Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

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The only thing they fear is you.

"I SHALL FINISH THE WORK CAPTAIN TITUS STARTED! BY KILLING THAT LITTLE BITCH LEANDROS!!!"

– Malum Caedo’s true endgame goal

Warhammer is a pretty old franchise, dating back all the way to the late 80's. Seeing as the property is extremely grimdark, filled with vile Xenos and demons alike, you'd think some companies would have jumped at the opportunity to use the setting as a basis for a cool boomer shooter in the shape of a neat little DOOM WAD. Honestly, it writes itself! Sadly, due to 40k's tabletop nature, the only games that came out for it in that era were slow, clunky RTS games. They had their chance, and they blew it...

...Until 2022, when Auroch Digital said "fuck that" and decided to make a good ol' boomer shooter 29 years late (but you know what they say about "better late than never"). Announced during the 2022 Warhammer Skulls event, the game was eventually released on May 23rd, 2023, to much fanfare. Much like the boomer shooters of old, the game features 3D environments and 2D sprite-based enemies, as well as an old-school GUI that is sure to excite hardcore fans. While aesthetically pleasing, the game is still based around modern hardware, so you probably could not actually run it on DOS for old-time's sake. That's not a big issue, given that unless you want to play on a pregnancy test, any modern computer should be able to run it just fine, and overall it does a pretty good job of retaining that good old 90s Doom aesthetic. The only other things of note are that you are only fighting Chaos except for the occasional Ambull, and you are once again playing as an Ultrasmurf (and appropriately for a Boomer Shooter, Beakie at that).

Story

The game is connected to the plot of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, taking place on the Forge World of Graia several years after the events of the first game. Given that Space Marine itself is getting a sequel, it's unclear how or if Boltgun connects to that. While the second game seemingly has a Tyranid focus, the first game only had Chaos come in by surprise after a few hours fighting Orks, so all three games could be connected.

The player takes the role of an Ultramarine Sternguard Veteran Sergeant named Malum Caedo, who is dispatched to Graia under orders from an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor. His name is a bit of a pun: translated from Latin his last name "Caedo" is a verb which can be variously translated as "hew, fell, cut, butcher, murder, mortally wound" and the likes, while his first name Malum translates to evil or wrong. If you put his name into Google translate, you get something along the lines of: "I kill Evil", at which your computer explodes from having a name that Fucking Metal on it's screen because it sounds exactly like Doom Slayer.

The Inquisitor explains that the Graian Mechanicum managed to salvage pieces of Inqusitor Drogan's power source (the magic macguffin from the first game) and began experimenting on the device.Much to everyone's surprise, the tech priests' experiments have caused Graia to once again be invaded by the Forces of Chaos. The Inquisitor has thus ordered an Ultramarine squad to descend to Graia and retrieve the power source fragments.

Unfortunately for the Ultramarines, their drop pod suffers critical damage that leaves all of them dead except one (Malum Caedo). As the lone survivor of the squad, it's up to Malum to rip and tear his way through Graia to complete the mission.

To the rage of Leandros, the taunt key lets Malum shout epic one liners like “I shall finish the work Captain Titus started!” and "Sidonus laid down his life for this planet! I protect his sacrifice!" All while cracking his power-armored knuckles, making any heretic nearby shit themselves in terror. This also indicates that Malum respected Titus' deeds of badassery and no doubt shoved Leandros' head into a toilet as he lubed up the codex for "tactical insertion". This means Malum will likely join Titus as one of the few Ultramarines even the haters can enjoy.

Weirdly Bloodletters, despite appearing in Space Marine, are completely gone from this game, even though they would have fit well with the daemonic side of the roster (this is a Doom homage after all), to diversify instead of just having Nurgle and Tzeentch in play. Though, Blight Drones and Rogue Psykers are also missing. If the game ever receives DLC, expect them to increase the enemy variety. And it seems that they will, given a Bloodletter (as a shilouette, at least) shows up in the end cutscene.

Gameplay

The gameplay follows in the footsteps of other recent boomer shooters, like CULTIC or DUSK, rather than hailing back entirely to games like the original DOOM. As a Space Marine, you have a weightiness to your movement that other similar games tend to lack. When you sprint, you hear the pounding of your footsteps, when you jump, you can crush enemies nearby you with your landing shockwave, and when you charge forward you will plow through the heretic hordes. You're beefier than the average FPS protagonist as well, as your health and "Contempt" (armor) go up to 200 with standard size pickups, and 250 with the small pickups that enemies drop. With a specific power-up, contempt can go all the way up to 300. To increase your survivability your armor eats all incoming damage until it's gone. In dire circumstances your passive, "Know No Fear" will activate, granting you invulnerability for a brief period. It's recharged by killing enemies, allowing you to make the most of the hordes of enemies.

