Boltgun is excellent. The sound design, visuals, weapons, and enemies all coalesce into a really crunchy shooter which ticks almost all of the major boxes for this genre. Nails the look and vibe I hope for out of Warhammer titles based on space marine combat.

Since I feel positive about this in ways I don’t think require much explanation besides “really good game feel” I want to highlight some areas of improvement I think a sequel could absolutely nail with some adjustments:

1. The levels can often by labyrinthine in a way that is more confusing than entertaining. This is thankfully mitigated by the inclusion of a waymark system which guides you to the next area, however the existence of such a solution I feel is a bit of a band aid to a more fundamental issue.

2. Bosses typically boil down to bullet sponges who encourage cheesy play styles as opposed to encouraging executing mechanical mastery to overcome. Im sure some folks out there “find the fun” in the game and do come up with creative ways to be flashy in defeating boss enemies, but this didn’t feel like the more natural design choice the game leans towards.

Overall, huge recommendation to play, but Ultrakill/Doom Eternal this is not.

Audio: 4
Love the retro guitar, voice acting, and weapon / splatter sfx.

Visual: 3
Pixel art is very well done. Looks cool, but gives me eyestrain after playing for a bit.

Story: 3
Basic space marine on a solo kill everything in sight mission. Fun, no pretension or depth.

Gameplay: 3
Controls are tight, great running and gunning. However, I found it best played in short spurts to keep from getting repetitive.

Value: 3
Good value, gave me about 12 hours playtime on hard. Probably won't pick up again though.

Overall: 3.2 / 5
Good game, would recommend if you like retro shooters and 40k.

"Door"