Posted on: December 28, 2023
Crazy_McGee
Verified ownerGames: 314 Reviews: 28
Rip And Tear...For The Emperor?!?!
I recently wrote a revew on Blood West where I noted that the retro shooter renissance had begun to move past the likes of Dusk and Ion Fury into more complicated offerings (just as the 90s shooters had moved past Doom onto Duke Nukem 3D and finally into System Shock 2). This year has shown that, if the gameplay is fun and the price is right there is a place for both types of shooters to prosper. Having played Blood West - and loved it for what it was - I can say that it is refreshing to be able to turn on my Steam Deck and just turn off my pre-frontal cortex for a time while having some old-fashioned F-U-N playing Boltgun. The story is, as amazing as this is going to sound, a sequel to Warhammer 40K: Space Marine. You are a veteran of the Ultramarines, sent in to mop up the mess left behind after forces of Chaos decided to interrupt the 'little shindig' between the Orks and the Imperial Guard. Nothing complex to tell here; no grandstanding moral quandaries or introspection into the human soul. You are a Space Marine, purged of fear and doubt, ready to slay anything that goes against the will of the Emperor of Mankind. Promo material for Boltgun made it out to be some long-lost 90s shooter recovered and and re-released. While not true they weren't far off. The graphics are a chunky, pixelated type with a wide range of saturated colours. It's the sort of style that was post-Doom but pre-PS1 (so, think Sega Saturn). Environments are detailed and colourful, the enemies are easy to differentiate (with excellent attack animations), and the weapons...oh, the weapons. If you thought that the Doom remakes treated getting a new weapon like a religious experience, Boltgun definitely does - because in the 40K universe it IS. So then, why 4/5? Because, simply put, much as stealth shooters are not everyone's cup of tea, neither is a power fantasy shooter. No cover coupled with slow movement might not appeal to everyone. If you can get past that, Boltgun is a blast.
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