Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

Retro-shooting and fast-paced arenas suit the Warhammer 40K setting nicely, but Boltgun falls short of greatness because its ideas peter out too quickly. Some good level design and nice environments make up for a lack of variety.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun captures the fast-paced action of classic '90s shooters and accentuates it with an assortment of the Space Marines' finest weaponry.

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.

Boltgun is stupendously fun-a treat for Warhammer players and a worthy member of the growing legion of retro shooters.

Auroch Digital has done a great job of deploying retro visuals and the trappings of older shooters alongside modern sensibilities to bring the game to life. The abyss of Chaos looks downright disturbing, even captured through an old-school lens. These trippy environments and crude daemon designs combine with visceral and satisfying combat to make Boltgun a blast, and it’s nice to explore the world of Warhammer through such a ridiculous, blood-smeared filter.

A fast and joyously entertaining rampage through a spot-on recreation of the Warhammer 40,000 setting, Boltgun is the FPS that 40k fans have dreamed of since the first time they inexpertly splodged too-thick paint all over a Space Marine. Pacing issues can't prevent it from being a bloody good time.

Solid and definitely has an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.

If you can look past the repetition and the roadblocks, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a largely solid shooter. It nails the visuals, the guns generally feel great, and the sound design is suitably punchy — just don't expect it to push beyond those foundations.

It may be confusing to navigate, but Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun has definitely got it where it counts. When you aren't busy trying to remember how many times you've been through a certain room, the comically violent combat sequences offer up consistently thrilling engagements with just the right amount of difficulty. We wish that it controlled a little better, but it's impossible to deny that Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is just a plain fun game to tear through. We'd recommend this to anyone looking for a solid boomer shooter to add to their library; it's not a game that you need to rush out and play right away, but you'll probably be satisfied once you get around to it.

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.