Bulletstorm

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First of all, I will not say that this game is better or worse than Black Ops considering how different they are. From a campaign perspective, I think Bulletstorm is hands-down a better game than Black Ops. BTW, I play a lot of Black Ops and, for the most part, I think it's a better game than reviews indicate.

Anyway, Bulletstorm is tons of fun to play. I'm not much of a sci-fi guy but the story is good and the action is a blast. Kicking guys into cacti, leashing an enemy to pull him into a metal gate and impale him on a piece of rebar...awesome! The variety of ways you can kill never gets old. I adapted very easily to the controls and the physics of the game and am easily able to switch between this and other shooters without any problem. If I were judging strictly on campaign, I would give this game 5 stars without question.

Unfortunately, the multiplayer is quite lacking. If the Treyarch guys put too much into multiplayer and not enough campaign, the developers of Bulletstorm are guilty of the opposite. It's fun to play but there is only one mode (Anarchy) and no way you can actually battle other players. It's just a team of players going against AI enemies. Like I said, it's fun but pretty weak considering the competition out there in the FPS genre and it gets boring pretty quickly. I bought Black Ops in November of last year and I still play the online multiplayer. I still play games that are 2 or 3 years old because of multiplayer but I don't suspect the case will be the same with Bulletstorm. I will probably play the campaign through one more time on a harder than normal difficulty and shelve it.

I disagree with the reviewer who claimed that this game is all about shock value because of some coarse language. There are about 5 R-rated movies released in any given week with more coarse language than this game. Even if you are offended by foul language, it's incorrect to say that this game is about shock value, there is some definite substance here from a gamer's perspective, I'd just like to see them take the multiplayer further.

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There hasn't been a game this immature since Conker's Bad Fur Day on the Nintendo 64. Bulletstorm is a balls to the wall first-person shooter that's a mixture of Duke Nukem 3D and Gears of War. It doesn't shoot for a story that you're going to golf clap afterwards, and it doesn't try to revolutionize the genre. What it does bring to the shooter genre is something the genre long forgot this generation: how to just have fun. It encourages brutal violence through a "kill with skill" system that gives you objectives to slaughter foes in certain ways. Bulletstorm will take you to the simpler times of the first-person shooter in a sci-fi atmosphere that is not only fun to look at, but fun to kill in.

General Sarrano, apart of the Confederation of Planets, is the antagonist here and apart of the secret army, Dead Echo. He leads groups of soldiers into missions that slaughter innocent victims. Years ago our hero, Grayson Hunt, discovers he's been lied to so he decides to take revenge on Sarrano. Years after the event, alcoholic Grayson decides to fight a battle with hired mercenaries to battle Sarrano, only to end up crash landing (with Sarrano) on the planet Stygia. So now Grayson isn't only looking for revenge, but he's also trying to get off of this planet, which is filled with savages. Luckily, he'll have help with a Strogg-looking cyborg colleague, Ishi.

As far as the story, it's pretty simple for the most part and is probably only there to keep the "story crowd" entertained. The story and dialog never take itself too seriously. During the story, you'll hear profanity spew out of their mouth, and a lot of sexually charged profanity. Don't worry; if you dislike strong language, you can mute most mature language in the options (along with turning the gore off). The innuendo isn't only limited to dialog. During your killings, you'll probably notice a few of them pop up on the screen after getting a skill kill, such as the "Shocker" or "Gang Bang". Aside from all of the silliness, the game's serious side actually could have been done without. The more goofy the game's dialog was, the more it fit with the actual game. But the seriousness and emotion they tried to put into the game every once in a while turned part of the game into what it was trying hard to parody.

Despite all of the story, for better or worst, the game brings to the table what it promises: over-the-top gratuitous violence. The linear campaign will last about 6 hours, which seems to be the new average for shooters. It's also a very easy playthough, even on Very Hard. It's ultimately a cake walk that never feels too punishing. Through each act, you'll unlock new weapons and skill objectives after you've discovered the energy leash. The energy leash is your alternative attack that lashes out at an enemy and pulls them towards you, or with a power-up, will slam energy down to the earth and knock them high into the air for slow-motion killing. The slow-motion is really amazing and fun to play with. When you pull someone towards you, or kick them in the air, they're temporarily slowed down so you can get an easy kill with a headshot or something of that sort. Everything else will move in normal motion. But while an enemy if flying to him doom, you really get to pick how you kill your victim. You can kick them off the map, into spiked cacti or electricity, or just shoot them with your arsenal.

