Bulletstorm is an all out assault on the senses. It’s relentless, brash and unforgiving. Just when you think you’re in to the rhythm of it and know what to expect, it throws something else at you. Bulletstorm, it turns out, doesn’t really like you very much.
[boxout]You begin the game by getting acquainted with Grayson Hunt and the rest of his four man squad of ex special forces nut cases. It’s clear that the team, now mostly hard drinking, hard fighting space pirates, have fallen out of the habits of a strict military regime. Bulletstorm goes out of its way to make sure that players understand that these guys are the epitome of roguish pirate anti-heroes.The initial tutorial sections serve to get you used to the way the controls work and the way the characters behave. Fairly soon you’ll witness the single-minded thirst for revenge that Grayson carries with him, the loyalty of his crew and, in a playable flashback sequence, the reason why he is hellbent on revenge.
You will end up stranded on a strange planet with one of your squad (Ishi), now struggling against the influence of a logic chip which was implanted in him, along with other robotic appendages, in an effort to save his life. Your quest is to get off the planet by locating and rescuing the very General that Grayson has been trying to get revenge against for ten years. If you don’t make it in time you may never get off the planet and get Ishi the medical attention he needs before the logic chip takes control of him entirely.
the spiritual successor to Duke Nukem
Bulletstorm is a first person shooter but it’s so far removed from the traditional big FPS hitters that to group it in the same genre is almost disingenuous. Bulletstorm is the spiritual successor to Duke Nukem, although using the word “spiritual” with regards to the Duke or Gray Hunt goes against our better judgement. It’s not just the frequent and necessary use of your boot that harks back to the Duke either, it’s the wisecracks – in as much as they are – and the setting. Mutant aliens infesting an entertainment complex while a wisecracking, foul mouthed meathead stomps and shoots his way through swathes of them. So far, so Duke.
That’s certainly not necessarily a negative point though. Duke Nukem was a fine game in its time and Bulletstorm is a fantastic modernisation of the format. People Can Fly really have made a great game here, although we say that with one or two reservations.
The humour in Bulletstorm is not only questionable, it verges on offensive and it often hinges on an amusement around homosexuality. It wouldn’t serve this review to delve too deeply into that issue but it’s worth mentioning that once or twice the jokes did fly a little closer to “ignorant abuse” than “good natured ribbing” and if you’re easily offended by such things then Bulletstorm is happy to provide you with a reason for offence.
The dialogue is awful. It’s delivered well, believable and confident but it sounds like it was written by a thirteen-year-old boy who doesn’t quite understand what those words mean. We’re certainly no prudes here and would rarely object to a well aimed curse word but in Bulletstorm they are neither well aimed, nor often intelligible. The script writers seem to think that just using strings of words that some consider offensive is going to continue to be funny and, after the first bizarre, disassociated insult is hurled, it quickly descends into unimaginative, unaccomplished strings of incomprehensible drivel. This is a shame because the voice work is solid and even the underlying plot is worthy of some praise.
brilliantly executed and very well timed
The game starts off relatively slowly and builds pace towards an ending which is somewhat cheap. At times the action is so frenetic that you will readily take the opportunity to relax a little bit after working through an area of onrushing enemies. The large scale set pieces, whether delivered as an area attack or defence, or a boss battle, are extremely enjoyable and well imagined. The general structure and pacing of the game are brilliantly executed and very well timed to build towards the inevitable confrontation which ignites the end game and begins to tie up (or not, as the case may be) some loose ends.
Built on the Unreal Engine, Bulletstorm’s visuals are very much a known quantity. You should expect chunky character models with decent animation and shiny texturing. People Can Fly have squeezed the best out of the engine though, with some of the vistas over city -capes and sunsets being very striking. Particularly, the interplay between blues and oranges in the landscape is pronounced and often beautiful to stop and look at.
