Auroch Digital’s upcoming title Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is the sequel to their explosive retro shooter promising more – more enemies, weapons, and new ways to purge.
Today Matt Bone, lead designer, and Mark Chambers, lead artist, share their favourite new enemies and provide some insight into their creation and role. There are a few exclusive reveals to discover too as you read on.
Matt Bone: One feature of Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 we’re really excited about is including all four Chaos god factions for the first time. That means players will be fighting against Nurgle, Tzeentch, Khorne, and Slaanesh enemies, as well as the returning Black Legion forces.
Slaanesh: Daemonette
Bone: For me Daemonettes are the quintessential Slaanesh unit, so it was not only vital we include them as a new enemy, but that we really spent time doing them justice.
With the Slaanesh faction we’re leaning into themes of elusiveness, showing off, and disorienting the player. So, the Daemonettes have a bunch of ambitious abilities we’ve never done before in Boltgun. They perform huge arcing leaps around the battlefield, as if playing with their prey below, before rapidly closing the distance with a zigzagging phase attack. Up close, their beguiling presence causes a special screen effect at the same time they’re trying to claw you to death. They’re quite a handful.
Mark Chambers: We wanted to make Daemonettes a visual spectacle, particularly when they’re performing these phase attacks, in which we’ve developed a freeze frame technique to capture a sprite trail across the screen.
I’m also a fan of how we channeled the unsettling nature of Slaanesh into a horrific facial change when seen up close, and an underwater motion effect that’s been applied to details like hair animations.
Khorne: Bloodcrusher
Bone: The Bloodcrusher was another technical challenge for us. This is the first mounted unit we’ve done in Boltgun and was worth the effort in terms of gameplay.
During combat, the Bloodletter rider can leap off the Juggernaut mount, meaning you now have two bloodthirsty Khorne enemies to deal with. I have a particular soft spot for the Juggernaut’s consume ability, where it gorges itself on any nearby corpses on the battlefield to regain health – sometimes including its former rider.
Chambers: We really pushed the complexity of our animation rigs by combining two separate enemies into one. Not only is this an impressive visual feat, but the effects used on the charge ability in particular really emphasizes the unrelenting force bearing down on targets like a daemonic runaway train.
The sheer height scale involved here also adds to the in-game presence, as these enemies tower above players on the battlefield.
Nurgle: Blightlord Terminator
Bone: It was important to us that if we were going to commit to including all four Chaos factions, we include Chaos Marine units for each. This meant adding Plague Marines and Blightlord Terminators to the Nurgle faction.
I love the tabletop models for the Terminators especially, so it was a thrill to get them in the game. With Nurgle we’re leaning into area denial gameplay as well as emphasising the gloriously disgusting pox-ridden and pestilent nature of these enemies.
Blightlord Terminators in Boltgun 2 are walking plague factories, launching blight grenades and slamming massive corrupt flails into the ground. Both of those attacks create a noxious hazard zone, really keeping the player moving.
Chambers: Anything Nurgle is a joy to create art for as there’s so much detail to choose from. The Blightlord Terminators are no exception, and the sprite quality we’ve managed to capture is impressive to say the least.
Boils, pustules, tentacles, slime, filth, it’s all there, and effects used adds to this glorious in-game corruption.
The debris trails left in the wake of some of our ground attacks are particularly eye-catching, and the enemy death sequences also remind me of gigantic biological grenades going off. In a good way.
Tzeentch: Scarab Occult Terminator
Bone: I couldn’t resist showing off another terminator here. We’re also adding Rubric Marines to the Tzeentch faction, but I love playing against the Scarab Occult Terminators in particular.
One has a Hellfyre Missile Rack attached to his back, which fires a rapid deluge of missiles at the player. A big part of Boltgun 2 is making sure each faction feels different to fight against. With Tzeentch we’re focusing on bullet hell gameplay, which is never more apparent than when a dozen Hellfyre Missiles are screaming towards your face.
Chambers: I’ve always liked the strong visual characteristics of Tzeentch, and we took this opportunity to really push things like colour schemes and effects to make these Terminator based units worthy of the faction.
Astra Militarum: Death Korps of Krieg
Bone: A special bonus reveal for anyone who made it this far: in Boltgun 2 we’re including allied units for the first time in the form of the Death Korps of Krieg.
As unwaveringly loyal devotees of the Emperor, these troopers will fight alongside you in several levels as you take on the Archenemy. This being the grim dark far future however, their life expectancy might not be that great…
Chambers: I’m a huge fan of the Deathkorps of Krieg, and it was a thrill to bring these allies to life in sprite form. We studied the miniatures closely, and I hope when the player sees them fighting side by side, they feel we’ve done them justice.
The lasgun weaponry in particular is something I think we’ve accurately captured, as well as the iconic gasmask and trenchcoat look. Really, what’s not to like about this character’s design?
There’s an abundance of new enemies joining the fight in Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2, along with a new character, new weapons and new worlds to explore.
Make sure to wishlist Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 on PlayStation 5 to be notified when it releases later this year!