The skill shots system is one of the key elements to the game. As mentioned above, a lot of the names for these are filled with innuendo, but all of them will make sense while you discover them. For example, the "Rear Entry" skill is performed by shooting an enemy in the butt until he dies. The list is incredible for the amount of damage you can inflict on enemies. The more weapons and upgrades you purchase from strategically placed drop shops (stores), the more skills you'll unlock. These skills are viewable by pressing select on your controller, so it's always there to check what skill you need to try next. Each time you discover a skill kill, you'll enjoy it each time. Not only will it increase your score drastically, you'll find it funny how you've discovered them. As stated, you'll buy new weapons to play around with, outside of the basic assault rifle, kick, and slide. Weapons range from explosive cannon balls to your base shotgun. Each of them have their own alternative attack, or charge attack. Each of these charge attacks unlock even more skills to shoot for (no pun intended).

During my play through, I did run into a few glitches that really put a damper on the game's pace. During Act 4, I was rushing through the level to get to the boss quickly. When I arrived at the area I was lead to, I noticed the boss never spawned. I restarted the checkpoint, still nothing. I had to restart the chapter to actually get the game to load the boss correctly. There was also a few other glitches I ran into. My friendly AI team crowding me in a doorway and causing me to stick for a few moments in the door. However, for the most part, the game runs fine and doesn't really have any issues.

The game is something to look at. It's vivid and colorful. Usually in a game like this, you'd expect the tone to be rustic, but the game is full of plant life, colorful destroyed cities, and that crimson spray from enemies. The game isn't a 1080p title, but it still looks great still. It might just be all the chaos or the sheer environments that is the true eye candy. You'll never experience a frame rate dip that causes you to miss a shot or anything. Bulletstorm runs smooth, and for this type of title, that's better than the visuals alone. Accompanied with great visuals is a great sounding game. The music is adrenaline pumping and the voice acting is key on. It's a complete package with it's eye and ear candy, not to disappoint the reasonable.

When you're done with the campaign, you'll get to enjoy two different modes. Echoes is a time-trial run of Bulletstorm. You'll be challenged to try and pull off as many skill kills as possible, while rushing through a level. Each level (and then some) from the campaign is available to run through and try your shot at the leaderboards. If you happened to have played the demo, you'll understand how this mode is. The other mode you'll play through is Anarchy. Anarchy is much like the Horde play of Gears of War. It's wave after wave of enemies, each wave increasing the difficulty and amount of mini-bosses on the playing field. This mode can be played with a few friends, and the game encourages so by introducing enemies to "Double Team". When you "Double Team" an enemy, it requires you and a friend to perform certain skills to get more points. You can play Anarchy solo, but the key to this mode is playing it online.

Bulletstorm is going to satisfy those awaiting Duke Nukem Forever (another title which is bringing old school shooters back), or just those who want a break from the modern warfare titles that are being milked right now. It's a lot of fun if you're not expecting game of the year material. It's a throwback to the past, a kick to the future, and it takes a shot at taking your gaming too seriously. If you play games for the fun of it, you'll find much pleasure in this title.

+ Over-the-top shooter that's very retro and new in a sense.

+ Anarchy mode is a blast.

Short and very easy campaign.

A few glitches that need to be patched out.

Buy Bulletstorm Now

Looking trailers and hearing its reviews, I had little to no expectations for this game. But then I liked Gears of War and Shadow Complex games and since this was also being released by Epic, I thought why not give it a shot. After finishing the campaign mode and trying Ecos and Anarchy modes, I have to say I am quite surprised.

***********PROS.***************

-AWESOME COMBAT SYSTEM: This is the best aspect of this game. You can slide, leash to pull enemies, kick them and use variety of weapons with primary and second fire and pull a huge variety of combination off of them. At first you may feel like it may get redundant, but thanks to variety in levels, there are a huge variety of things you can do. Thanks to that you won't get bored till the end of the campaign.

-VARIETY IN LEVELS: Other than awesome combat, there is plenty of variety in levels. Throughout the campaign you experience a variety of environments including the space, woody greenery filled areas, abandoned factories, building high in the sky that is about to fall apart and list goes on.

