In Bulletstorm, players take on the roll of big bad ‘Dead Echo’ member Grayson Hunt. It is your purpose to kick butt and take names throughout the galaxy under the watchful eye of a commander that would make R. Lee. Ermey squirm in his pants. A long the way, Grayson’s squad runs into a bit of trouble and their worlds spiral out of control.
The story in Bulletstorm is your typical action adventure thrill ride across the universe. It would almost seem like the perfect fit to have the entire cast of The Expendables voicing the characters in the game. The game is an adventure through a dark and gritty world where your only purpose is to blow up things around you to exact your revenge. This is nothing new to gaming folks and can feel a little dull at times. The characters weren’t very engaging, save for one part in the story where you almost want to feel for Grayson Hunt. The singleplayer story seems to focus mainly on pushing the players from one action moment to another which is not necessarily a bad thing for some gamers. Overall, the singleplayer story was a fun little trip but leaves the player wanting more at the end of the game.
GAMEPLAY:
Gameplay in Bulletstorm is of your typical first person shooter variety. The left and right thumbsticks control movement and aiming while the shoot and zoom controls are in the triggers. Melee attacks are very important in the game as kicking a bad guy will pull it into a ‘bullet time’ type event where you can unleash more attacks and combos. Another interesting melee style attack is the powerslide which launches baddies into the air allowing for even more ways to splatter them around you. As you move through the world you will be granted the ability to use a Final Echo leash. This leash adds a whole new dynamic to the game as you pull bad guys from far away into attack range. There is nothing more satisfying then leashing your target to you and then kicking him off a cliff.
The big difference in Bulletstorm compared to other FPS games is the need to conserve ammo. The world around Grayson is in total anarchy and there are not just ammo boxes to be found around every corner. Sure, there are plenty of bad guys with guns and ammunition of their own, but the ammo dropped from them is just not enough to get by. This is where the skill system comes in and changes everything. Bulletstorm rewards the player for the creative kills they perform. Looking at the in game menu system will allow the player to view the different types of kills to perform and the associated point value. Feel like pulling a player toward you with the leash and then kicking them into a man eating plant? Well you are in luck as that will provide some extra points to you. The environment is rife with ways to kill your baddies from exploding acid barrels to giant spinning grinders. This skill system of creative kills is where Bulletstorm’s meat is and just brings a whole new level of fun to the experience and overcomes a lot of the game’s shortcomings.
As you rack up points, you will find random crash pods throughout the levels. using your leash on these pods will bring up a store where you can not only upgrade weapons but max out on your ammo. In order to survive in Bulletstorm you need to collect enough points to keep your ammo supply stocked. This is a great way to let the player get creative with their kills and have a hell of a lot of fun. My personal favorite kill was using the sniper rifle to shoot two bad guys into an acid barrel that killed everyone around them. The developers of Bulletstorm really added a great dynamic to the FPS genre that I have never seen before.
The weapons of Bulletstorm are fun to play with and customize. You start off with the standard military rifle and as you make your way through the game there are a bunch for different weapons you can get. These weapons range from sniper rifles to the ever-popular bolo grenade shooter. Once you hit a control pod you can spend credits to unlock charge and ammo upgrades that make things even more gibtastic. For example, the bolo grenade’s charge attack is very impressive. Instead of just wrapping around a target it will slice through any object to get to the target.
SOUND AND GRAPHICS:
Bulletstorm is the clearest case of an M-rated game this reviewer has ever seen. There is not one piece of dialogue that does not have some very profane word in it and sometimes borders on overdoing it. While I get the wanting to make this game extreme, some of the dialogue is borderline racist and I found myself kind of taken a back. Now, mind you, I curse like a sailor but the dialogue in Bulletstorm made me feel like Mr. Rogers. Profane dialogue aside the voice acting was done really well and each voice actor fit their character. The ambient sounds of the universe and sound effects were spot on and I found no errors in my play through.
The graphics in Bulletstorm are down right beautiful. I would expect nothing but the best from Epic Games and they delivered. The worlds are beautiful and some of the landscapes made me want to just sit and stare for a bit in between swear words. Characters are very well-detailed and the cinematics seemed almost movie quality at times. As with the audio, I found no defects or graphic issues during my play through.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Bulletstorm deserves to be a movie, hands-down! The game is right for the big screen and a lot of fun to play. Getting past the predictable story and short singleplayer campaign, the creative kill system and tongue-in-cheek humor makes it a must-play for you Shogunites out there. Just make sure everyone in the room with you is at least 18 years of age or you might have some traumatized youth (or their parents) to deal with!
