[Multi] Bulletstorm Review

[TrackZero]

Bulletstorm Review

Title: Bulletstorm
Platform: 360/PS3/PC
Developer: People Can Fly
Publisher: Epic Games
ESRB Rating: Mature
MSRP: $59.99 (360/PS3/PC)
Editor: Andrew "TrackZero" Hodder

What's Hot: Killing with skill; Stunningly beautiful vistas; Challenging teamwork based multiplayer; Robot Monsters with Laser Beam Eyes

What's Not: Playing multiplayer with pubbies; Some of the swear-laced one liners don't play

Bulletstorm brings back a breath of fresh air to the first person shooter genre. Gone is the process where you continually run to the next cover point, pop up for a few seconds to line up a headshot and go back under cover to reload. Make no mistake, that's still available if you so choose; however that path will earn you little reward in this game.

In marketing for this title, they've tried to introduce the idea of killing with skill. They're not kidding. This is a requirement to earn the skill point currency which you'll need to buy ammunition (aside from the paltry amount enemies drop), new weapons and upgrades. Each weapon has it's own list of skill shots you can perform, alongside environmental and situational skill kills for each map. To pull off many of the best kills, you'll need to be constantly on the move to use timed environment kills (as the enemies may move out of range of the set piece kills laid about for you) alongside your own response time to adapt to each situation with the proper techniques. Taking cover generally entails that you're passing up opportunities for further success.

Since this is an abrupt change of pace from what many gamers are used to, Bulletstorm introduces these concepts in stages during the single player campaign. If you've played the demo for the game, this may throw you for a loop at first. You don't begin earning skill points until after the prologue chapter, they give you ample time to learn how to kick opponents and use the leash as the introduction progresses. The weapons are also brought in one at a time as the campaign continues (along with their "charge" shot alternate fires).

If People Can Fly know one thing, it's how to make awesome guns. Every weapon has an intensely satisfying combination of style, sound, animation and brutal delivery on target. On their own, they're a solid foundation for any shooter; but when you realize that combining them on an opponent while utilizing your leash and any aspect of the environment nets you big money and big prizes, that's where the real symphony of the gameplay comes into effect.

In many ways Bulletstorm is an amalgam of modern storytelling and control alongside very classic gameplay ideals. There are a multitude of ways to make your way through, however you're only truly rewarded by understanding the underlying gameplay systems and using them to full advantage. This is a game at it's core built around your use of fast reflexes, environmental analysis combined with the strange freedom of having a sandbox environment to enact that strategy. The outcome of your own enjoyment is completely hinged upon your willingness to let the game show you a different way to play.

In the first chapters of the game, I felt underwhelmed by the combat mechanics. There seemed to only be a few skill kills I could pull off and failing to do so was mocking me with 10 (instead of 100+) skill point rewards. Somewhere around the middle, I found myself learning from my own mistakes, realizing how many types of kills were available if I only took the time to learn the techniques involved. As more weapons became available, I became more creative and learned to look to the environment for opportunities. All the pieces were present from the beginning, I just didn't know what to look for. By the final chapters, I was racking up juicy 500-1000 point kills and managing to keep my ammunition stocked and all of my gear fully upgraded. Alongside this, much to my surprise the story had completely turned around for me, but that's getting ahead of ourselves.

The story that Bulletstorm tells seems paper thin on the surface, combined with the highly swear-laden dialogue you'll likely find some of the characters off putting and of little interest. However, as the journey progresses so does the characters depth and tone. You'll see the main protagonist, Grayson Hunt, start out as a wise cracking alcoholic jerk. Through a flashback sequence, you'll learn what led him and his crew to their current state of affairs. Staying light on details, Grayson's decisions catch up to him and you begin to see him slowly pull himself back together, in a oddly touching way. The emotional depth instilled into all the main characters is nearly impossible to see through the first half of the game, but little by little they're revealed and I found myself emotionally drawn into the story more than I'd expected.

There is also another single player game mode, "Echoes" which takes small parts of some of the best set piece sequences in the game and challenges you to meet time and score rankings in each. These are best played upon completion of the main campaign, as you'll find all the techniques you've learned will pay off immensely going back to some of the earlier chapters. It also encourages replay through leaderboard competition.

Multiplayer is provided via a four player co-op "Anarchy" mode. While this takes many comparisons to "Horde" mode found in other titles, it's really a different beast. The enemy waves don't feel continually forced on you, nor is the real focus pure survival. Progression is based upon the overall team score; meaning that you can't simply play with a bunch of pubbies who don't know what they're doing and expect to get far. You need concentrated players who know the game mechanics and are willing to work as a team to progress to the higher levels of play. A few times in each wave you're prompted for team kills, where at least two players must work together in a mini-challenge to finish off a specific enemy based on a set condition (such as one player knocking the opponent into the air while the other then flings him into a metal spike), this earns you the required skill points to move forward. Failure to meet the levels target only results in replaying the sequence until you can get it together and hit your skill point goal. Anarchy mode is challenging and working with a good team results in some really satisfying kills. Laced on this is the now expected experience point system, leveling you up. This doesn't effect your weapon loadout or abilities in any way, as those are only saved during the current Anarchy match you're playing. It does however unlock new visual styles for your gear to show off your rank, alongside new taunts.

