Welcome to Demo Spotlight, the series where I pick a demo and dive right in. This episode features Warhammer: Boltgun 2. I didn’t play the first one, but this game promises to start right where the first one left off.
As soon as the demo starts, you get to pick between two different characters, and this is where I feel like I have to let you all know two things. First, this is my first time playing any involved shooter with a mouse. Normally, I play on Steam Deck and use the trackpads, so this was a wild experience. Second, I am not overly familiar with the lore of Warhammer 40k. I prefer Warhammer Fantasy, or at least I thought I did. I had so much fun with this demo that I’ll be checking out other Warhammer games.
I had to go and read up on what’s going on, which I was happy to do. Throughout my playthrough, I used a Sister of Battle, whose name is Nyra Veyrath. She has an awesome set of weapons in the demo, my favorite of which is the flamethrower. I know that the other playable character got a completely different set of weapons, but I only played the demo once with Nyra.
Boomershooter-wise, I have played Doom (2013), Mouse PI for Hire, and Doom VR. I am not a fan of this genre, or at least I didn’t think that I was. I find myself becoming completely addicted to the fast-paced combat of these games, and Boltgun 2 is no exception.
Right away, they throw you into a swamp, and it is gorgeous. In this area alone, there is quite a bit of enemy variety, but what exactly are we fighting? Frogs and like demon things…I think? I honestly had no idea what I was shooting at, but it was fun to take them down regardless. My eyes had to get used to the way that this game looked, and at first, I wasn’t sure the style vibed with me, but the longer I played it, the more I got used to it. Now, even reviewing my footage, I find that I love the way the game looks.
The demo lets us go through three distinct environments, which I really enjoyed. My favorite area by far is the area where it’s raining blood around you. This is the first area where the graphics and art style of the game really popped. I also loved that breaking what I thought was ice caused a horde of enemies to attack you. Once again, I had no idea what I was fighting in this demo, and I really don’t care.
I also don’t know what the story is supposed to be, and while that would normally bother me, it didn’t this time. Which is awesome. Being able to pick up a game and blow some demons? Up is awesome. While I’m talking about blowing up monsters, the weapons that I got to use were awesome.
Nyra gets access to a few guns in this demo. The bolt gun, which is my least favorite, was the only weapon where I felt like I wanted some kind of weapon upgrade mechanic to use. You can actually see me getting used to shooting with the mouse and keyboard as I play, and the bolt gun was the perfect gun for me to get used to the feel of shooting.
The next is a crossbow that shoots heavy metal bolts. This was my favorite weapon in the demo, and I found it the most satisfying to shoot. I loved this weapon enough that I tried to make it my main weapon throughout the demo, but it ran out of ammunition quickly.
You’ll also get a flamethrower, which is extremely fun to use. You’ll see me using it a lot when I fight hordes of enemies. Again, this weapon could use just a little more punch in my opinion, but it is otherwise wicked fun to use.
Finally, we got access to the heavy weapon, which is just alright. It serves its purpose well and wasn’t awful to use or anything.
Anyway, I love the way that shooting feels in this demo. It was a lot of fun, and while I don’t think that I’ll be grabbing this one when it launches, it was a blast to play through the demo.
If you enjoyed listening to me talk about Warhammer 40k: Bolt Gun 2, please be sure to like, comment, and subscribe for more demos.