Welcome to a Mini Mechanic Microscope, where we very briefly look at a very small mechanic and how it influences a larger one. This time around we’re looking at Boltgun’s Chainsword!
The chainsword is an iconic weapon in the world of Warhammer 40,000. Using it in Boltgun not only affects combat, but movement as well. The player is able to target and lock on to an enemy, lunge at them, and do continuous damage until the enemy dies, or the player is forced away from their target.
Chainsword UI and Controls
All of the above functionality is triggered via a single button When this button is pressed, the player revs their chainsword and the in-game time briefly slows down. If an enemy is roughly in front of them, a red highlight surrounds the enemy and the player will lunge at them upon releasing the trigger. The player is notified of making contact via the blood spewing out of the enemy, the chainsword being extended, and a meaty chainsawing noise.
Expanding on the Functionality
There are a couple of ways the players can use it.
Rev the chainsword, and lunge into melee range at the target.
Continuous melee attack - After making contact with the enemy, players can mash the chainsword button over and over again to continuously chainsaw an enemy to do damage beyond the initial strike.
The player can rev the chainsword and, when time slows down, the highlight around the enemy they are facing appears. They can then turn their aiming reticule to a different enemy to highlight them and attack that target instead with their lunge.
If the player makes contact with an enemy and starts chainsawing, tougher enemies can break out and push the player back, allowing said enemy to retreat or press their own attack. This is useful because it breaks up the chainsawing by preventing the player from lunging without a second thought at every enemy they encounter, requiring them to think about which ones would be better to shoot from afar.
How the chainsword impacts the primary gameplay
This impacts gameplay in a couple different ways, combat and movement.
Combat
The chainsword is great for killing chaff enemy units. It cuts through them with ease and allows the player to save on ammo. For tougher enemies, it allows the player to lock them up temporarily as they can’t shoot while they are being chainsawed. This helps to keep the player alive and feels particularly satisfying with the clever visuals and sound design.
In combination with guns
The chainsword is always available in Boltgun. It has a dedicated button to use it rather than requiring the player to swap to it through normal means and it doesn’t require ammo.. Players in Boltgun are constantly bouncing back and forth between gun and chainsword, which allows them more control of combat as they can soften up problematic enemies at a distance with bullets while closing in for the chainsword kill. The softening up of enemies to finish them off with a chainsword also helps to make the combat feel less monotonous, encouraging the player to vary their weapon use.
Movement
The lunge helps to close the gap quickly between enemy and player. Without the lunge, the chainsword would be something only used once the player was already next to an enemy , or against a horde of weak melee enemies. With the lunge, players can close the distance very quickly, avoid getting shot, and make quick work of most enemies. This makes it preferable to shooting enemies in a lot of cases. Because of the lunge, and needing no ammo of its own, it can compete against the player’s weapon for preferred choice of killing.
But the lunge does so much more. It creates shortcuts as players can clear larger chasms or reach higher platforms by lunging across them to reach enemies. It allows the player to reach enemies which are partially hidden by cover. It allows players to save themselves if they miscalculate a jump near an enemy. And, with the lunge only able to be used while targeting an enemy, designers can prevent it from being abused to reach locations the player should not be ever able to reach. It makes the gameplay so much more interesting! This increase in movement really opens up the ability to have some fun choices and secrets in game.
Conclusion
. From the intuitive control system to the visuals and meaty sound design, from the additional platforming and combat options offered by the lunge to the simple use of sawing into a target to save ammo, the developers have done a wonderful job bringing one of Warhammer 40,000’s most iconic weapons into their game.
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