40k Boltgun: First Impressions
I’ve had my eye on Boltgun ever since we were teased with dusting off an old floppy disk found in the attic. It is fantastic to see games call back to the days of old with a little bit of new flair to it. The retro graphics, level design and gameplay are packed into an incredibly fun and inexpensive package that the game industry needs a lot more of.
Some might call it an eyesore but I call it beautiful- the retro graphics and 2D sprites offer a glimpse for newer gamers to look through a portal (don’t look too closely, or else the inquisitor will want a word) into the games that spawned the FPS genre.
The game is just mindless fun for those that want to just run and gun, maybe relax and shoot some heretics. The mechanics of Boltgun offer fast-paced gameplay with many ways of serving out justice to the Emperor’s foes.
The guns and melee combat feel great, a fine-tuned balance between a boomer shooter and modern FPS. The movement and fluidity is fantastic and really lends to the feeling that you are truly a god-like warrior.
I think my biggest concern here is replayability / staying power. A major concern with most 40k games is their modability and I am huge on mods and how they positively affect the lifespan and game itself. 40k games in general are notoriously horrible to mod, for the most part this is intentional because of the tight control on the IP.
I have not gotten a major way through the relatively short (10-ish hours) campaign, but I fear after that, there might not be much reason to continue playing. I am optimistic we’ll see some interesting DLCs, hopefully which address this to some extent, but customization at the hands of the playerbase is second to none.
Imagine a horde-type mode (a la Gears of War) in Boltgun, facing endless waves of enemies with increasing difficulty and fun twists (like skulls in Firefight). Or with modders unleashed, what could be dreamed up? New campaigns? A dynamic campaign? New enemies? New friendlies?
I think they’ve got something here in Boltgun, and I hesitate to say its simply “a great foundation” because it is more than just that. But there’s a lot more that can be done with this and hopefully this is just the start.
