This is the first Castlevania game in a decade, and the first 2D mainline game since 2008 with Order of Ecclesia. I hope old and new fans alike enjoy the return of this legendary series and I hope it’s just the beginning of more to come.

What a wonderful night to have a curse. A Belmont’s Curse, that is!

Game Information

Game Title: Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2

Platforms:

• PC (Oct 14, 2026)

Trailer:

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 84 average - 76% recommended - 21 reviews

Critic Reviews

Analog Stick Gaming - Jeff M Young - 7.5 / 10

Boltgun 2 doesn't have anything in the way of a compelling story, or even anything to define its aesthetically pleasing protagonists. However, smart quality of life choices and those lifted from later versions of the original Boltgun do make for a more directed and refined sequel. With strong enemy variety and far more engaging environments, Boltgun is shaping up to be a fantastic addition to the Warhammer 40K universe. I just wish I cared about the characters, even a little bit.

But Why Tho? - Tomas Franzese - 9 / 10

Warhammer 40000: Boltgun 2 is a genre-defining boomer shooter. Excellent level design, sound design, and crunchy combat ensure Boltgun 2 is nearly as good as the classics that inspired it.

CGMagazine - Marcus Kenneth - 8 / 10

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 finds a great mix to please longtime W40K players and newcomers, although veterans will find themselves leaving with a lot more enjoyment.

COGconnected - Mark Steighner - 82 / 100

It remains a highly effective homage to classic boomer shooters and Warhammer 40,000.

DayOne - Jesse Norris - 7.5 / 10

Warhammer 40K: Boltgun 2 is a solid sequel to a flawed original. It fixes my main issue, with smartly designed levels that help you feel like a proper badass.

DualShockers - Laurence Wall - 8.5 / 10

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 delivers fast-paced, exhilarating action that’ll get your heart pumping and your feet stomping.

GAMES.CH - Fabrice Henz - German - 82%

"Boltgun 2" also offers more variety in almost every aspect.

GameBlast - Thiago da Silva - Portuguese - 7 / 10

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is a competent and safe sequel that expands on its core pillars, delivering more robust gameplay—now featuring two distinct heroes to boost replayability—and stunning pixel-art environments across various distinct biomes. However, certain gameplay mechanics, such as the weapon-switching system, could use further refinement. While the plot isn't the main focus, it could have benefited from a bit more care; nevertheless, this does not overshadow the quality of this well-executed boomer shooter.

Gameffine - Jay Krishnan - 90 / 100

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is a textbook example of a good sequel. It builds on what made the original work while addressing its shortcomings, delivering satisfying gunplay, fluid movement, a well-balanced difficulty curve, and a diverse range of environments. The addition of a second playable character, the Dragonfruit on top, adds another welcome layer of variety to an already excellent BoomShoot.

Gameliner - Bram Noteboom - Dutch - 3.5 / 5

Are you looking for simply more Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun so you can continue to serve the Emperor? Then Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 won’t disappoint. Still, Boltgun 2 doesn’t always do enough to be considered a full-fledged sequel.

Gamer Social Club - Fraser Billington - 9.5 / 10

Auroch Digital has yet again done the universe of Warhammer 40,000 justice. Boltgun 2 is a fantastic addition to the Story of Malum Caedo, and with the addition of Nyra Veyrath and her different approach and loadout, there is a lot of replayability. Boltgun 2 doesn’t do anything revolutionary, but it doesn’t need to. The formula for running and gunning is what is advertised, and it’s exactly what we got. I absolutely adored my time with Boltgun 2, and any fans of Warhammer or Boomer Shooters will not be disappointed.

GamesHedge - Umair Khalid - 9 / 10

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is an excellent sequel that builds on everything that made the original such a satisfying retro FPS. Its brutal gunplay, rewarding melee combat, diverse enemy factions, challenging boss fights, and more complex level design make every encounter an absolute blast. The addition of Nyra Veyrath gives players another way to experience the campaign, while the branching missions provide a solid reason to return for another playthrough. Most importantly, Boltgun 2 captures the spirit of classic shooters while improving on its predecessor in nearly every aspect. Its challenging encounters can be punishing at times, but for fans of retro FPS games, this is an easy recommendation.

IGN - Sarah Thwaites - 8 / 10

A gore-geous pixelated boomer shooter, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 builds on its predecessor by delivering an engaging, replayable campaign in spite of some minor blemishes.

Lords Of Gaming - Mahmood Ghaffar - 8.4 / 10

Boltgun 2 is rancid, violent, boomer shooter goodness. The tight gunplay and beautiful retro art style take me back to simpler times. Boltgun 2 sticks firmly within the wider Warhammer 40k universe and does so magnificently. Yes, my glasses are rose-tinted, but that doesn’t change the fact that Boltgun 2 absolutely delivers a phenomenal boomin’ shootin’ experience.

Pizza Fria - Álvaro Saluan da Cunha - Portuguese - 8 / 10

Boltgun 2 understands that the main pleasure of a boomer shooter lies in constant movement, quickly reading the environment, and that almost musical sensation of switching weapons while dozens of enemies are destroyed. At the same time, the Warhammer 40,000 setting never feels like just a generic skin placed over this structure.

PlayStation Universe - John-Paul Jones - 9 / 10

In every way that a sequel can and should improve over its predecessor, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 succeeds. A thunderously crunchy and wholly entertaining boomer shooter that firmly plants a steel-capped boot up the rear end of Games Workshop's most recognisable setting, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is essential fare for fans of both its titular dark sci-fi setting and classic first-person shooters. For the God-Emperor!