In the end, Bulletstorm isn't without flaws. I did encounter a scripting glitch during one sequence and had to restart the chapter, only losing about 5 minutes of gameplay time. The multiplayer, while satisfying requires you play with people who know what they're doing, unless you want an exercise in frustration. As well the Echoes mode could have used some sequences not already found in the main story. Also of note is that normal difficulty may come off as too easy for some, so if you want more challenge, it may help to start the game at a higher setting.

All said though, this game will likely take you by surprise, both in enjoyment of the gameplay and in the story itself. The main campaign took about 9 hours to complete, the multiplayer looks like it will have legs going forwards (Epic being the publisher has already promised that) and the Echoes alone are fun to work through. Taking into consideration the new price drop (Amazon just took $20 off the price for all platforms), this is a definite buy in my book.


Score: 4.5 out of 5 CoGs


Drew says, "Bulletstorm delivers a welcome surprise, opening up a new sub-genre of shooter gameplay in great fashion while also introducing surprisingly compelling characters and an interesting universe."

* Review based on Xbox 360 version of the game, which is substantively identical to the Playstation 3 and PC versions of the game.

[ElektroDragon]

Wow, hard to believe this one gets such high marks! Might have to give it another look, because I thought the demo was juvenile and yawn-inducing.

[Stoke]

Just a head's up, the $20 price drop was for Amazon's daily deal yesterday. The price is back up to MSRP now unfortunately. I'll definitely be picking this up when it drops to ~$30. It looks like a lot of fun but just not enough content for me to justify much more than that with everything else that's out now.

[Voodoo]

If you like Kevin Smith style humor and ever wished he could make a FPS then Bulletstorm is for you. Since I am a Kevin Smith fan, I am definitely diggin' the game.

[Spigot]

I'm really enjoying the game too. It's just a hoot as far as the crazy kills go and I love the fact that the profanity is so awful that even the characters comment on how the epithets spewn don't make any sense

[Voodoo]

Originally Posted by Spigot

I'm really enjoying the game too. It's just a hoot as far as the crazy kills go and I love the fact that the profanity is so awful that even the characters comment on how the epithets spewn don't make any sense

Ha! "Shoot our dicks dead?! What does that even mean??!"

[Spigot]

Originally Posted by Voodoo

Ha! "Shoot our dicks dead?! What does that even mean??!"

That's the line... almost. "Kill your dick? What does that even mean?!"

I can't wait to meet up with Serrano later so I can hear just how insane his stuff is. The commentary during the Anarchy mode is silly enough.

[TrackZero]

Originally Posted by Spigot

That's the line... almost. "Kill your dick? What does that even mean?!"

I can't wait to meet up with Serrano later so I can hear just how insane his stuff is. The commentary during the Anarchy mode is silly enough.

Serrano REALLY makes you want to kill his ass.

Also, non-spoiler tip: watch past the credits.

[Narradisall]

Originally Posted by ElektroDragon

Wow, hard to believe this one gets such high marks! Might have to give it another look, because I thought the demo was juvenile and yawn-inducing.

It's not a serious game, its not even a gears type game in that feel. To be honest, it is a little silly, but thats kinda why I like it. In a genre crammed full with 'Realistic' War shooters. It's nice for something a little different and crazy.

[Narradisall]

On the game. I'm on Act 4 now. Enjoying it. I have to say I had no intentions of buying it and just got it as a present, but it's not bad. I'll look about going into the MP once I get the SP done once.

[Spigot]

The MP is a hoot if you have people you know playing it.

[Wilkz07]

have it on pc and its great, can't find mp games though

[Lima Beans]

This game is *SO GOOD*.

Their demo and marketing do NOT do it justice, the game is so much better than it looks at first glance.

I have it on steam, would love to do some co-op sometime.

[Voodoo]

I have it on Steam too. Add me and I will definitely coop!

[Wackman3000]

This was a game that definitely had to grow on me a bit. The first day playing it was quite laughable with the over the top cussing and awful revenge plot....But after a couple hours and getting to use the fun weaponry as well as setting up skillshots, I have to admit that it was a very refreshing take on the FPS genre that has been plague with "realistic" shooters for the past couple years.

My biggest gripe with the game was that it felt like there could have been SO much more potential for awesome skillshots and WTF moments if you could tackle the story mode with a friend. You have a partner with you throughout the entire game, yet the co-op is strangely not there. I heard Cliffy B's "explanation" as to why it wasn't there, but it sounds like Bullshit. I know if I was playing with any of my usual co-op buddies, we would be doing anything but racing to finish the game. We'd be setting up skillshots, trying for insane shots, kicking enemies into each other like some sort of sick game of Red Rover, you name it.

Here's hoping we see more of this game, but with a proper co-op campaign.

[Bandango]

This is on my list.

[DoctorFinger]

I need to get a crew together for some multi this week.

[c0m3d14n]

are the pc controls bearable? or should i buy this on a console?

[Lon Lon Rabbit]

Does this have local co op on Xbox?

My cousin is visiting in a couple weeks and we want to do a big gaming binge weekend like we used to.

Also looking for any other suggestions of good recent games with local co op.

[Grifter]

Originally Posted by c0m3d14n

are the pc controls bearable? or should i buy this on a console?

The PC controls are fine and the PC version looks a hell of a lot better than either of the console versions. If you have a good PC get that version if not grab the console version.