There’s a few reasons Boltgun is worth a go, and a few reasons it might not be, but I want to be very clear about one thing straight away:

This game has more Chaos Gods than just Nurgle!

No disrespect to Papa Nurgle and his army of plague-ridden fleshy blobs, but in the history of Warhammer Videogames, Nurgle has seen the most coverage out of the big 4 than any other.

As someone who enjoys a game of Tabletop Warhammer and has played the majority of Warhammer-related Videogames released, it is so refreshing to see a videogame actualise Screamers, Pink Horrors and Marines such as Terminators and Sorcerers (alongside, yes, a lot of Nurgle too…)

Is Boltgun Worth it – Summary

Reasons to Install

• Tzeentch and Nurgle Enemies Throughout (Both Demon and Marine)
• Fresh take on the weapon system from classic Boomer Shooters by incorporating Strength and Toughness
• Diverse difficulties suitable for Space Marine power trips or slogs through the warp
• The warp is realised in an authentic and mind-bending way which actually affects gameplay
• Banging soundtrack
• You can reduce or increase “Pixelization” so if you’re really that uptight about the “ye olde” graphics you can remove the pixel filter

Reasons to Skip

• You don’t need to like Warhammer and Boomer Shooters to enjoy this, but you probably need to like one of them
• This game isn’t a short blast through the grim dark, prepare for a “full” campaign length with chapter points resetting your weapons (As in Classic DOOM)
• The Servo Skull accompanying you doesn’t have a voice actor, which in an action-packed precision-based shooter isn’t great for communicating mid-combat
• Combat arenas can feel long on occasion

Most Unique Feature

The best way Boltgun separates itself from the crowd is through incorporating the Strength vs Toughness system from actual Tabletop Warhammer.

Each weapon has a Strength value and each enemy has a Toughness value. If your weapon’s Strength is higher than the target’s Toughness you’ll deal 1.5x damage, and if your weapon’s Strength is double or more than that Toughness you deal 2x damage!

This provides players the option of using weaker, more ammo-ready weapons (or perhaps weapons that are just easier to hit with) for hordes of Toughness 3 Horrors and using a Strength 7 Plasma Gun for Toughness 4 Marines.

With the enemy diversity and weapon diversity, this creates a different approach for each player, who may choose different weapons for different targets based on any number of factors such as ammo, accuracy, positioning and weapon machine spirits.

Is Boltgun Worth it for Warhammer fans?

The inclusion of more than just Nurlge makes Boltgun an instant win for Warhammer players.

We have fought Nurgle in Vermintide, Chaosbane, Darktide, Chaos Gate Demonhunters, Storm Ground, Inquisitor Martyr and Space Marine 1.

Some of those feature Khorne too which is nice, but Nurgle is the de-facto Chaos God for Videogames.

Having the enemy variety is nice, but is hugely bolstered by the Strength vs Toughness mechanic. New enemies don’t just fight you in new ways (By flying, using AoE, DoT etc) but also provide a new choice over which weapon to use to deal with said enemy type.

The Lore-Sticklers may have an issue with the fact our lone marine can take down some of the larger, more monstrous demons all one their lonesome, but as our marine is unidentified you can just pretend you’re some OP named character from an obscure bit of rulebook fluff.

Is Boltgun Worth it if you Don’t Play Warhammer?

This is a harder question, but still one I am happy to answer with a resounding “yes”.

Boltgun’s enemy variety and weapon mechanics still work the same, whether you understand that they’re from a Tabletop game or not, and so the experience isn’t so different.

With the huge array of pickups, each weapon having its own Machine Spirit Upgrade which changes their playstyle, and the satisfying combat any fan of DOOM-style shooters will feel at home.

There’s a chance non-tabletop players miss the Strength vs Toughness mechanic, and end up wondering why everything has so much health (Using a Strength 3 Boltgun against a Toughness 7 [Redacted]) but for anyone who actually reads tutorial pop-ups, you’ll be fine.

The levels and level design rotate between:

• Combat Arenas
• DOOM-Like Corridor Navigation
• Halo-Like Open Combat / Exploration Areas

This provides enough variety in pacing to ensure you aren’t constantly going at 100mph in a combat arena, and can take time to experiment with weapons, find power-ups and take in the OST.

Hard not to Recommend Downloading

As we’re talking Game Pass, you may as well install it and give it a go. It’s a small download, easy to boot up and get a feel for, and you’ll quite quickly work out if the core loop is for you.

Even if you only complete Chapter 1 then stop, you’ll have had a fun romp through around 12 different enemy types and 3 bosses, all in one Chapter. You could kill a few hours in worse ways, and it’s so worth it seeing demons of Tzeentch realised in a videogame for once.

Now all that’s left is to have a Slaanesh Videogame. Alien: Isolation style game but it’s a naked demon lady wanting to tear your [Redacted] off? That’d sell.