-SURPRISES: There parts during the campaign where you will be surprised by certain events and the gameplay that will follow it. I really don't want to spoil it for you, but trust me you will like it.

-GREAT GRAPHICS AND DECENT ART WORK: The first time I saw the trailer for this game, it really looked unpolished to me. But now that I have finished the campaign, I can say that since then they seem to have refined it quite a bit. Certain levels just look gorgeous. I guess never doubt the power of unreal engine.

-VARIETY IN WEAPONS: There are 8 different types of weapons and that is not including the leash. Each weapons (including leash) has devastating alternate fire mode. There is just plethora of combos you can do if you mix and match these weapons. I personally enjoyed each and every one of them. Also, while some weapons may look and sound familiar from other games, they will play very differently in this game. For example with sniper rifle in this game you can change the direction of bullet after you fire it. I personally have enjoyed the variety very much.

-UPGRADABLES: To top of each weapon is upgradeable with the skill point you earn by killing enemies in creative ways. This rpg element will truly encourage you to creatively kill enemies and get as many skill points as possible. While this rpg element is not as well thought of as other games, it still adds incentive to do your best.

-ONLINE PLAY AND ECOS MODE: While not my favorites (see cons.), after you finish the game, you can stay busy by playing online multiplayer (anarchy mode) or Ecos mode which has the same levels as campaign but gives you stars on your performance.

************CONS************

-RELATIVELY SHORT CAMPAIGN: Hate how games these days have such short single player campaigns. Unfortunately bulletstorm is one of them. While I enjoyed each and every moment of the campaign I found it to be very short (~7-8 h max and that is because I explore a lot).

-MINOR GLITCHES: I had my character stuck while jumping over objects at least 3-4 times. Unacceptable. All the games have glitches, but under no circumstances your character should be stuck like this. I mean you can't even kill yourself. Restarting the level is the only option.

-MEH MULTIPLAYER AND ECOS MODE: Compare to some other games these days, I didn't enjoy the multiplayer so much. I got tired of it rather quickly. Also the Ecos mode felt the exact same as the campaign. I wish they had added more varieties.

-LACK OF NEW GAME+ MODE: This is a game that can really use a new game+ mode (i.e. start with all the weapons you collected etc.). Unfortunately, it doesn't have it. So there are some really cool weapons and upgrades you get towards the end of the game. Unfortunately, if you want to use them again, you will have to play the game again and you will only get to use them for last few levels. Just very unfortunate.

**********CONCLUSION****************

Simply speaking I am looking forward to Bulletstorm 2. Partly because I enjoyed this game and partly I have faith in the developers that they will improve the weak aspects of this game. All and all I enjoyed pulling off crazy combos in beautiful, but destructible environments, but I wish they had longer campaign and had fixed some of the things described in the con section. I give this game 8.5/10.

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From my blog: Buckeye829's Video Game Reviews Games Under $40

First Person Shooters tens to take themselves very seriously these days. It's getting more and more difficult to tell every Battlefield Ghost: Fall of the Modern Rainbow Company from the others, and they're getting so precise. I'll admit I had basically zero interest in playing Bulletstorm (from EA, Epic Games and People Can Fly studios) after reading and seeing previews for it. It seemed crass and vulgar, just for shock value. I expected a slim story with just lots of blood and guts. Basically, all for show with little substance. Video games are still getting a bad rap from mainstream media anyway, and I felt Bulletstorm was just adding fuel to their fire. But something happens to me when a game falls below that $40 pricepoint. My standards relax a little and I'm willing to give a chance to something I'd previously written off.

During Bulletstorm, you play as Gray(son), a self-imposed leader of a band of mercenaries working for an elite, top-secret group, Dead Echo, which was in charge of protecting the Confederation of Planets (which has a symbol curiously similar to Halo's energy sword). Gray is basically Marcus Fenix's baby brother with Han Solo's thirst for adventure (and wisecracking) and Duke Nukem's sensibilities. A mission goes horribly wrong and the team is exiled and become the hunted, due to a large bounty on their heads. Gray then becomes paired with Ishi, a fellow team member, who has undergone a bit of a transformation, which makes the pairing more unconventional than you might think. The two set out, each with their own reasons, but willing to work together. Gray is out for revenge, but also redemption.