During a level, you might also find temporary upgrades in the form of a special ammunition (such as Kraken rounds for your boltgun), or a machine spirit for your weapon which lasts until the end of the level (see below). There are also a handful of different power-ups that last 30 seconds each. Mega-damage, infinite ammo and a melee rampage are all available, although these upgrades can be harder to find.

Enemies are either melee or projectile based, with the only exception being from a boss with a line-of-sight attack. For a full roster of enemies, see below.

Weapons

So you know how on the table top each weapon has a strength score that is used against a target's toughness to determine your odds of doing a wound? Boltgun has that exact system.. Much like the tabletop, every weapon has a Strength value, and every enemy has a Toughness value. If your weapon has less Strength than the enemy's Toughness, you do less damage, and vice versa. These values more or less line up with tabletop stats, but they are also displayed on-screen, so that even casuals can pick the best weapon for any encounter.

So attempting to shotgun (str 3) a chaos terminator (T5) take a long time to chew through the health but a strength 7 plasma gun cut through the armor like butter. But of course a terminator is far less common then a chaos cultest and a plasma gun lacks the rate of fire to deal with an unwashed hoard, so all weapons have a place and target in your armory. Also note the terminator has T5, so future proofed for tenth edition.

• Chainsword: Your basic weapon. Unfortunately, unlike Doom or even Space Marine, killing enemies with it won't automatically provide you with health and ammo. Still, it's good at putting some distance between yourself and the enemy, and is strong against just about anything not wearing Power Armor. Melee attacks will interrupt your enemies and stagger them for a short time. You can also hold the button down to lock onto your foes from a short distance, although this does not work as well on small enemies such as Nurglings. With enough skill (or patience), you can even use a well-timed melee attack to jump up ledges. Mashing the button repeatedly will rev the sword in order to stack more damage. This is essential for chewing through tougher enemies, like making sure that Aspiring Champion gets gibbed so he doesn't get back up again.
• Bolter: Of course you'd be getting one, the game is literally named for it! A pretty reliable basic gun that can handle most things, and can delete weak enemies with a single shot. Can be upgraded with Dragonfire, Vengeance or Kraken Rounds for some extra punch. Also gets upgraded to S5 when Machine Spirit'd. Also, considering where you come across it, this thing is likely a Relic Bolter.
• Shotgun: No self-respecting Boomer Shooter is complete without a shotty. This one appears to be based on a Deathwatch's Assault Shotgun, though oddly not having the S4. Despite that, it's very good at turning Cultists, Horrors, Nurglings and Plague Toads into paste. Turns into a nasty ricocheting weapon when upgraded by the Machine Spirit.
• Heavy Bolter: The heavy machine gun version of a bolter, essentially. Best for clearing out entire rooms or big targets without moving. Pro: no reload. Con: Eats ammo like popcorn but GOD it is a demon thresher. Stick a Machine Spirit on it for ungodly amounts of RAPE.
• Meltagun: Pretty much treated as an upgraded Shotgun (which makes sense based on how it's been described in lore before). While it has more range than you may expect, it's still best suited for up close. Its ability to mow through multiple targets in a line arguably puts it in a similar family as an FPS railgun.
• Plasma gun: Packs a punch, but it has a cooldown period that you can't ignore just by switching weapons, and after overheating, it starts hurting YOU with each shot. Interestingly, its initial niche is more akin to a traditional rocket launcher with high area of effect and high contact damage, but it does turn into a more rapid fire version when you overload the gun or get the Machine Spirit.
• Grav-Cannon: The Big Fucking Gun. Don't let the S5 rating fool you - it's a giant black hole laser that turns all but the toughest enemies to spaghetti in seconds. However, it uses ammo up quickly and said ammo is rare, so like the BFG in Doom you're gonna want to be conservative on when you use it.
• Vengeance Launcher: Because this game takes place in Graia, this thing obviously makes a return... with a vengeance. Upgraded to hold 6 rounds, which are now automatically detonating, this thing mulches groups of cultists and other T3 enemies whilst also being a credible threat against heavier targets with multiple stickies. Upgrades to S4 with the Machine Spirit.
• Volkite Caliver: The first appearance of a Volkite weapon in a video game. Essentially a lightning gun that melts Chaos Marines, Terminators and Aspiring Champions... as well as cultists, horrors and nurglings. Instead of making your enemies do the burny dance, however, it instead makes them explode on death, injuring anyone nearby in the process.

