Warhammer 40000: Boltgun from Focus Entertainment and Auroch Digital brings us an old-school infused first-person shooter on PlayStation. Check our Warhammer 40000: Boltgun review!
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Warhammer 40000: Boltgun from Focus Entertainment and Auroch Digital brings us an old-school infused first-person shooter on PlayStation. It’s a Rated M for Mature experience that pays homage to the classics in the genre, such as Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, and Blood, and it does its sources of inspiration justice. We’re getting a first-person shooter with 2D pixel graphics set over low-polygon 3D environments, so it’s got that part right. The gameplay is also solid, and it features a smooth framerate that helps you get in the zone.
In a journey that takes place after Warhammer 40000: Space Marine, you’ll be playing as Malum Caedo, a Sternguard Veteran of the Ultramarines Chapter’s 1st Company. You’re the only one who managed to survive the crash landing of your pod and must retrieve the Power Source before it’s too late. Chaos Sorcerer Tumulus Samael is also looking for the Power Source. You’ll be fighting against the Chaos demons and Chaos Space Marines.
The game can be played in one of four difficulty settings: Low, Medium, Hard, and Exterminatus. As expected, the higher you go in the difficulty, the higher the challenge you’ll face. Since this is an action-packed first-person shooter, you’ll control your character with the left analog stick as you look around and aim with the right one. If you press in on the left analog stick and keep it pressed, you can sprint. The X button will be for jumping. As expected, the R2 button is used for shooting. If you need to reload, you can do so by pressing the Square button.
The L2 button is for your melee attack for when an enemy gets a bit too close for comfort. By mashing the L2 button after your chainsword connects, you’ll be able to enter Cutting Mode and saw through your targets. As expected, cutting will deal extra damage. You can quickly select your weapon by pressing up, down, left, or right on the D-Pad as needed. The Triangle button will be for taunting. Press the R1 button to launch a grenade. The Circle button can be pressed to switch the grenade type. The L1 button will be for charging forward into enemies to shove them as you deal damage.
There are plenty of relics for you to collect during your time with Warhammer 40000: Boltgun. Some examples include the Aura of Doom will boost the damage you deal while lowering the damage you receive. The Assault Doctrine will improve your chainsword. The Munitions Boon will increase your max ammo. The Machine Spirit will power up your weapons, but every weapon will be affected differently. Another one is the Vortex Grenade, which will create a warp vortex that destroys everything in its path! On top of that, there are special ammo types to consider. Dragon fire rounds will unleash fiery death over a wider area of effect. Kraken rounds will fire at a much faster pace. Vengeance rounds can go through walls and targets.
You can customize your experience to get as much nostalgia as possible. Along with changing the overall brightness of the screen, you can also dive into the Retro menu to change the way the game looks. You can activate or deactivate bloom. There’s also the option of changing the retro palette slider for how the game’s colors are presented. The icing on the cake is the pixelation slider. By using this, you can make the game look as crystal clear or as chunky as you want it to, which can certainly give you that old-school Doom vibe you might be looking for. There are also some accessibility options for you to consider. You can activate or deactivate head bobbing, screenshake, controller vibration and select the servo skull display time between short, medium, or long. And if you’re having some trouble with the game’s challenge, you can turn on invulnerability! There’s even the option of unlocking all levels right away.
And now, some bad news for trophy hunters: Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun does not have a Platinum trophy. At least it’s a Cross-Buy release, so you will be able to download both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game at no extra cost, and each one will have its own trophy list. The list includes 7 Bronze trophies, 4 Silver trophies, and a lone Gold trophy. You won’t be making them pop left and right with ease since they require that you complete each chapter in the game, complete the game in each of the difficulty settings, find all secrets in each chapter – and yes, you need to collect them all in one go – and defeat two of the powerful enemies in the game.
Warhammer 40000: Boltgun is a fun old-school infused first-person shooter on PlayStation that pays homage to classics in the genre from the 1990s, such as Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, and Blood. As you take on Chaos demons and Chaos Space Marines, you’ll need to make the most of the titular boltgun and your chainsword to cut down your opponents one after the other. Warhammer 40000: Boltgun is out on PlayStation as a Cross-Buy title, so your $21.99 purchase will allow you to download both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game.
Disclaimer
This Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Focus Entertainment.