Gray and Ishi crash-land on the planet Stygia, which looks like a cross between Pandora (from Avatar) and Coruscant. There are warring factions and mutants galore, which obviously leads to a fair share of combat. The thing that separates Bulletstorm from other FPS, is the skillshot. Anybody these days can just gun down countless enemies, one after the other, but skillshots take imagination and ..... skill. Each skillshot warrants a point value (skill points), depending on difficulty and ingenuity, which can then be used to upgrade your weapons. Simple kills, the old-fashioned way, only garner 10 points. Traversing through the game that way would leave your weapons and ammo at a minimum.

There are 131 different skillshots to master in Bulletstorm, and more than half of the fun is figuring them out. Sure some are basic like kicking an enemy into an electrical source (Shocker), cactus (Pricked), or sharp metal object (Voodoo Doll), but the enjoyment comes from some of the more complex ones: Attaching an explosive to an enemy then kicking him towards a group before exploding (Homie Missile), killing an enemy with a shot to the throat (Gag Reflex), or snipe an enemy with a shot to his crotch (Nutcracker) or behind (Rear Entry). I can just imagine the roundtable discussions that were being held coming up with the names alone, and pretty much every time I discovered a new one, I ended up smiling and the name.

Gray also inherits another potent weapon, an Energy Leash, early on in the game. The Leash is basically an electrified whip that can pull enemies that are far, closer to Gray. When they get leashed, the enemies also slow down for more precise skillshot action. The weapon selection in Bulletstorm gives just enough variety and spin-off from typical FPS, that it felt fresh and new. When first playing, I felt uncomfortable not having any grenades to throw, but eventually got used to it.

Gameplay

Bulletstorm plays extremely cinematically. As you would expect, loads of action and everything seems larger than life with explosions, blood, colors, sweeping cameras, etc. galore. The story mode is divided into 7 acts, with 2-3 chapters into each act. The pacing is excellent and most sections don't seem too long or too short. I played the game on 'Very Hard' mode and it seemed like another FPS 'Normal' level. That's the point of the game, it's supposed to be fun, not necessarily complicated or grueling.

The first two-thirds of this game are really excellently done. The eight available weapons (introduced slowly over the course of the game), especially The Leash, feel different enough from little tweaks here and there, and the variety of enemies (some fast, some charge, some stay back, etc.) really hooked me in using the full assortment of firepower available. Pulling a pilot out of a helicopter instead of just shooting it down feels more bad-ass. Guiding a sniper rifle bullet into an enemy's head is always enjoyable. Kicking enemies into solid objects, with stuff splattering everywhere is always gratifying. Adding to Gray's swashbuckling bravado, there are bottles of alcohol hidden, and if he takes a swig, the screen turns to double (or triple)-vision and the walking controls don't work as expected. Being inebriated and dispatching of bad guys adds even more skill points.

The gameplay is broken up once or twice an Act, with more scripted sequences such as rail-shooting, or eliminating waves of enemies, but is the action is unfortunately quite linear. The pathways are all marked by invisible walls, so there is not much exploring, and if you're hunting collectibles, new checkpoints usually close previous areas. My favorite part of the game was when I got to control a Godzilla-type creature, causing havoc with each step and shooting fire out of it's mouth at helpless thugs.

The slight problem I had with Bulletstorm is that about two-thirds through I had pretty much discovered all of the skillshots I was going to discover (I think I ended up in the low 90's out of 131). I began to rely mostly on the same few weapons (as you can really only equip two, as the basic machine gun always has to be equipped) and the same handful of skillshots. Towards the end, I also didn't really use The Leash all that much in combat. The enemies grew a bit stale as after a certain point, there was not much novelty. I also thought that an online co-op mode was greatly missing, as my CPU controlled partners were never that much help.

In addition to the story mode, there are a couple of extra experiences to be had. First, are the Echoes, which are bite-sized pieces of the single player campaign in which the goal is to score as many points as possible using different skillshots. The Echoes are timed, which factor into the score, but are a great way to try out different techniques with different weapons. They are graded from zero to three stars depending on your score.

As for online multiplayer, there is what's called Anarchy mode, which up to four players competing together to eliminate up to 20 waves of baddies, some with bosses and mini-bosses, culminating in the Blood Symphony skillshot, if you're lucky. Initially, I was saddened by the lack of online competitive multiplayer, but the more I thought about it, I really would not want to be humiliated by some of the skillshots, via human opponents. There have also been 2 DLC packs since launch, which bring more multiplayer maps, Echoes, and Leash colors.

