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I am very conflicted on this game

Warhammer 40K Boltgun (Boltgun) is a first-person shooter that I did have fun playing for a while, but during that time, I also had issues with the game. I am not saying that Boltgun is a bad game, far from it, rather I would say that this game goes more on the lines of a mediocre kind of game. The game advertises itself as a Boomer-Shooter, but plays more like Doom 2016, and while that's not a bad thing, the other issues hold the game back in my opinion.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Fun run and gun gameplay for the first few hours
Good variety of weapons to use
Lots of secrets to find throughout the levels
Lots of enemy variety, with different attack patterns for you to avoid
Nice retro 3D graphics and beautifully done cutscenes

Cons

The game does not play as a Boomer Shooter
You lose all your weapons at the start of every chapter
The secrets aren’t really secrets
Bosses aren’t anything special as they are just a giant tanky enemy and are repetitive
None of the levels in the game are memorable
The AI can be a little buggy


Story

The story starts with a newly born Space Marine named Malum Caedo of the Ultramarines is tasked with a very important mission by the Inquisition. Since the invasion from the Orks and Chaos on Graia from the events of the previous Space Marine game, the planet was closely watched for any future threats. Inquisitor Drogen has found that some rogue tech-priests on Graia had done some experiments. So, because of this, Malum is sent to investigate and must fight through an entire army of Chaos, all on his own.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3440034245
That’s all I will go on with the story of this game, Boltgun is not a story heavy based game, which does kind of suck because the lore of Warhammer 40K is very rich. I am someone who loves the lore of 40K and not seeing it here does remove something that I think the game could have used in some ways. Although for this game, it’s not a bad thing, as if you don’t know anything about the lore of 40K, then you can jump into this game with no issues. That being said though, for what little tidbits of 40K that I know about in the game, it does a good job of reimaging it, so it has that.

Gameplay

Boltgun’s gameplay is solid and fun, however, I should point out that Boltgun does not play as a Boomer Shooter, rather it plays more like Doom 2016. In terms of gameplay, and while that is not a bad thing, for those who are looking for a classic Boomer Shooter like Doom. Then Boltgun is not going to scratch that itch for those who are looking to play a game like Doom.
In terms of weapons though, well, there is a nice variety of weapons for you to choose from and they are all fun to use in their ways. My favorite weapons are the Boltgun, which is the first weapon you get in the game, Meltagun, which does large chunks of damage, the Heavy Bolter can destroy enemies in its path, and the Volkite Caliver for its high damage. I think the Volkite Caliver can also stun lock some enemies sometimes, because when it comes to the ones with high health, they seem to stay in place or can't fire back.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3440035255
Although I do have a small issue when it comes to the weapons of the game, you lose them all at the start of each chapter except for your Boltgun. There are only three chapters in the game, but it’s still a little annoying. Also, the shotgun is kind of useless as its damage isn’t that good when it comes to the tougher enemies. It can one-shot the weaker ones, but there are only a handful of those types of enemies in the game, it does have long range though, so there is that.
There are also a ton of secrets you can find throughout the levels, and you are graded at the end of every level on how many kills you get, secrets you find, etc. However, the secrets aren’t secrets, they are powerups that only last for that level or they are a minor upgrade for your Boltgun. Which doesn’t make them secrets, but they are something you can find in the levels. Something that I did learn is that one of the secret upgrades in the game can be equipped with your Heavy Bolter, which was something I learned near the end of the game.
There is also a good amount of enemy variety in the game, and there are bosses you can fight, but that also leads onto my next issue. The bosses are just a giant tanky enemy and they aren’t that fun to fight. They also reuse the bosses as enemies, and they just end up being repetitive when fighting, especially on chapter 3, where they will pretty much give you these bosses on almost every level. Which pretty much slows the game down and makes it drag on because you have to take these bosses out or you won't be able to proceed. Because of these issues, the game starts to overstay its welcome and makes me not want to play it.
The last issue that I have in terms of gameplay is that the levels aren’t that memorable, so none of them stand out to make the level fresh or anything. Also, the AI can be a little buggy sometimes as enemies will sometimes just walk into walls and get stuck for some reason.

Graphics and Performance

The graphics for the game are nice and do give that 3D retro vibe that Doom gives. The cutscenes are also nicely animated and I liked how they did the pixel artwork, there aren’t many in the game, but I still liked seeing them. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, and 16 GB of RAM, the game runs very well and I came across no issues.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3440048967

Final Verdict

I am very conflicted with Boltgun, there are things that I do think make this game fun and enjoyable, but I also feel that the cons outweigh the pros. I am someone who loves Warhammer 40K, so that’s not to say that I didn’t have enjoyment while playing. I would recommend this game to fans of Warhammer 40K or for those who do like Boomer Shooters, but I would wait for a sale.
There is a DLC for the game as well, so if you are someone who enjoyed the game, I think you would also have enjoyment in playing that, so it’s there if you are also interested.
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