Warhammer 40K: Shootas, Blood and Teef Preview
One thing I love about the Warhammer 40K universe is the way it balances dark violence and humor. On one hand, it’s filled with grotesque monsters, magic-wielding spirits and flesh-rending soldiers. On the other hand, there are characters who grunt with a working class Cockney accent and delight in simple pleasures. You know, like using their choppas or shootas. Warhammer 40K: Shootas, Blood and Teef definitely skews towards the latter.
Warhammer 40K: Shootas, Blood and Teef is a 2D action game/platformer by Rogueside Games, creators of Guns, Gore and Cannoli. In Shootas, Blood and Teef you play as an Ork whose precious hair squig is stolen by a Warboss named Ogruk Gutrekka. You arrive on the planet Luteus Alpha in search of the squig (for the uninitiated, it’s a type of parasite) and revenge.
Simple Puzzles and Lots of Blood and Teef
Shootas, Blood and Teef takes place in a series of environments like ramshackle buildings, factories and war camps. There are lots of platforms and vertical spaces, and progress usually means killing all the enemies in one area. Sometimes there are simple puzzles, switches or levers to turn that open the next part of the map. Of course, each section presents an increasingly difficult array of highly mobile enemies. Some are small and annoying, others are beefier and more challenging. Shootas, Blood and Teef is a fast moving and frenetic game.
Your Ork wields a Slugga (pistol), Shoota (machine gun), and Boomstikk (shotgun) — along with three Stikkbombs and a melee attack. There are also lots of ways to use exploding items in the environment. At the end of the level is a boss. In the demo it was a Boss Nob and the battle took place on a stage alongside a heavy metal band. Of course, the game’s soundtrack is nice, crunchy metal.
Adorable Ultra-Violence
Warhammer 40K: Shootas, Blood and Teef has a colorful and humor-filled cartoon art style. It perfectly matches the tone of the game, stuffed with snarky, Ork-based humor. Aside from grunts, squeals and Ork-ish gibbering, there isn’t much in the way of voice acting. The weapon sounds punch through the metal music in a satisfying way.
The game can be controlled with keyboard/mouse or gamepad. Both work pretty well, though the controller button assignments take a little getting used to. There is a twin-stick shooter feel to gunplay. The melee mechanics were less satisfying than using the guns. For one thing, the greenskin similarity of the player character to the enemies made up-close encounters hard to decipher. Also, the melee weapon just has a small range of motion and not much impact. It’s hard to tell if you’re hitting the target.
Aside from those quibbles, the design of the levels was engaging. The demo was pretty short, so I’m anxious to see what other levels and environments include.
Throughout the history of the Warhammer universe, the Orks have been through several design changes. They always retain some element of fun and over-the-top enthusiasm for mayhem and Warhammer 40K: Shootas, Blood and Teef is a great translation of that into the 2D action genre. Warhammer 40K: Shootas, Blood and Teef releases in summer of 2022 and I can’t wait to see more.
Thank you for keeping it locked on COGconnected.
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