Image: Auroch Digital, Big Fan Games & Devolver Digital

Warhammer 40,000 is, despite allusions to narrative depth, always going to be a big, fun, brightly-colored toybox full of space weirdos to smash together as things explode dramatically in the background. Few games understood that better than 2023's Boltgun, a pseudo-retro FPS that encapsulated 40k's heavy metal absurdity that so many British teens grew up with. And now we get to do it all over again, as Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 has landed, featuring a second playable character (a nun with many a gun), a larger, more varied chunk of the universe to visit, and plenty more enemy types to explode into clouds of Blood Angels Red miniature paint.

From the chunk of it that I've played, it's all that I could have asked for from a sequel. Splitting the campaign up across multiple planets makes for much more varied environments, each painted in bright, lurid shades. Gritty realism this ain't. Once again the main enemies of the game are the ever-varied forces of Chaos (space-demons from space-hell!), with a mixture of cultists, fanatics and actual demon units, with each of the four Chaos gods getting a full set of representative enemies with a couple new additions per side. And they all look just how I remember them on Games Workshop display shelves.

I am also very happy to report that for Boltgun 2, the sprites still have that wonderful 'digitized miniatures' look - even more so than before. You can practically see the dry-brushing and the painted-on edge highlights on the characters. Doubly so on the larger enemy sprites, and triply so for the on-screen weapon models and your own character's hands. The world that these characters exist in might be a bit more chunky and typically FPS-ish, but at times it still looks like it was built out of pre-fab bits of environment detailing that you might see on a Games Workshop display table. As it should be.

The one big NEW thing in the sequel is a second protagonist. Nyra Veyrath, a Sister Of Battle. Mystical power-armored nuns, and counterparts to the massive genetically engineered super-monks that make up the Space Marine corps. While returning beefy-boy Malum Caedo has a rugby-charge-style ability, Nyra has faster movement, a higher jump, and a slide-dash, which is a fun tool to get both out of and into trouble, as she slashes enemies in two with her power sword as she kicks under them. Either way, good for avoiding damage, as she seems a little bit less tanky than her 8-foot-tall counterpart.

Her weapons tend to be an interesting mix of up-close brawling tools like a flamethrower, or long-distance sluggers like a heavy stake-throwing crossbow, but it feels like the mid-range is her weak spot. She's a character for you to commit in either direction with. It's not a radical change to the formula, but it's indicative of Auroch Digital being a little more confident after the first game's success.

The levels have also seen some bifurcation, too. While I'm only a couple of levels into Boltgun 2 (thanks to Devolver for the early key!), it interestingly seems that for a single playthrough, this one might be a bit shorter than its predecessor, and definitely so if you take the first game's beefy expansion into account. That said, if you want to strip every bit of content-flesh from its bones, you might have to sink in many more hours. Not only do the two characters have distinctly different combat styles and weapon loadouts, but the levels often branch and have optional side-areas, meaning that it'll take at least two full runs to see everything.

While I think it might have been more interesting for each character to have their own distinct campaign, or different routes through the same levels better suiting their mobility options, it's great to see any developer thinking with replay value in mind. I'm still barely scratching the surface of the main story, but the fact that I'm already excited for a second run says volumes.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is out for £22.49/$25, with discounts if you own the original game, Amid Evil, Ultrakill, or the very underrated Shadow Warrior 2. All sources of big dumb fun too. And speaking of dumb fun, the trailer is fully committed to being as goofy as humanly possible. Good on 'em.