While our first run with BoltGun was overall satisfying, we did not complete the story just yet. For when Max Powers picked this one up for me, it was the deluxe edition, which included the DLC expansion pack and I knew I was coming back for it. And for better and for worse, it was everything I expected from more of this boomer shooter. Step inside.
Story: Taking place right as the main game ended, Malum Caedo had defeated the chaos sorcerer Tunulus Sameal, ending his quest to collect the power source fragment and use it for his own ambitions, but that does not mean the planet of Graia is free of the dark influences represented by that villainous spellcaster. Forces of chaos had taken over one of the weapons forges on the surface and the place needs to be purged of their heretical presence and influence. It will be up to Malum to land on the surface one more time to bring the Emperor's justice to them.
And once again we have another game where that is about all the story you are going to be offered. You will have a single objective to complete which finishing the last level offered will indeed finish off. Like a lot of games I've been playing as of late, the story basically exists to give you an excuse to be there and rip up some deamonic scum, but really... if you are playing this, were you looking for anything more then that?
5/10
Graphics: If you played the main game, you already know exactly what to expect here: this is a single episode DLC expansion you need BoltGun to play... and honestly you should have played the main game first since this acts as a new Episode 4. Unfortunately it really doesn't add much new to the game, featuring maybe a few new enemies and a new type blackstone used for both some door locks and the final encounters of the game. The this last chapter is going to look exactly like the rest of the game: an FPS game crafted to show the look and feel of the 40K universe like it might have been displayed in the old days when the Pentium name was new and chunky geometry was considered high end.
And to that end the game does a great job, it's just not going to show you anything you haven't seen in the main game. It looks absolutely gorgeous with vast towering cathedrals, vast courtyards, and very gothic industrial internals areas. But you are going to look at this more like "I'm back" then awed by anything new at all.
And the enemies are going to be a similar scenario as well. Some while there are a few updated versions of things you've already seen, there really isn't anything new to see in and of itself out there. In fact outside of one, you would be forgiven to mistake the handful of new enemies for their original versions until they reveal themselves with new and often harder hitting attacks.
In short, this still looks great, but it does so because it looks exactly like what came before, no more and no less.
9/10
Sound: I can pretty much say the same thing for the sound as I can for the graphics. You are not getting any new music, really. Nor is there a lot new in the sound effect department either. All your favorite weapons have all the same sounds, both from you and the enemies you face. However there are a few new weapons on both sides that do add to the sound scape, like a properly meatily explosive missile launcher. But most of what you hear is going to be same same din and orchestra of destruction you heard the first time.
Really the only significant change to what you hear will be the opening and end cutscenes as these two scenes are brand new with new speeches from the Inquisitor that once again sent Malum to this new mission. They both sound good and appropriate, but it's really not much to speak of new... so again like the graphics, I have to just say you are getting an extra helping of just about exactly what you got in the main game.
9/10
Gameplay: I'm beginning to feel like a broken record, but this new chapter blends in so well because it is basically more of what you got with the base game. And while I wouldn't call that the warning it might sound like considering how much I found myself disliking episode 3, it's more like a reflection of the flow of the entire game in bite sized form. The first roughly 2/3rds of the game expansion was pure bliss, letting you play how you can best, either as tactical controller or hellish warrior charging forward and screaming curses at the dark gods you face. You can make either work.
But then you reach the end of the game and things change. All variety dies off as you finish with two massive multi-wave arena battles, each of which can take an hour or more which will require you to basically run around like a lunatic for pretty much the entire duration. And since the game will make you do them literally back to back, I would reccomend NOT doing as I did and save/take a break, and come back for that last level. Do them back to back and they will so nothing but try your patience.
Still in the process it does offer you a few new toys to play with like the missile launcher you will pick up early as if the game wants to make sure in this short stay you will have plenty of time to play with it. Expect the same treatment for a few more such new weapons... and enemies.
Most of these enemies are just variants of old ones, but for example, you will now face off with Havoc Chaos Marines who will fling missiles right back at you and terminators now equipped with lightning claws who will rush you instead of sit back with a chain gun plugging away. And then there is the Hellbrute: a special chaos dreadnaught not only equipped with enough weapons to be a walking army all it's own, but with regeneration protocols that if you do not interrupt, will render all damage done to it pointless. The first time you face off with one it will be treated as a boss, but like boomer shooters of old, it won't be long after you see that first one they become regular enemies among the masses.
The end result is one more chapter much like the rest of the game... great at the beginning, but tripping towards the end... though in this case because it falls back on closing you into two massive rooms in quick succession, both leading to massive fights of respawning enemies until you take out specific targets. They are effectively just repeating each other with no downtime between them. In short, this time it will be because of late game pacing that will your patience will be tested instead of someone just thinking they were clever.
7/10
Bugs: While I did not see any actual bugs in this game, there is still an occasional loading stutter that unfortunately the engine they chose to use for this game (Unreal Engine 5) is known for. They are not bad or long, but noticeable, and for a game designed to look like it could have been made when CPU speeds were measured in megahertz and not gigahertz, that is kinda a problem.
Digital Rights Management: As this is just an expansion DLC for Boltgun, it has no additional DRM of it's own. You will still need to use the game through Steam or the Windows store if you bought a copy through there, but GOG copies are DRM free.
Source: PC Gaming Wiki
Score: Back in the day, if you bought a sequel to a game, you basically expected more of what you loved the first time, but maybe with a little bit added. If you look at this DLC for Boltgun, that is exactly what you are getting, if more bite-sized. And for the price offered, that makes perfect sense. In essence if you just cant get enough Boltgun and need that one extra helping, absolutely pick this up. But if you didn't like the original for some reason, this is going to do absolutely nothing to change your mind.
System Requirements:
- AMD Phenom II X4 965/Intel Core i3-2120
- 8 GB RAM
- AMD Radeon HD 7770/Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 (1 GB VRAM)
- Windows 10 (64-bit only)
- 5 GB Hard Drive space
System Specs:
- Ryzen 7 (5700X) 3.4 Ghz
- 32 GB RAM
- AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT (8 GB VRAM)
- Windows 11 (64 Bit)
Source: Steam
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