Bulletstorm
Developer: People Can Fly/Epic Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
ESRB rating: M
Year of Release: 2011
Version I played: PS3
? INTRODUCTION:
Bulletstorm?s television commercial gave the impression that it was to deliver us from generic military shooters be offering gameplay that mixes up the common FPS experience. It does this by adding an arcade like scoring system that rewards extra points by dispatching in creative ways such as killing via exploding barrel, sparta kicking them of a cliff, or impaling them on giant cacti. You perform all these tricks using your gun of choice, a tether that flings enemies toward you, and your foot. The points you score are used to purchase ammo and upgrades at stores that appear often throughout your journey.
? WHAT MAKES IT:
Bulletstorm?s accomplishes exactly what it said it would. Give you fast paced action that rewards you for defeating enemies in cool or funny ways. The combat moves very fast and is very easy to keep up with. There is a very boring tutorial level, but it hardly needs it. Most gamers will master the games controls in no time. The only learning curve is that you might revert to the habit of playing as if it were yet another Call of Duty clone. The game is quick to snap you out of that since simply shooting out of cover feels awkward and has little to no effect on the opposing hordes.
? NICE TOUCHES:
The graphics in Bulletstorm are gorgeous and the environments do well to show off the spectacular Unreal Engine 3.5. Unlike many games running on the previous Unreal Engines which seemed to be only for ominous green glowing gothic castles, Bulletstorm shows how the engine can handle tropical otherworldly jungles. Another thing that works to Bulletstorm?s advantage is its writing. It doesn?t take itself seriously and almost every bit of dialogue is a middle school joke. Obviously the constant profanity and phallus humor will irritate most, but it isn?t as awful as it could have been. The good voice acting and character development (for the two main characters) makes their immature bantering more endearing than grading.
? WHAT BREAKS IT:
Bulletstorm features the Halo health system where you regenerate health when you take cover. Considering the fact that Bulletstorm wants you to dive into the action mixing melee attacks with shooting, you run out of health way too fast. Also when that obnoxious flashing red screen pops up to tell you to cower in the corner (or in Bulletstorms case it literally says Take Cover! In flashing letters) you have to wait a full four seconds to continue playing. This of course brings that lovely fast paced action to screeching halt. To think that this could have been easily corrected by just having it use the traditional Half-Life health system.
? NITPICKS:
The environments have a tremendous amount of detail crammed into them that looks lovely but just doesn?t belong in this game. Even when not holding the sprint button you move so quickly you likely won?t see any of these details. The heavily detailed backgrounds can also make it difficult to tell where your enemies are. This also accompanied by the constant explosions and other effects cause the screen to get so cluttered it gets hard to tell what?s a monster and what?s scenery. However, all the screen cluttered caused no slowdown on my PS3 which is impressive, but I still think this game should have diverted the background budget to something else.
? HOW I LIKED IT:
While Bulletstorm has excellent gameplay it just isn?t my taste. The beautiful world is only to look at. It does the same thing Mass Effect 2 and Rage do, give a tiny path to walk on while you get look and not touch the pretty environment. I got bored of it quickly, not because it was dull but because I like my FPSs to have exploration. I don?t like Bulletstorm merely because it is not the kind of game I like.
? RECOMMENDATIONS:
I feel adolescents (males obviously, it?s a video game) will like the humor and action of Bulletstorm more than anyone else which makes that M rating a little counter intuitive. Also if you are a First Person Shooter fanatic that wants something new then Bulletstorm will not disappoint. Also those that fondly remember the days of shooters like Doom and Painkiller that were about shooting and little else, will find Bulletstorm to be worth the money.
? SOME PRICES:
GameStop:
360 - $19.99
PS3 - $17.99
PC - $19.99
Walmart:
360 - $19.96
PS3 - $19.96
PC - $19.96
Steam:
PC - $19.99
Developer: People Can Fly/Epic Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
ESRB rating: M
Year of Release: 2011
Version I played: PS3
? INTRODUCTION:
Bulletstorm?s television commercial gave the impression that it was to deliver us from generic military shooters be offering gameplay that mixes up the common FPS experience. It does this by adding an arcade like scoring system that rewards extra points by dispatching in creative ways such as killing via exploding barrel, sparta kicking them of a cliff, or impaling them on giant cacti. You perform all these tricks using your gun of choice, a tether that flings enemies toward you, and your foot. The points you score are used to purchase ammo and upgrades at stores that appear often throughout your journey.
? WHAT MAKES IT:
Bulletstorm?s accomplishes exactly what it said it would. Give you fast paced action that rewards you for defeating enemies in cool or funny ways. The combat moves very fast and is very easy to keep up with. There is a very boring tutorial level, but it hardly needs it. Most gamers will master the games controls in no time. The only learning curve is that you might revert to the habit of playing as if it were yet another Call of Duty clone. The game is quick to snap you out of that since simply shooting out of cover feels awkward and has little to no effect on the opposing hordes.
? NICE TOUCHES:
The graphics in Bulletstorm are gorgeous and the environments do well to show off the spectacular Unreal Engine 3.5. Unlike many games running on the previous Unreal Engines which seemed to be only for ominous green glowing gothic castles, Bulletstorm shows how the engine can handle tropical otherworldly jungles. Another thing that works to Bulletstorm?s advantage is its writing. It doesn?t take itself seriously and almost every bit of dialogue is a middle school joke. Obviously the constant profanity and phallus humor will irritate most, but it isn?t as awful as it could have been. The good voice acting and character development (for the two main characters) makes their immature bantering more endearing than grading.
? WHAT BREAKS IT:
Bulletstorm features the Halo health system where you regenerate health when you take cover. Considering the fact that Bulletstorm wants you to dive into the action mixing melee attacks with shooting, you run out of health way too fast. Also when that obnoxious flashing red screen pops up to tell you to cower in the corner (or in Bulletstorms case it literally says Take Cover! In flashing letters) you have to wait a full four seconds to continue playing. This of course brings that lovely fast paced action to screeching halt. To think that this could have been easily corrected by just having it use the traditional Half-Life health system.
? NITPICKS:
The environments have a tremendous amount of detail crammed into them that looks lovely but just doesn?t belong in this game. Even when not holding the sprint button you move so quickly you likely won?t see any of these details. The heavily detailed backgrounds can also make it difficult to tell where your enemies are. This also accompanied by the constant explosions and other effects cause the screen to get so cluttered it gets hard to tell what?s a monster and what?s scenery. However, all the screen cluttered caused no slowdown on my PS3 which is impressive, but I still think this game should have diverted the background budget to something else.
? HOW I LIKED IT:
While Bulletstorm has excellent gameplay it just isn?t my taste. The beautiful world is only to look at. It does the same thing Mass Effect 2 and Rage do, give a tiny path to walk on while you get look and not touch the pretty environment. I got bored of it quickly, not because it was dull but because I like my FPSs to have exploration. I don?t like Bulletstorm merely because it is not the kind of game I like.
? RECOMMENDATIONS:
I feel adolescents (males obviously, it?s a video game) will like the humor and action of Bulletstorm more than anyone else which makes that M rating a little counter intuitive. Also if you are a First Person Shooter fanatic that wants something new then Bulletstorm will not disappoint. Also those that fondly remember the days of shooters like Doom and Painkiller that were about shooting and little else, will find Bulletstorm to be worth the money.
? SOME PRICES:
GameStop:
360 - $19.99
PS3 - $17.99
PC - $19.99
Walmart:
360 - $19.96
PS3 - $19.96
PC - $19.96
Steam:
PC - $19.99