Bulletstorm Review

Kick, shoot, splat, repeat

This is a review from my old blog. I'm just moving what little articles i did have on that blog to NORGaming;

I have always loved first person shooters and always will, but lately the genre has been over saturated with cut and paste games like the yearly COD installments and it's starting to get a bit stale. That's why when I heard Bulletstorm was aiming to bring back the "fun" FPS I was all over it. But i was also concerned that all the complex skillshot mechanics would muck up the gameplay. Well, to say the least it didn't, and because it's so fun to play, Bulletstorm might just be the best buy or rental this month.

Gameplay- Just like i said in the intro, the gameplay is fantastic in Bulletstorm. Controls are great, except for getting snagged when trying to vault a few barriers, but the shooting is fantastic. The skillshot mechanic is beautifully executed, and you really feel satisfied when you string together a nice combo. In the last couple of acts, the seemingly infinite well of skillshots starts to run dry, and you find yourself recycling the same ones just to get to the end. The AI isn't very smart either, with most of the actions being a beeline towards you or a team mate. Bulletstorm will keep you busy for a while, but not for days on end. 9.0

Story- The story of Bullestorm isn't meant to be an awe insrpiring epic like God of War or anything, but for being a parody game it kept my interest for at least 4 hours. The giant set pieces like the mining wheel and the robotic dinosaur, Waggleton P. Tallylicker (R.I.P) kept the action constant and exciting. In a game so focused on gameplay and fun, its hard to have a story worth a second glance, but this isn't a bad start. 7.5

Graphics- Planet which Bulletstorm is set on is a tropical oasis called Stygia that was overrun with phycos and gangs. This contributes alot to the games beautiful art direction, but up close some of the textures become muddy. For example, when you push a button in an elevator, the camera shows a closer view of the protagonist, Gray's, hand, and there is no detail in the glove or fingers, its just a muddy brown mess. Besides this a few graphical hiccups like stretchy limbs on an expired foe are all that hold this game back from being a 10. 9.5

Sound- There isn't much to say about sound here. The guns have great sound and the voice acting is great in it's own cheesy (and cuss ridden) way. Most enemy noises are recycled often get old after the halfway point. No Oscar worthy performances, but I've seen worse. 7.5

Replay Value- Don't expect Bulletstorm to chew up days upon days like COD does, with its 4 and a half plus hour story and multiplayer that was good in theory, but didn't pan out too well. Echoes mode kept me addicted for a bit, to the point where I spent 3 hours to get the high score on the map collapsed building 2. Besides Echoes there aren't many things to come back for. 4.0

-Summary-

Gameplay- Great controls with a few minor bugs here and there, and perfectly made skillshot system. 9.0

Story- Ever seen Commando? It's that cheesy, but in space. That's not all bad though. 7.5

Graphics- A couple muddy textures but the planet of Stygia is gorgeous. 9.5

Sound- Some fairly good voice acting and repetitive enemy noises. 7.5

Replay Value- Fun, short, story. Multiplayer feels tacked on. 4.0

Overall- 8.0