Just complete, all-out, maniacal fun
Bulletstorm is quite possible the most immature game in recent memory. Yet, I honestly felt compelled to keep playing it. Here is a game that honestly just doesn't give a fuck and just goes for it. The dialogue sounds like it was written by an angry 12-year old, the game just dumps you into insanity right away and waves of mutants pounce on your from every direction. It’s just a damn exciting and exhilarating game to play even if it is really shallow experience aside from the Skillshot system.
Now, I bet you are wondering what the “Skillshot” system is and how it differentiates Bulletstorm from other FPS titles. Aside from other games on the market that reward you with the intangible thrill of the kill, Bulletstorm puts some numbers behind it. You get a measly 10 points for simply shooting a mutant like you would in any other FPS game. But, if you pull them over to you with your character’s electric leash, kick them in another direction, pump a shotgun slug into their chest AND impale them onto a broken game you will multiple that number 200x.
I should probably talk a little about the rest of Bulletstorm. I could go on for ages about the Skillshot system without even touching the rest of the game’s merits. The plot is pretty much just one gigantic comic book B-movie kind of deal. You play the game as Greyson Hunt, a man on a revenge quest against the leader of the Confederation: General Sarrano. If you are wondering what the Confederation is or it’s role in presumably the galaxy: don’t bother because the game doesn’t really sell itself on depth of plot. Anyways, Hunt is on a quest for revenge as his squad was a personal assassination team for Sarrano’s enemies. When it’s revealed that Hunt was merely executing Sarrano’s enemies like reporters and other innocent civilians. Hunt swears revenge. The game pretty much descends into mindless insanity broken up by the odd cut-scene to develop the plot.
Bulletstorm is a very short game. As is par for the FPS course, the game clocks itself in a weekend-beating length. An evening if you decide to marathon it. The game attempts to sell itself in beating your high scores but, honestly, after beating it once I really do not feel the desire to go through again. The set-pieces are certainly impressive and feel like a theme park ride at times. They are big, exciting and have this weird kind of passive thrill such as the chapter where you attack a giant monster as a helicopter gunner.
The graphics are absolutely stunning and it seems the Unreal Engine 3 gets better every year. What was once an engine notorious for texture pop-up displays a stunning sense of scale and background detail. An artistic touch is applied as Bulletstorm decides against metal corridors and debris-filled warehouses (for the most part) with lush vegetation, bright sunsets and clear blue oceans dominating stages. At times, it feels like a tropical vacation as cheesy as that sounds. It stands in stark contrast to the bloody mayhem and dismemberment you inflict on your foes.
Like most FPS games, Bulletstorm has multiplayer. This multiplayer mode being called “Anarchy”. It resembles Horde mode from Gears of War 2 in that it’s co-op against waves of enemies. But, while Gears 2 was focused on survival from waves of enemies. Bulletstorm goes on another path. It’s four-player co-op where the point is to rack up points both individually and as a team. If you don’t hit the score, you repeat the wave until you do. In between rounds, you spend the points you collected on weapons and stats to make the increasingly challenging waves a little easier. It’s a fun diversion, though I didn’t find it as engaging as Horde. Mostly because it’s chaotic and not especially devoted to strategy. The other mode Bulletstorm has, accessible on the Epic Edition, is Echoes. Basically, it’s just set-pieces from the single player game one can replay on their own. Rack up the points to get a new high score. Fun, but another diversion. I do have to applaud the idea of giving the player set-pieces instead of slogging through single-player to get to them.
There are some flaws in the game: Bulletstorm relies on a cover system. You do need to hide behind structures to regenerate your health. It almost seems like People Can Fly didn’t realize this because most of the stages are not really designed for cover. You’ll crouch awkwardly behind waist-high barriers taking the odd pot-shot. This is despite thinking you are well-covered (an instinct many Call of Duty players learned to gain). The game, as mentioned, is short and aside from the score-attack Echoes mode and the standard multiplayer there isn’t a whole lot of replay after you are done.
Well, maybe aside from that Gear of War 3 beta included with all Epic Edition versions of the game.
