman
    May 25, 2023
    10
    Great fun if you are a 40k fan! Fun gameplay, gunplay, gory, and it runs like a dream even on a potato computer. Happy i spent the 20 euro!
  4. Dahak218
    May 24, 2023
    10
    Awesome game! The gun-play is pretty massive. The opponents varied and demanding. The whole setting really could have come straight out of the 90s. For graphics lovers you can shift the graphics from a bit more modern direction. The only thing that bothers me a bit, for which I won't deduct a point, is that you're playing an Ultramarine again. However, this is the story and the setting ofAwesome game! The gun-play is pretty massive. The opponents varied and demanding. The whole setting really could have come straight out of the 90s. For graphics lovers you can shift the graphics from a bit more modern direction. The only thing that bothers me a bit, for which I won't deduct a point, is that you're playing an Ultramarine again. However, this is the story and the setting of Warhammer 40k wasted. Ultramarines are the standard marines in the table top. All in all 10/10 Awesome.… Expand
  5. Tvylxr
    May 27, 2023
    10
    God tier, amazing controls and level design. In my opinion the critic reviews should be giving this game a way higher score.
  6. Lezzly
    May 31, 2023
    8
    Gra w której zakochałem się od pierwszego trailera. Grając w nią poczułem się jakbym zasiadał do klasycznego Dooma na sterydach. Oprawa graficzna dopracowana w świetny sposób, strzelanie zrobione z dbałością o szczegóły, detale, animacje, lokacje, no i najważniejsze - klimat, który towarzyszył mi przez całą przygodę. Miło patrzeć, jak boomer-shootery dalej żyją wśród nas.Gra w której zakochałem się od pierwszego trailera. Grając w nią poczułem się jakbym zasiadał do klasycznego Dooma na sterydach. Oprawa graficzna dopracowana w świetny sposób, strzelanie zrobione z dbałością o szczegóły, detale, animacje, lokacje, no i najważniejsze - klimat, który towarzyszył mi przez całą przygodę. Miło patrzeć, jak boomer-shootery dalej żyją wśród nas.
  7. 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 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    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.    … Expand
  8. 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.
  9. aurun
    May 26, 2023
    10
    Movement is good, sprites are very Project Warlocky, I like the enemy variety and the fact there's more than one type of Chaos god to purge, lately everything has been Nurgle or nothing. After dashing through episode I think my biggest complaint is the chainsword, the sprite is not great if you're holding it as a primary weapon(admittedly almost never happens) and the mashing input for theMovement is good, sprites are very Project Warlocky, I like the enemy variety and the fact there's more than one type of Chaos god to purge, lately everything has been Nurgle or nothing. After dashing through episode I think my biggest complaint is the chainsword, the sprite is not great if you're holding it as a primary weapon(admittedly almost never happens) and the mashing input for the should be hold which I actually made a macro for.

    Why isn't auto-run on by default? Having to turn it on every level is weird, level design is very clear, I would not complain if we had an auto map but it's really not necessary(so far) and the red tint on the arena sections is god awfully bad. All that said I'm loving it.

    The arsenal's very 40k accurate and the weapons are a blast to use, though the bolter feels a tad underpowered after getting the other weapons. I highly recommend it if you like 40k and I recommend it if you want a Doomy shooter with jumps    … Expand
  10. RunFish12B8
    May 27, 2023
    0
    The game is poorly optimized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  11. blizzardbox
    May 28, 2023
    10
    Not really a big fan of boomer shooters, but this is a absolute killer, exactly how i wanted a modern doom. no quicktime event **** or other stuff, just pure fun.
  12. adamflame7
    Jun 9, 2023
    8
    A decent boomer shooter with a well implemented 40k theme. If you like both of those things, then I'd definitely recommend. If you are a boomer shooter fan, but not necessarily a 40k fan, you might give it a skip as I believe it is a competent and decent boomer shooter, just not the greatest.

    I played through it on hard (aka. Emperor's Mercy) and while the first act and a half weren't    A decent boomer shooter with a well implemented 40k theme. If you like both of those things, then I'd definitely recommend. If you are a boomer shooter fan, but not necessarily a 40k fan, you might give it a skip as I believe it is a competent and decent boomer shooter, just not the greatest.

    I played through it on hard (aka. Emperor's Mercy) and while the first act and a half weren't too difficult, there were definitely a few spots in the second half of the game that got quite difficult. So I guess I'm saying it's decently balanced on difficulty.

    While it has the appearance of an old boomer shooter it doesn't quite run like one. It ran pretty well on my old 1080ti at 3440x1440, but I did definitely lose some frames in the bigger levels (dropping from 100 to 60ish) and turned down the one graphical setting, post processing, to help with the frames.    … Expand
  13. lunchbachs
    Jun 14, 2023
    0
    I have no idea why people keep comparing this game to doom(2016, or otherwise) or calling it "boomer shooter" other than that's the flavor of the month misnomer for getting 30 somethings to soy out over mediocre games.

    Bullet sponge enemies with rpg health bars that require incremental weapon upgrades... boy that really takes me back.. to borderlands.

    I'll pass.
  14. noaharegood
    Jun 12, 2023
    9
    As a big fan of boomer shooters, I have thoroughly enjoyed this game. It's the best FPS I've played this year and a good way to introduce myself to the world of Warhammer. The core gameplay loop is super satisfying, and the game can be plenty challenging on the harder difficulties if you are looking for that type of experience. Otherwise, you can just play on Medium and absolutely rip andAs a big fan of boomer shooters, I have thoroughly enjoyed this game. It's the best FPS I've played this year and a good way to introduce myself to the world of Warhammer. The core gameplay loop is super satisfying, and the game can be plenty challenging on the harder difficulties if you are looking for that type of experience. Otherwise, you can just play on Medium and absolutely rip and tear.

