Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood and TEEF! Preview

Coming from the developers of Guns, Gore & Cannoli is Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef, a markedly different title in the usually gritty and violent Warhammer world. There’s still violence, sure, but it’s presented in an comical way, the vibrant and chunky 2D artwork backed up by a comedic tone in the writing. It’s different but also quite good fun based on the roughly 20 minute demo we got an early chance to play. It’ll be included in the upcoming Steam Next Fest, but the full game will be available on Xbox (and everywhere else) later this year.

We’re used to checking out the Warhammer universe in either the traditional shooters or top down strategy genres, so playing this 2D side scrolling twin stick action title is a fresh look for the series. Combat is separated up into smaller rooms that need either clearing of enemies or a switch or the like flicking to open the exit. One saw us throwing a lever which caused electricity to slowly move towards a gate, having us defend ourselves against an onslaught of enemies until it reached its destination. This demo had around 5 or so combat rooms before a final boss, and I’m not sure the action ever let us (apart from when I died). It’s pretty full on, but importantly not overwhelmingly so.

Enemies come in various forms, with easily dispatched grunts backed up by meatier – and I mean meatier – Orcs with guns or melee weapons. The chunks that explode when we hit one with our shotgun is both violent and comical, but we don’t get long to chuckle before more are on our case. Speaking of weapons, we got to check out the shotgun, machine gun, pistol, and incendiary grenade in this demo. The pistol felt a bit weaksauce but both the other weapons had enough power to be satisfying to use. The grenade was a highlight – those that know me know my love for flame-based arsenals – and was great fun to lob at enemies.

The final boss fight showcased some rather lovely audio visual work, backed as it was by an Orc metal band while flames, bullets, and a huge bastard all filled the screen with action. My only nit-pick so far based on this small sample would be that it was occasionally easy for the enemies to blend in with the background thanks to a lot of the same colours being used for both, though I’m hoping further levels will branch out from browns and greens to a bit more of an adventurous colour palette.

We’ve got to wait until later in 2022 to get our hands on the full release for Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef but based on this small sampling it looks to be a fun alternate take on the series known for its gritty violence. One to watch out for, and if you’ve a Steam account you can check it out in the Steam Next Fest soon!

This game was previewed on PC (via Steam). All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by the publisher.