Playable Sister of Battle, Mick Gordon, and No More Mazes: Why Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 Tops the Original
Available since October 14, 2026 on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S (with a Nintendo Switch 2 version slated for a later date), Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 marks an explosive return for British studio Auroch Digital and publisher Big Fan Games (a Devolver Digital label). Three years after the original retro shooter won fans over with its heavy gunfire while drawing criticism for its maze-like corridors, this sequel overhauls the formula where it matters most. Between a playable Sister of Battle alongside Malum Caedo, a branching campaign with upgraded navigation, and Mick Gordon contributing to the soundtrack, the 95% Very Positive Steam rating speaks for itself.
Malum Caedo and Nyra Veyrath: Two Distinct Ways to Purge Heresy
The biggest gameplay addition in the sequel is the choice between two protagonists with contrasting movement profiles and combat tools. Players who favor pure armor and brute force can step back into the power boots of Ultramarines Sternguard Veteran Malum Caedo, a walking tank built to absorb frontline punishment while carving through cultists with his chainsword and heavy bolter.
By contrast, Adepta Sororitas Celestian Nyra Veyrath completely changes the tempo of every arena. More fragile than her Space Marine counterpart, this Sister of Battle compensates with blistering sprint speed, nimble vertical agility to scale high ledges, and an arsenal centered around cleansing flame. Her torrential Flamer and reworked shotgun turn high-speed strafing runs into ash-filled corridors, while grenades are now deeply woven into the core combat loop for both heroes to shatter dense enemy crowds.
A Branching Campaign That Fixes the Original's Labyrinth Problem
While the 2023 original nailed the visceral feel of 1990s shooters, plenty of players grew frustrated whenever a firefight ended and they spent fifteen minutes wandering through identical hallways looking for an exit. Auroch Digital directly addressed that complaint by refining the navigation guide and building far more readable arena layouts.
Even better, the sequel introduces a full branching campaign structure. At major hubs on the strategic map, players pick which biome to assault next, from the towering spires of an Imperial hive city to the treacherous waters of a mangrove jungle swamp. Each route brings specific environmental hazards and enemy compositions, giving you a concrete reason to replay the campaign with the second character to explore the paths you skipped on your first run.
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All Four Chaos Gods Unleashed to the Sound of Mick Gordon
On the enemy front, Boltgun 2 brings together forces from all four major Chaos Gods for the first time in the series, expanding the roster to over 40 distinct enemy types. Khorne's Bloodletters and Juggernaut-riding Bloodcrushers, which can devour fallen corpses on the battlefield to restore their health, fight alongside Nurgle's Blightlord Terminators, whose flail slams and blight grenades shrink safe zones with toxic pools. Encounters quickly turn into projectile-heavy bullet hells against Tzeentch's missile-firing Scarab Occult Terminators and Slaanesh's daemons, culminating in boss battles against a Great Unclean One, a Lord of Change, a Lord of Skulls, and the central demonic demigod Vashtorr the Arkifane.
To match the pixel-art carnage on screen, Auroch Digital brought in acclaimed composer Mick Gordon (DOOM 2016, DOOM Eternal), who delivers blistering industrial djent-metal tracks alongside the audio team, including the standout boss theme Ascent of the Arkifane. Priced at $24.99, the shooter is part of a busy fall schedule for Auroch Digital as the studio also prepares for the November 10 launch of Warhammer Survivors.
My Take
I loved the original Boltgun back in 2023 for the sheer punch of its heavy bolter, yet I still remember the frustration of wandering around identical corridors for twenty minutes straight whenever the path forward wasn't obvious. Booting up this sequel at 144 Hz fixes that headache immediately: not only do the arena layouts keep your momentum flowing, but the contrast between Malum Caedo's heavy armor and Nyra Veyrath's blistering speed genuinely feels like getting two campaigns in one package. Once Mick Gordon's industrial riffs kick in during a Khorne Bloodcrusher stampede, it is hard to ask for a better retro shooter at $24.99 this fall.
PC hardware enthusiast and competitive gamer, Arthur 'Heimdall' splits his time between France and the UK working in enterprise B2B software solutions. A business school graduate passionate about component benchmarking, he has been building, modding, and tuning PCs since childhood, optimizing every thermal degree and millisecond of display latency. An avid gamer across Assassin's Creed and sandbox titles, he forged his alliance with Grimtag and Chaya during late-night World of Warcraft raids before joining Pro-Gamer.