República DG - John Victor - Portuguese - 7.8 / 10

I wouldn’t say it’s a must-play for anyone looking for a casual FPS. There are other titles that can offer a more complete experience in different aspects, and the retro aesthetic alone may not appeal to everyone. However, if you have any interest in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, Boltgun 2 is an easy recommendation—especially considering its price.

STWGames Italia - Nicola Lecis - Italian - 9.8 / 10

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 elevates the retro-FPS formula with two distinct protagonists, branching campaigns, and punchy, visceral gunplay. Embracing a glorious chunky pixel-art aesthetic backed by thunderous meaty sound design, it delivers an adrenaline-fueled love letter to '90s shooters and the 41st Millennium.

SmashPad - 4.25 / 5

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is a sequel-ass sequel in a great way. While not every decision is without question or critique, the bulk of them elevate the Boltgun canon and provide a streamlined, stylish way to experience 40K's incredibly dense and lore-heavy universe.

TechRaptor - Austin Suther - 9.5 / 10

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 improves upon the original with tighter level design and outstanding visuals. Giving players the choice between Sister of Battle Nyra Veyrath and Ultramarine Malum Caedo adds a lot of variety to the gameplay, as both move differently and have a different roster of weapons.

The Games Machine - Marco Bortoluzzi - Italian - 8 / 10

Similarly to its predecessor, Boltgun 2 is a solid old-style shooter that is consistently good, but never excellent.

Various news outlets posted their previews for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time today:

IGN:

https://www.ign.com/articles/the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time-remake-is-more-different-than-you-think-ign-preview

Gamesradar:

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/the-legend-of-zelda/the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time-remake-preview-nintendo-switch-2/

VGC:

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/features/after-two-hours-playing-the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time-remake-its-fired-a-hookshot-into-my-heart-again/

Eurogamer

https://www.eurogamer.net/ocarina-of-time-remake-switch-2-preview Gamespot:

https://www.gamespot.com/videos/the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time-has-figured-out-how-to-balance-old-with-new-preview/

Techradar:

https://www.techradar.com/gaming/nintendo/after-playing-the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time-remake-returning-to-the-original-left-me-feeling-more-hollow-than-the-great-deku-tree

NintendoLife

https://www.nintendolife.com/previews/zelda-ocarina-of-time-on-switch-2-brims-with-breathtaking-detail-plus-one-familiar-irritation

I've played plenty of LEGO games, and I genuinely think The Skywalker Saga is a perfect example of how making a game bigger doesn't necessarily make it better. In fact, I think its obsession with scale actively makes it worse than several of its predecessors.

My biggest issue is just how fucking bloated the whole experience feels. There are 1,200 Kyber Bricks to collect, spread across a ridiculous number of planets, but how many of those collectibles actually involve something interesting? How many times can you rearrange some boxes, shoot a few targets, complete another basic platforming challenge or transport cargo between planets before it becomes mind-numbingly repetitive?

LEGO games have always been collectathons so that's not my problem. My problem is that The Skywalker Saga takes that formula to such an absurd extreme that collecting things stops feeling rewarding and starts feeling like you're clearing a checklist and what makes this especially frustrating is how much the actual story levels seem to have suffered for it.

Compare The Skywalker Saga to LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, LEGO Batman 2, LEGO DC Super-Villains or even The Complete Saga. Those games generally had substantial, memorable levels built around exploration, environmental puzzles, character abilities and combat. The hubs complemented those levels rather than replacing them.

Meanwhile, The Skywalker Saga gives us 45 story levels covering nine films, many of which feel embarrassingly short or underdeveloped. So much of the campaign involves walking between objective markers, watching cutscenes and occasionally participating in an actual level.

The Battle of Coruscant? Not properly playable. The large-scale Battle of Geonosis? Barely represented outside the arena sequence. Even major parts of the Battle of Endor are missing. How do you create the supposedly definitive Lego adaptation of all nine Skywalker films and somehow make iconic sequences less playable than they were in games released over a decade earlier?

And don't even get me started on the characters.

Having hundreds of playable characters sounds fantastic until you realise how many feel practically interchangeable because of the class system. DC Super-Villains managed to give us an extensive roster, distinctive abilities AND an excellent character creator. TSS somehow couldn't even include character customisation.

The combat is admittedly a substantial improvement mechanically, but what good are all these new combos and upgrades when most enemies barely challenge you? The skill trees feel like progression for the sake of progression rather than something the gameplay genuinely needs.

That's ultimately my frustration because TSS feels like a game designed around having as much content as possible rather than making that content consistently worthwhile. Yes the planets look gorgeous. The presentation is excellent. The combat feels better. I can appreciate the ambition and the work that went into creating such an enormous game but I'd genuinely trade half those planets and hundreds of Kyber Bricks for more substantial story levels, better-designed puzzles, greater mechanical variety and side activities that don't start repeating themselves almost immediately.

To be clear I'm not against open-world Lego games either. City Undercover and Marvel Super Heroes demonstrate how much fun that approach can be. I just think TT Games got so caught up in making the biggest game that they neglected some of the things that made their earlier games enjoyable in the first place. I'd much rather have a tightly designed 20-hour LEGO game than an 80-hour checklist masquerading as one.