Warhammer 40K Boltgun Xbox Review – Is there no end to these heretics

If you’re confused as to how the staggeringly formulaic Call of Duty remains the best-selling FPS in a post-DOOM Eternal world, Warhammer 40K Boltgun is here for you.

It’s hard to fault just how enthusiastically the developers, Auroch Digital, try to capture the spirit of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. There are hypermasculine Space Marines stomping around in blessed power armour (your in-game armour level is literally “contempt”); ancient weapons are treated with more reverence than lives of those that wield them; certifiable psychopaths on all sides believe in ideological absolutes and fanatical reverence for their gods; and, of course, there’s lots and lots of violent murder.

Space Marine 1.5?

I was legitimately surprised to discover Warhammer 40K Boltgun functions as a sequel of sorts for the excellent but oft forgotten Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine.

Staying consistent with its retro inspirations, there are only a handful of lightly-animated cutscenes spread between the three episodes (a total of 24 levels), but they get the job done with reasonable style. An Ultramarine squad has been seconded by Ordo Malleus and sent to Graia, where the Inquisition believes the Mechanicus may have been experimenting on a residual fragment of a demonic power source. Parts of the forge world have gone dark so now it’s up to you to investigate.

To its credit, Warhammer 40K Boltgun doesn’t really need to strong narrative thread to keep you entertained and you could argue it’s staying true to the source material. The primary function of your Sternguard Veteran is to is to mercilessly purge heretics; send traitor marines and demons back to the warp screaming; and they’ll attempt to kill a powerful Chaos sorcerer several times over. I guess the servo-skull that accompanies you blurts out a few story details mid-mission, but the tiny block of text is nigh impossible to follow even if there’s no action on-screen.

Who wants bullets when you can have micro-rockets?

Now despite the aesthetics harking back to FPS of the early- to mid-1990s, Warhammer 40K Boltgun is closer in design to true 3D FPS of the late ‘90s – titles like Quake and Unreal. If you want to survive difficulty spikes during multi-level arena battles, platforming sequences with lethal chasms, and discover all the secrets power-ups tucked away in corners, you need to stay on the move and leap about with reasonable precision.

Your lumbering Space Marine sounds like they weigh several tons when plodding about at a jog, but they can sprint, charge, and jump vast distances with ease. The iconic chainsword even doubles up as a short-ranged grappling hook, allowing you quickly dash towards foes from any position – even while free falling – then finish them off in a button-mashing shower of gore.

Later stages and several boss arenas offers up exhilarating traversal combined with tense firefights, though I was grateful for the quick-save/quick-load feature as the gamepad controls never quite feels as precise as mouse-and-keyboard.

Befitting the title, the iconic Boltgun is the first weapon you unlock and remains both useful and satisfying throughout. There is a “strength level” assigned to weapons and enemies that encourages you to switch things up, but the Boltgun is a solid all-rounder, has abundant ammo, is devastatingly accurate at all ranges, and benefits the most from ammunition power-ups like Kraken or Vengeance drum magazines.

As a result, fleshy human heretics and lesser demons will die by the thousands to explosive bolter rounds before the credits roll – and it was only when I was briefly out of bolter rounds I would appreciate the Shotgun with ricocheting pellets, a Meltagun that incinerates everything in a cone while ignoring cover, and the joy of flinging abundant grenades into crowds. When faced with greater demons, traitor marines, and bosses, the Plasma Gun with its slow moving projectiles and splash damage proved useful for larger targets, while the Volkite Caliver and Grav Cannon – both beam-type weapons – are best saved to quickly finish off a tougher target when health and contempt run low.

Oh, and as a bonus, you can mash a button at any point to praise the Emperor of Mankind or threaten your foes with a painful death and eternal damnation.

Pixellated authenticity

While it’s easy to appreciate the smart designs and artistry that go into a self-limiting retro style, Warhammer 40K Boltgun also impresses when it comes to brand authenticity. If, like me, you’re familiar with the IP through video games, do yourself a favour and go take a look at some of the licensed tabletop figurines and battleground props for comparison.

The intricate character and weapon sprites draw on the stocky, almost cartoonish tabletop models for inspiration and it was easy to recognise many popular figures – from lowly heretics differentiated by their weapon, to the different traitor marines and Terminator armour, and the lesser and greater demons of Nurgle and Tzeentch. The environments – probably the weakest part of the presentation – are still improbably huge, even for a Space Marine, and it feels like the Imperium of Man is desperately overcompensating.

On the audio front, thumping bolt rounds turn lesser foes into puffs of pixellated chunks; the chainsword rips and tears with a furious roar; energy weapons crackle and discharge; gore splatters wetly on the walls; spent shell casings go tinkling to the floor; and the brooding soundtrack frequently transitions into rock-inspired tracks or Gothic chants during the larger arena battles.

It looks and sounds great but, as much as I love the aesthetics, Warhammer 40K Boltgun can get visually noisy during larger battles, making it difficult to keep track of both your position – potentially lethal if platforms are involved – and priority targets during “purge” events. On multiple occasions, I found myself running laps around an arena to spread out mobs and reduce the intensity of incoming fire before re-engaging.

Is there no end to these heretics?!

Wrapping up, my only major issue with Warhammer 40K Boltgun is that it errs on the side of being too long. An odd statement by modern standards when you can clear it within 10-hours on a casual playthrough, but the early stages of each episode can drag. They’re often intensely linear and serve to highlight repeated geometry and assets, and the limited enemy roster as you move from purge event to purge event for up to 20 minutes – all without any mini-boss or boss battle. It’s a shame as, on the whole, Warhammer 40K Boltgun has a decent mix of man-made and natural environments, all increasingly tainted by the warp.

So while I’d have traded campaign length for better pacing, the bulk of the experience was great. Regardless of whether you’re a fan of modern arena-FPS like the DOOM reboots, retro-inspired FPS like Dusk or Amid Evil, or the actual classics like Quake, Warhammer 40K Boltgun offers up a nigh-on perfect combination of liberating movement, punchy weapons that feel great to use, fleshy targets that feel great to destroy, and an over-the-top gore-splattered audiovisual experience that makes wreaking havoc look and sound as good as it feels.