Reviews:
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Even not really knowing or caring about the Warhammer 4k universe, there’s no question that this visceral retro RPS is a lot of fun
I’ll gladly admit two things to open, that I’m in no way tied into the Warhammer 4k universe of stuff, and that I’ve generally come to regard games tied to that universe as starting on shaky ground based on experience. That makes the revelation that Boltgun really is a shock for me, as a bloody and intense retro FPS wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I’ll admit that starting out I was struggling a bit with the weird robots that fly around near you, not sure whether they were enemies, and getting started with weapons it didn’t do a great job of really introducing you to their use. With a few moments, a peek at the controls, and experimentation though you do quickly hit the fun zone of switching between blasting your guns, chucking grenades, and simply bum-rushing your enemies with your chainsword and turning them into bloody chunks. In general there’s just something very different about the flow and style of play and I’m here for it. Where it does absolutely struggle a bit though, in my mind, is with the level design and the hard pendulum swings it can have between being trivially easy one moment and then bordering on unforgiving at times the next. More often than I think in almost any shooter, old or new, I had a tendency to get a bit lost in the stages or not really know where to go next, and that could be irritating at times. The challenge swing, while I’m inclined to let it go since with some grit and care you can overcome swarming enemies effectively there are portions where it felt a bit like I was on auto-pilot too, so both ends moving a little closer to the satisfying mid-zone would have been nicer. Still, if you enjoy old-school FPS action this distinguishes itself from the field quite nicely.
Justin Nation, Score:Nindie Choice! [8.2]