    I've heard some people having issues getting lost in the levels, but this was not a problem for me. Except for when I was slowed down by the occasional elevator or other obstacle, I spent the majority of my time zooming across the ground and flying through the air, with the level design naturally leading me to where I needed to go. Anyways, definitely recommend picking it up!    … Expand
  15. gusman
    Jun 30, 2023
    9
    Really good game, a proof that sometimes less is more. The graphics are a mix of 3d and 2d ressembling the original doom but the gameplay itself is more like Unreal Tournament.
  16. Nicoray360
    Jun 2, 2023
    8
    It's a very good title, very good boomer-shooter with lot of love.
    Weapons are good, you can also hear and feel the heavy armor of the space marine witch is pretty good.
    Enemies are good and varied, but tend to be exhausted by the end of chapter one, so after that you will encounter the same enemies with some exceptions. Levels are ok, you most probably will lose yourself trying to find    It's a very good title, very good boomer-shooter with lot of love.
    Weapons are good, you can also hear and feel the heavy armor of the space marine witch is pretty good.
    Enemies are good and varied, but tend to be exhausted by the end of chapter one, so after that you will encounter the same enemies with some exceptions.
    Levels are ok, you most probably will lose yourself trying to find the way, in that regard devs could have spent some more time trying to make doors and wayouts stand out a bit more from the background.
    Overall a very good warhammer title and boomer-shooter!    … Expand
  17. WeAreVenom87
    May 26, 2023
    8
    Your armour in this game is literally contempt lol. I grew up a huge Warhammer Fantasy fan and occasionally dipped my toe in 40K, but never got super into it. Now that Games Workshop murdered Fantasy in favour of the trash that is AoS, it seems like 40K is all that is left. I have played a lot of terrible 40K and even Fantasy games like Darktide and Dawn of War 3, but Boltgun might be oneYour armour in this game is literally contempt lol. I grew up a huge Warhammer Fantasy fan and occasionally dipped my toe in 40K, but never got super into it. Now that Games Workshop murdered Fantasy in favour of the trash that is AoS, it seems like 40K is all that is left. I have played a lot of terrible 40K and even Fantasy games like Darktide and Dawn of War 3, but Boltgun might be one of the strongest 40K games out there. It does feel a lot like classic Doom, but tossed into the 40K world which fits like a glove. The action is satisfying with a cool selection of weapons and enemies to blow them apart with. I do wish there were more Khorne daemons, but I guess you can;t have it all. This, the original Dawn of War, and Space Marine might be the best 40K games out there.… Expand
  18. Traxillion
    Jun 30, 2023
    7
    Really well-made shooter but doesn't do anything that makes it stand out. Everything it does do is really well made, but there's nothing to write home about in regards to other boomer shooters.
  19. piglordofallham
    May 31, 2023
    6
    A serviceable retro inspired shooter, whatever that means anymore, but lacking in gameplay depth and solid shooting mechanics. Its not a poor man's Prodeus, but one is certainly a bit more robust than the other, even if it was emulating the success of Doom 2016 moreso than the Warhammer license. Personally, I can understand why Warhammer 40k fans would enjoy something like this given theA serviceable retro inspired shooter, whatever that means anymore, but lacking in gameplay depth and solid shooting mechanics. Its not a poor man's Prodeus, but one is certainly a bit more robust than the other, even if it was emulating the success of Doom 2016 moreso than the Warhammer license. Personally, I can understand why Warhammer 40k fans would enjoy something like this given the mostly lackluster action games in this franchise, but that's no excuse to allow something that's so mediocre slip by without some constructive criticism.

    For the most part it sort of just feels like an amalgamation of Nightmare Reaper, Prodeus, Cultic, HROT, and Dusk. Which by the way, are all actually pretty solid throwback shooters with decent ideas or slight twists on the formula. I'd place Boltgun on more of the Hedon level of action shooters in the fact that the map design is very bland, or even poor in some areas, and the actual mechanics are very barebones or even kind of below average given what else has come out before and since.

    If you liked Quake 2, but wanted them to mod it with Warhammer textures for most of the enemies, then you'l probably enjoy Boltgun, but you'll get about the same amount of replay value out it's single player.    … Expand
  20. Romchik_player
    Jun 15, 2023
    9
    The game is wonderful! The same doom, only about ultramarine. Of the minuses. I can’t say anything,only one thing :when you cut heretics with a chainsaw, there is no cutting animation. More precisely, the saw just weighs on the left shoulder
  21. Beanmaster
    Jun 1, 2023
    10
    Really fun I have only played for couple of hours now but the graphics and gunplay looks great and feel great. I'm not even a 40k fan but this seemed fun and it was.

Awards & Rankings

51
#51 Most Discussed PC Game of 2023

Critic Reviews

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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. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 22, 2024
    60
    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]
  2. Meristation
    Jul 7, 2023
    82
    Warhammer 40.000 Boltgun successfully brings back the aesthetics, mechanics, and level design of the best first person shooters of the 90s, and offers a magnificent recreation of the games workshop license setting in an enjoyable video game that will delight anyone looking for a shooter with solid and satisfying gameplay.
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  3. GameCritics
    Jun 29, 2023
    80
    Despite the rough patches, Warhanmmer 40,000 Boltgun remains impressive. It’s fast, action-packed, controls well, and is (mostly) a joy to play. With just a little tweaking and a few adjustments, this could easily be one of the all-time greats.
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