Warhammer 40,000 always makes us ask the question, no matter which faction you feel belongs to you: “are we the baddies?”. Then Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 comes stomping into the room and you look at the floor and pray to the Emperor.
Developed by Auroch Digital and published by Big Fan Games and Devolver Digital, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 returns to the glorious days of old-school first-person shooters, where subtlety is for cowards, ammunition is a suggestion rather than a limitation, and the Emperor has absolutely no interest in discussing your feelings.
Picking up after the events of its predecessor, Boltgun 2 once again throws us into the giant boots and beaky helmet of one of Guilliman’s own: Malum Caedo. However, this time you are joined by a member of the Soritas: Sister Nyra Veyrath. This is already a nice update because it’s not just a cosmetic difference but each choice gives you a different style to play.
Malum, in traditional Space Marine-style is a walking tank. You stomp in with your wide array of sanctified weapons and just crush everything in your path. The chainsword is a particular delight of mine, as it locks onto close enemies and crosses the space to them. Along with your other ability to rush forward, usually turning basic enemies into a pulp, they create a very lethal combination.
Nyra is a far more agile choice, with the ability to slide. I felt that whilst with Malum I tended to walk right into the heat of battle, I often would walk backwards whilst destroying whatever horde was running right at me. With Nyra, I would dart around them like I was a needle going at them from every angle. Her power sword and steak thrower made her quick movements work for her well and it needed me to think differently than my first run as Malum.The addition of Nyra is a very welcome one and felt that the designers stepped up with Boltgun 2 straight away, rather than it just being more of the same.
At its heart, Boltgun 2 is still a love letter to classic shooters of the 1990s, a decade I remember well. When I played through the first Boltgun it reminded me of the nights when I would play the first few levels of Doom – as I had the freeware build – that I had on my first family PC. The thing with Boltgun for me, though, was that a lot of it quickly felt very samey. Each room looked the same, the enemy types were not that varied (I had the same issue with Space Marine 2). But this time, Boltgun 2 had far more variety. After you select your destination from your ship the area that you fight in will be very different from the one you had before. I went from a series of levels which were basically trench warfare and then moved to a huge Khorn temple structure factory thing. And each level series ends JUST as I start to get bored of the scenery, so I think that the pacing is brilliant.
The branching campaign that you get in Boltgun 2 also means that once you play through as your first character, you can run through the alternative locations with the other, so it has some good replayability. As this is a classic style boomer shooter there are no upgrade mechanics or skill trees etc, and that might make more replays less appealing for some. But I think if you just want to jump into a level for thirty minutes and stomp some heretics, then this is for you.
Boltgun 2, as well as its retro game style is also retro in its visuals, but I do think that it’s not AS blocky as the original and this is a good thing. Auroch Digital have done a great job of making their sequel feel both retro and yet well updated at the same time, so fans of the original will be in for a treat. I wasn’t a big fan of Boltgun 1, I honestly found it very boring after my first hour with it. But I’ve blasted through Boltgun 2 and I have been loving it. One very welcome feature for me was the markings showing me which way to go when I pressed the button to reveal them. I think that the level design of Boltgun 2 is better so I have rarely gotten lost, but as you do have to go back on yourself from time to time, the ability to just double check you are going the right way was a step up from its predecessor for me.
It’s fair to say that it isn’t going to convert anyone who finds old-school shooters repetitive, and some of the moments might feel to some like the gameplay loop might start to get a little thin. But for me and I think many of you, if you enjoy a fast paced action of gloriously excessive violence and the opportunity to experience the grim darkness of the far future, where we all know’ there is only war, then Boltgun 2 is for you. It’s bigger, bloodier and a far more varied follow-up and I am happy to not be just more corpse starch in a hive city, instead I get to be a man of Ultramar and crush the Emperor’s enemies one more time!
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is available now for PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.
