Steam Release Free Sci-Fi Taster That’s As Close To Doom As You’re Ever Likely To See

Doom was a revolutionary first-person shooter that’s inspired hundreds of games, and none emulate its flavour more than this latest Steam freebie.

A good Doom-like game needs a quick tempo, plenty of violence and a cool sci-fi aesthetic and that’s exactly what Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 exhibits.

The 21 May brought yet another Warhammer Skulls showcase, bringing updates and new announcements for games set in a grimdark universe. As part of the festivities a new demo for the long-awaited Boltgun 2 was shown off, and it’s available now on Steam.

In A Grimdark Universe, There Is Only War

Boltgun 2’s free demo takes players through two missions, and gives you the choice of which character you’d like to play as.

The Sternguard Veteran Space Marine Malum Caedo returns from Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun but this time he’s joined by a new ally, the Sister of Battle Nyra Veyrath.

Your chosen character doesn’t change the content of the missions but it does change the gameplay quite extensively.

We played the demo twice with both characters on a Steam Deck, the first time as Nyra Veyrath and the second as Malum Caedo.

As a Sister of Battle the players can take advantage of a quicker moveset and alternative weapons, introducing a different flavour of combat compared to the first Boltgun game.

Jack Munns, Lead Programmer of Auroch Digital described Veyrath’s moveset as “more nimble” in our interview, adding that she’s “inherently more mobile” than that of Malum Caedo.

“The weapons that they have are very important to them,” Munn continued, “like the flamethrower is spiritually significant to [Sisters of Battle]. That’s something that’s been very important to get right for her as a character.”

That’s not to say Malum Caedo doesn’t get some love too. His moveset is pretty much the same as the first game’s but how can you improve upon perfection?

You can take both playable characters for a spin in the new demo but what could be powerful protagonists without a good horde of enemies to fight?

Boltgun 2 builds off of its predecessor with more chaos worshippers than ever, with representatives from all four Chaos Gods, Slaanesh, Khorne, Nurgle and Tzeentch.

In the demo you’ll face Nurgle’s Plaguemarines and Khorne’s Berzerkers, along with a hefty handful of daemons and cultists for good measure.

The Boltgun 2 demo is a lot of fun, and if you’re at all into the Doom games or other ‘boomer shooters’ as they’re called, this Steam freebie is right for you.

It’s also just one of the many Warhammer games you can try for free right now, with gamers on PC and consoles all getting free trials for the latest and greatest the franchise has to offer.

Steam users in particular get a little something extra too, an Age of Empires-like Warhammer game that’s free to claim and keep forever for a limited time.

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