Warhammer 40k Boltgun is a first-person shooter game that takes inspiration from DOOM and is based inside the vast universe of Warhammer 40k. In Boltgun, the player takes the role of Malum Caedo, an ultramarine tasked with investigating a Mechanicus Forgeworld named Graia. Forgeworlds are basically entire planets that have been converted into a factory for producing weapons and vehicles for the Imperium of Man.
Malum Caedo is drop podded in along with four other Sternguard Veterans. Unfortunately, chaos has taken the planet, and Malum’s allies are killed in the landing, leaving only the player against all forces of chaos on Graia. Unfortunately for chaos, the character is named Malum Caedo, which translates from Latin to “I Kill Evil.” In the beginning stages of the game, the player immediately learns that they are not some lost person in fear for their life on a planet that is trying to kill them. Instead they are a Space Marine who fears nothing, for they are fear itself.
The gameplay is very similar to that of DOOM in the fact it’s based on constant movement and switching weapons mid battle. This does not mean that players need any strategy when deciding on a weapon to use in combat because the boltgun given in the beginning of the game is more than enough to take down even the most durable of enemies.
As most guns, more powerful enemies will show up the longer one plays. This causes players to not need better weapons but instead better movement, granted a shiny new plasma gun helps as well.
Although the combat of this game is one of its strong suits, it also leads to a problem that basically comes down to eventually battles just become so chaotic that it’s difficult to keep up with all the projectiles coming towards the player with some attacks blocking vision with how large they are.
The map design of Warhammer 40k Boltgun can best be described as art, but it sometimes may be confusing in finding what you’re even looking for. On one hand there are backdrops in this game that could serve as a life-long screen saver while on the other, a player may have to spend an extra 10 minutes just looking for a key or a door they may have missed while in combat. While I love the map details, I find it annoying to have to back track through the areas where I have already beaten all previous enemies, so it’s only me and my footsteps to occupy my ears as I search for the missing door/key.
Warhammer 40k Boltgun is a great game to sit down and play for a few minutes or even hours but has minor annoyances that can take away from the enjoyment. On top of that if players are not deep into the universe of 40k they may not understand most of the terms used or even what a Space Marine is.
by Trey Jones