In addition to the stock FPS mechanics of gunplay and melee combat, you soon become equipped with an energy leash which reacts to your will and can be used to pull objects, interact with upgrade booths and slam groups of enemies into the air. This is the key ingredient to making the game’s other mechanic – that of the upgrade reward system – possible.
In Bulletstorm, you are awarded skill points based on how effective and imaginative you are in combat. Your energy leash grades your performance and awards you with points to spend on equipment upgrades and ammunition supplies at any of the abundant drop boxes littered around the environments. The aim is to get players using their leash, boot and weapons as well as environmental hazards, to deal out destruction to the planet’s inhabitants in often amusing ways.
It is this encouragement to “kill with skill” that gives birth to the Echoes mode. Basically a set of closed in levels played as memories taken out of the single player experience, this option on the main menu gives you a reason to keep playing through the same areas in order to better your score and compete with the scores of your friends. It’s a way to keep the game alive long after you’ve completed the single player story and it also serves as a training ground to perfect those skill combos.
Pros:
- Hectic, over the top fun.
- Robust mechanics and well-realised world.
- Squeezes some beautiful surroundings out of the Unreal Engine.
Cons:
- Rated for adults, written for children.
- Ending feels a little bit cheap.
Like Epic’s other great sci-fi franchise, Gears of War, this offering from People Can Fly is loud, brash and unapologetic. Bulletstorm is pure, unadulterated fun with a relentless onslaught of enemies and set pieces to keep the player constantly engaged but it is let down by the scripting and the failure to reach a suitable climax in the narrative. If you’re looking for puerile humour and non stop action then this is your game. If you want something with smart dialogue and thoughtful exposition then keep on looking, Bulletstorm is not for you.
Score: 8/10
Note: Due to EA’s Online Pass system, the multiplayer element of this game could not be tested for review.
Charmed_Fanatic
It did seem fun on the demo, have got too many games to play though, so this will be a maybe purchase later down the line
Crazy_Del
Great reveiw Peter and I’ll be picking this up on Wednesday or tomorrow, just need to finish off Killzone 3 Elite.
Pete_UK
Not another game with the EA Pass system; I was going to buy it today (payday – w00t!), but not now. Seriously, what’s the recurring cost of this games online component? One machine running leaderboards and a basic p2p matchmaking service?
o_O?
Sympozium
Its still £39.99 and its just a code!
Kronik76
If you’re buying it brand new what difference does it make?
KeRaSh
Yeah, no EA registration needed. Just put in the Code and sign in to your Windows Live account when you start up the game.
skibadee
think most games will start using this no online for pirates.
Pete_UK
I’m not buying the game because I disagree with the practice. Games Publishers are becoming too greedy, pinching pennies left and right for what previously has been free (or included in the base cost), with p10 being the latest in a long line of straws. I’ve watched my favourite past-time get torn apart and mutilated almost beyond recognition since the advent of DLC and patching on consoles, and I’ve just about had enough. As there is no officially recognised body representing the best interests of Gamers and the medium as a whole, the only way to register complaint is to not buy the game.
aerobes
Really good read and had I not played the demo, I’d probably be tempted.
Good points about the (attempted) humour, I have to say I found it (and the main character) aggravating during my short time with the title so doubt I could endure a whole games worth.
It’s good to see some real colour in an FPS game too. There’s no doubting it’s a very pretty game.
eye8have9you3
It’s very rare that I don’t enjoy TSA reviews but I feel let down by this one. The content seems lacking for a full review, having just laid out the main points of the game, there is no in depth look at if the story or characters work and the ‘kill with skill’ mechanic not getting mentioned until the penultimate paragraph. Personally I would want to know how easy the moves are to do, if they’re too repetitive and if I’ll find myself having done them all after the first few levels.
Also, I understand a need to distance yourselves from the ‘questionable humour’ but that paragraph just seemed sterile. You could at least say if it works in the context of a game, ie is it more Sean Lock style you shouldn’t laugh but you do or more Frankie Boyle downright offensive?
