Go with Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2

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The dark future of Warhammer 40,000 is the perfect setting for a boomer shooter, as the enemies of the Imperium are endless and just waiting to be destroyed in the name of the Emperor. The original Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun showed how well the franchise could work using the retro format, and DualShockers had a chance to see if the sequel could live up to the high standards set by its predecessor.

Set in the 41st millennium, Warhammer 40,000 tells the story of humanity that has spread to the stars, where it has found many forces that want to destroy us. Fortunately, humanity is protected by Space Marines, genetically engineered superhumans in high-tech gear, who fight the enemies of the Imperium with religious zeal.

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Usually in Warhammer 40,000, Space Marines fight as part of larger armies. That doesn’t work well in a video game, which is why Boltgun starred in one Space Marine from the Ultramarines chapter, named Malum Caedo. The Boltgun 2 demo preview brings Malum back to the fore, but this time, he’s not alone.

Boltgun 2 Has Two Playable Heroes

The biggest addition to Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is the new main character, named Nyra Veyrath. Nyra is a member of the Sisters of Battle, an all-female army serving the Imperium, fighting xenos and Chaos servants with the same ferocity as their Space Marine cousins.

In Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2, the player can choose either Nyra or Malum to play in the game, each with different levels. So, is there any difference between Nyra and Malum? The biggest difference is the choice of weapons, as the only thing they share in Warhammer 40,000: The Boltgun 2 Demo was the Heavy Bolter, and their entire arsenal is different.

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Malum has his trusty pistol, pistol and plasma rifle. Meanwhile, Nyra has a gun, a crossbow, and a flamethrower. These weapons are versatile, Nyra’s pistol and crossbow are slower and carry less ammo, but deal more damage with each hit. His flamethrower is much more fun than Malum’s plasma gun and he feels incredibly satisfying when setting hordes of enemies on fire.

Nyra is a member of the Sisters of Battle, an all-female army serving the Imperium, fighting xenos and Chaos servants with the same ferocity as their Space Marine cousins.

Nyra and Malum have different special moves, but they feel the same. Each has a powerful melee attack and a charge/slide move that deals damage while taking them out of harm’s way. They also have grenades, which are powerful but take a long time to detonate, giving faster enemies more time to escape.

It’s a shame that I have to start the demo preview on a sour note, but the two characters in Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 are very similar. When I first read about the dual protagonists, I was hoping that there would be a very fast hero who can dodge attacks and a tank who can absorb or deflect hits, like the difference between Doom Slayer from Doom Eternal and Doom: The Dark Ages. Instead, the biggest difference is the choice of weapons, which feels like a waste of energy.

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Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is a direct continuation of the first game, both in terms of story and gameplay. If you played the original Boltgun, expect the same high-octane boomer-shooter action. Whichever hero you choose, they will soon be knee-deep in Chaos soldiers and will need to turn them with bullets to brains.

Like classic retro shooters, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 expects you to blast away at enemies, while taking the time to search for secrets. Don’t expect more taxing puzzles than “find the red key to the red door”, as the focus is on action, and boy, is there a lot of it. The retro pixel 2.5D art style is back, as brilliant as ever.

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Along with its predecessor, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 has some quality-of-life features that older shooters lack, the best of which is a quest marker line that shows the way forward. Stages in Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 can split into many directions, so it’s wise to get back on track easily and not spend ages wandering around, like you would when playing the old Doom games.

Although there is a story that covers the entire area and the characters will talk to you between missions, it is very easy to tune in. This is action in its purest form, and it’s as fun as ever, if not more, as there’s more here than last time.

What’s New Besides Nyra?

While Malum and Nyra will spend most of their time in Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 fighting each other, there have been encounters with friendly units. That’s right, the Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum it’s here as a backup! Unlike the genetically engineered superpowers that make up the Space Marines, the Imperial Guard are ordinary people who take up arms against the enemies of man.

Like in Warhammer 40,000, the Imperial Guard can’t take as much punishment as the Space Marines. In the first demo level of Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2, members of the Krieg’s Death Korps are shown fighting alongside the hero, just before being overwhelmed by enemies. Sure, they aren’t exactly avatars of doom, but their presence is welcome, and it’s always an honor to die with guard members.

There are new enemy types in Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2, as servants of the most ruthless Chaos god take over the field. Now, there are the warriors of Khorne, who are like fictional devils, and they ignore it. Enemies ride Bloodcrushers into battle, before dismounting to impale the player, in some of the demo’s most challenging and exciting battles.

The Purge sections of Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun are back, where the player has to fight a bunch of enemies before moving on, but the ones that follow are much better organized. In the Boltgun 2 demo, I had to fight ever-increasing hordes of Nurgle’s servants in winding caves, where it was difficult to avoid being surrounded, while a later stage involved battles on a bridge where parts of the world could be torn apart, as hordes of enemies carrying explosive warheads attacked each other.

The Purge sections of Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun are back, where the player has to fight a bunch of enemies before moving on, but the ones that follow are much better organized.

The new Purge stages in Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 are amazing and made me notice the difference in the characters’ weapons over the regular stages. Access to Nyra’s flamethrower made fighting in the caves much easier, as they clustered together, while Malum’s plasma gun was better on the bridge, as the greater range and speed allowed me to take care of enemies before they got too close.

The demo is short, both stages last about twenty minutes per character, but it made me excited for the full release. While it’s a shame that Nyra and Malum aren’t very different on a mechanical level, the game is still a worthy successor to the original Boltgun. The thrilling gameplay is enhanced, especially the Purge stages, with enough bells and whistles to make me want to don a suit of Power Armor and jump back into the fray.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 Demo launches on Steam on May 21, 2026.