• Frag Grenade: Basic grenade, detonates after its fuse burns out and has a convenient AOE indicator. Best used to handle mobs of chaff. Hits surpisingly hard too.
• Krak Grenade: Slightly rarer grenade that detonates upon contact. Great for dealing with problematic single targets, in particular one-shotting Chaos Marines.
• Vortex Grenade: Only found in secret areas, and for good reason. This thing is so powerful it can easily help you turn bosses into paste. It's the only thing that's stronger than the BFG equivalent of the game, so use it wisely - using it on mooks will get you *BLAM*-ed for wasting extremely valuable Imperial assets.

Enemies

As noted above, the enemies in this game are Chaos, Chaos, and more Chaos. Appropriate for a game that wears its Doom influence on its sleeve, though surprisingly, there are absolutely no Khorne enemies in the game (though the ending cutscene suggests they might show up in DLC). The Daemonic presence is a mix of Nurgle and Tzeentch forces, who are presumably all competing to get Graia's spoils. The Chaos Space Marines, meanwhile, are all Black Legion. And of course, Chaos Cultists for the role of "begging to be mowed down" fodder.

• Cultist with Autogun: Your basic mooks. Staring at them too long will cause them to die (probably of fright given who they're going up against).
• Heavy Stubber Cultist: Tougher and more annoying than the basic cultists, they fire a gun that has the spread of butter and the ability to suppress you outright. Take out these guys first.
• Cultist Champion: Shotgun-toting Cultists who, judging by the name, are the Head Goons of the cultists. Take them out from a distance.
• Plasma Gun Renegade: You'll want to take these guys out ASAP. They're able to take out a good chunk of your health with a charged up plasma shot, but on the bright side they don't have a ton of health. Attacking them mid-charge makes them roll a 1 and explode, so if getting into Chainsword range isn't an option just hit them with a well-placed and well-timed Bolter shot.
• Chaos Space Marine: Bigger and stronger than the cultists (duh), and therefore a priority target, especially if there's multiple in the same place. They carry boltguns and are nearly as tough as you are, so don't fight these guys fair. Try to spam grenades at them, stun them with charges or melee attacks, or hit them with Plasma from a distance, because out in the open they can kill you just as fast as you can kill them. Be aware that they can also throw grenades, so keep an eye out for red circles appearing at your feet.
• Aspiring Champion: A dual chainaxe-toting Chaos Marine, meaning that you don't want to get near them, the problem is he charges at you like a bull, always stays locked on and deals MASSIVE damage on contact. No, melee attack lock-on is useless; he'll kill you in seconds and doesn't get stunlock. Has a chance of coming back from the dead with a massive rage-on, cementing their place as the biggest pains in the ass you can face (quite the feat, given how many irritating enemies there are here). Also, don't think that you're safe just because you're far away, as they can and will pull out a Plasma Pistol to prove otherwise.
  • Chosen Champion - The aforementioned return from the dead, having been given a huge dose of Chaos Juice by the Gods. Tougher than the Aspiring Champion and gains all their health back. Prevent them from reviving by destroying their body whenever possible, either with gratuitous firepower or, if backed into a corner, revving your Chainsword until the Aspiring Champion is a bloody pulp.
• Chaos Terminator: Autocannon-toting bastard in a suit of Terminator armor. These guys are tough and even plasma struggles to take them down. You'll want to employ cover and get the hell away from the wall of Dakka these guys will throw at you. Interrupting their shooting to bait them into a slow (but nasty) melee attack may be your best option, since their salvo reload takes ages and actually makes them vulnerable.
• Lesser Plague Toad: Not a problem individually, but in enclosed areas with multiple of them, your life becomes hell. They have two attacks: licking you (which feels oddly Slaanesh-esque for a Nurgle Daemon, doesn't it?) and spitting slime, which will attach to a region and explode. Prioritize eliminating these guys ASAP.
• Plague Toad: A bigger Plague Toad that's tougher, grosser, et cetera. Dangerous on its own, lethal if it has a Lesser Plague Toad posse. Once you get the Heavy Bolter, it's pretty good at keeping these overgrown frogs at bay.
• Nurgling: One of the more annoying enemies, and also one of the most common. They are weak and go down in one hit, but they can easily swarm you and whittle down your health. Don't waste a plasma bolt or grenades on them (though an exception to the latter is if you're getting swarmed by a fuckton of them), instead take them out with a bolter shot or a shotgun blast. Melee attacks can easily miss these guys, so its best to take them out before you get surrounded.
• Pink and Blue Horror: The basic Tzeentch goons, which you will get well-aquainted with over the course of the game. The pink horror has a ranged attack, and when he dies, two blue horrors spawn who will immediately rush into melee. Blue Horrors can also spawn on their own, and when they die, they spread fire around their corpse (no Brimstone Horrors here).
• Screamer of Tzeentch: Annoying flying mantas which'll lunge at you. Thankfully, they're not that well armored, and your standard Bolter will get the job done (and a Heavy Bolter will shut them down completely).
• Flamer of Tzeentch: Floating spellcaster beasties, which act more like a shotgun than a "flamer" despite the name. Their attacks shoot 5 pellets at you, which can deal some nasty damage if you're caught by all of them. Ironically, closing the distance is not a bad idea, as your chainsword can take them out much quicker than shooting.
• Exalted Flamer: An upgraded Flamer with a bird head, tougher defense, and stronger flame pellets. Nothing a well-placed Plasma or Melta shot can't fix, though.
• Foetid Bloat-Drone: Dangerous armored flyer that throws a bunch of Nurgle AIDS at you. Careens and crashes when you kill it, so be prepared to dodge if you get unlucky. Use plasma (or Grav if you need it gone right fucking now).
• Ambull: Big xeno brutes that charge at you...or your enemies. Yep, they're just as likely to maul the cultists as they are to attack you. Can possibly be used to your advantage. Slower but more durable version of aspiring champion.