And finally there is the issue of multiplayer. You stated the online pass as reason for this lack, so either you couldn’t pay the eight pounds for it (unlikely) or it wasn’t available at time of review. Now if it was the latter I’m pretty sure that most readers would be happy to wait the extra few days it takes to add this on. My purchase of this game was always going to be based on the multiplayer and TSA’s view of it.
It just seems to me that you should not have given a score for a game without playing the whole thing. I just hope you can review the multiplayer as soon as possible
colossalblue
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the review, I think that I did a competent job of addressing the most important points in the game while avoiding spoilers or too much focus on minutiae.
I’ll try to address your questions now for you.
The story is solid enough but definitely not what people will be coming to the game for. It’s totally secondary to the action and almost peripheral (which is why I didn’t spend too much time focussing on it). There’s not really any way to focus on it without giving away spoilers, which might not be a big deal with such a cliched (but competent) story but I’m sure would annoy many people who didn’t want it spoiled.
The moves are very easy to do and you’ll soon find your rhythm but if you’re not willing to put the effort in to vary your attack by yourself, they will become repetitive. It’s very easy to fall into the habit of always using the same method to dispatch your foes and there isn’t a lot of incentive (aside from the bump in skill points) to vary that. So you will be responsible for keeping the gameplay fresh yourself.
I think I covered the humour well enough in the review. It’s exactly as I said: if you’re easily offended by borderline homophobia and bizarre misuse of offensive language then avoid this. If you think that the dialogue from Duke Nukem 3D is still funny in 2011 then you’ll love it. There’s nothing sophisticated about it at all.
We didn’t review the multiplayer because EA didn’t supply us with an Online Pass. I could have bought one myself and experienced the co-op multiplayer (In fact, I did – for my personal enjoyment after the review was written – it’s like Gears’ Horde mode or the Zombie map from CoD) but if we did that for every game that requires it then we wouldn’t be able to review as many games (and would have to decline certain review code offerings). That’s the choice that many reviewers are having to make, I felt that being honest about it rather than trying to hack together a paragraph based on previews or press fact sheets was a better approach than I’ve seen elsewhere.
We reviewed the game we were sent and while I wish we had been able to comment on the multiplayer side, I’m afraid that I can’t expect reviewers to make that personal outlay for a component that we will only use for a few hours and never return to and I can’t afford to subsidise online passes (or any variation on them) for every game we get code for. If the wishes of our readership and community change to reflect the desire for us to purchase the various methods of getting review code online then we’ll certainly reassess how we allocate our budget.
Tuffcub
We have a budget? :D
Pete_UK
Stick to those guns fellow Pete; regardless of whether you agree with these online pass systems, sending out a review copy of the game without the online component simply shouldn’t happen. Not that I can see Activision sending out review copies of MW3 with the online removed any time soon, but seriously EA? A review copy minus part of the game? Did they even think that through? Are funds really that tight at EA HQ?
eye8have9you3
Thanks for the reply, I think that’s covered everything I wanted to know, I’m just amazed at EA for not supplying the pass, and totally understand your reasons for not ‘hacking together a paragraph’ on it
l C0D3 M0NK3Y l
BTW… this is a really great trailer if you haven’t already seen this one… here comes the BOOM! lol! :)
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/whip-kick-boom-trailer-hd/c2ddc13c09a0f5e8e199c2ddc13c09a0f5e8e199-701279961729?q=bullet%20storm%20game
KeRaSh
Truly a great and fitting trailer! Nice find.
Kevling
After playing through the demo, in terms of “humour”, the funniest thing about Bulletstorm is the Duty Calls downloadable promo. I thought it was just me thinking that the game sounded like it had been written by a teenager, glad to know I’m not alone. Cheers CB.
Rocket_345
I found the demo decent (and played it 9 times) but it was out on the same day as KZ3 (which ive barely played) which was always going to get my purchase before anything. Will probably get it when it’s abit cheaper.
ncoulbeck
i did the same and not even close to regretting it. Killzone 3 will be hard to beat in my eyes