Graphics

The graphics in Bulletstorm are definitely a selling point. Bright colors mixed with the decayed steel of the city landscape really gave it a look of it's own. The field of vision when Gray is running or sliding really puts you in the action and make the game more engaging. The enemies are detailed, and amply filled with blood, guts, puss, etc. to make their demise a sight to behold.

Sound

Bulletstorm proudly uses just about every curse word in the English language, but only occasionally does it feel like too much. Sometimes a couple of curse words are put together in ways I had not heard before. The soundtrack is appropriate ranging from heavy metal guitar riffs when you die to sweeping orchestral melodies that set the stage for the upcoming action. The voice acting is top-notch as well, as the actors must have been cracking up at some of the lines they had to say.

Replay Value

For under $40, you get quite a bit with Bulletstorm. The campaign should last 10-12 hours on the hardest mode then throw in the Echoes and co-op multiplayer, and you have yourself something worthy of your gaming dollar. You probably won't go back and play the campaign again, but trying to get three stars on all of the Echoes is quite challenging.

Don't go into Bulletstorm hoping for a Mass Effect story or even a Call of Duty shooter, as you'll be disappointed. I went in with an open mind and got something that had been done before, yet fresh and exciting at the same time. Skillshots are extremely humorous and simultaneously gratifying, and a twisted, adult sense of humor kept me amused throughout. The game is crass, vulgar, graphically violent, and way over the top, but I smiled or laughed quite a bit and enjoyed it immensely.

Score: 8.75

Want Bulletstorm Discount?

I'm a big sci-fi shooter fan, so when I read reviews that Bulletstorm wasn't outright terrible it was a no-brainer to try it out.

From the product description I was expecting a stupid-fun, uncomplicated shoot-em-up that didn't draw you in with story or complexity but just gave you something to enjoy for your money. I have to say that even given those constraints, I was pleasantly surprised.

For a start, it IS stupid fun. The dialogue is b-movie rogue hero stuff and progress is linear and direct, with no bother with an open world/roam anywhere playing field.

Simple, yes, but the first surprise came with the highly polished gameplay. Controls are fluid and instantly familiar. Character movement is smooth and aiming is easy. Fun and combat variety come from the "leash," "thumper," kicking, and sliding mechanics. Leash an enemy and yank them toward you, and they float in slow motion for a few moments while you kick or shoot them to pieces. The skill-based kill system is fun, encouraging you to be creative. What they also got right is they don't make it impossible to do this by overrunning you with hoards of enemies. While combat is well paced, you still have time to try out those various kills. The more creative you are, the more points you earn. Some of the skills are comical too (kill a burner by shooting his butt), and the whole game has a carefree, lighthearted feel to it.

But the biggest surprise is the graphics. Some reviews here say they are so-so, but with a mere 720p HD LCD the environments are, gasp, really beautiful. I didn't expect this at all, but the vistas are just gorgeous. The environments are non-repetitive, very well detailed, and varied. You won't see pieces of wall design repeated all over the place. They are also accurate, in the sense that what you see from a given vantage point is what you played through earlier, not just a generic canvas. For example, standing on a huge dam, in the distance you can see the collapsed railroad bridge that you fell from earlier, and the ground way down on your right looks like what you played through to get where you are now.

You get the usual doses of variety. There's the mounted-gun-on-a-train section (with the truly awesome sight of a huge turbine rolling along behind you), and a great section where you get to control a big mechanical dinosaur laser beam eyes! to mow down enemies. How many games let you control a big dinosaur in a future amusement park? Hilarious fun and every little boys' dream.

It's definitely not a little boy's game, though. Language and violence are very adult.

Although I haven't quite finished it yet (I'm close to the end of the single-player campaign), I'm pleasantly surprised. The game may not take itself too seriously, which is part of what makes it so fun, but the developers definitely DID take it seriously. They may have set out to make a stupid-fun shooter with an ingrown silliness (like drinking the booze bottles you find and getting drunk for a few seconds), but that didn't stop them from taking their jobs very seriously. Solid controls, beautiful graphics, no glitches to speak of, and the combat system all more than make up for the lack of story. Who cares when you're having this much fun just kicking *ss and taking names?