Bosses

• Lord of Change: For some reason this is the first boss you fight instead of the Ancient Ambull, but since you're a named character First Company Veteran you don't give a shit. A spellcaster (duh) which warps around the arena and casts various magics using their Staff of Tzeentch, from Bolts of Change to an annoying life sap ability that gets applied instantly when cast with line of sight and doesnt stop until you die or are out of sight. Using the Plasma Gun or similarly strong weapons with hit-and-run attacks is advised.
• Great Unclean One: The rotting fat fuck is a later boss, first showing up near the end of Chapter Two. They carry a Bilesword that they use to send long distance, extremely damaging slashes at you (hint: jump like Doom 2016), as well as a Doomsday Bell that they can ring to damage your eardrums at line of sight (ironically you can hide behind a wall for no damage even at point blank distance). It also can vomit up a stream of Grandpappy Nurgle's gifts, i.e more bile than a burst of MG42. However, their most dangerous (and annoying) attack is that they can shit out endless Nurglings (who also spit disease) to swarm you, which can leave you distracted from their other moves, can surround for a lethal effect, or worse, can make you fall off into gears (used as an exemplar since the shrine duel area is dangerously open; keep an eye on your surroundings no matter what). Since its big and fat, it's no wonder why the Grav Cannon is very effective against it.
• Ancient Ambull: Giant Xeno scum. It's tanky, can launch projectiles throughout an area from its back, and will attempt to crush you if you let it into melee range. However, risking that heavy melee comes with high reward if you have a locked-and-loaded Meltagun, as a close-range hit from it is enough to take a serious chunk out of its health.
• Tumulus Samael, Chaos Terminator Sorcerer: The BBEG of the game. Wants to use Drogan's power source and your conveniently present ship's warp drives to open up a massive rift into the Warp and overrun Graia with Daemons. Obviously taking after Nemeroth, except instead of ascension he just seeks to ruin things for everyone. In battle he summons mooks and has an annoying psionic laser attack, a wave of force if you dare get too close, and a vertical line of fireballs. In the final boss version of the fight against him, he has 3 phases, 2 of which you have to kill one of the two Greater Daemons in order to drop a shield around him.

Links

• Reveal Trailer
• Release Date Trailer
• Developer Gameplay
• Boomer Shooter Gameplay Trailer
• Extended Gameplay Trailer
• Topquote voice acted by DreadAnon, complete with Caedo killing that little bitch Leandros. Gets his canonical rank wrong, but maybe he got promoted to a 1st Company Lieutenant after assfucking multiple Greater Daemons?