Bulletstorm
Enter BulletStorm which is the antithesis of the modern day shooter. Not only is it a throwback to the 90’s era of first person shooters but it is actually an incredibly fun game to play through.
You play as Grayson Hunt, an outlaw space pirate whose thirst for revenge is only equalled by his thirst for alcohol. His appetite for revenge leads him on a kamikaze attack against a confederate general, marooning Grayson and his crew on a desolate planet along its native inhabitants.
The main selling point of BulletStorm, as well as the feature that differentiates it from both modern shooters and shooters of the past, is the skillshot system. The skillshot system rewards players with points based upon the method and style they use to kill an enemy. The accumulated points can then be used towards upgrading and unlocking new weapons and ammo at the many dropkits scattered throughout the game. The process of trying to pull off some of these skill shots is the heart of BulletStorm. Each Skillshot varies in difficulty such as kicking an enemy with your boot and killing him before he touches to ground to killing an enemy with a cannon ball that sailed through the air for 100 meters. The more difficult a skillshot is to pull off the more points it is worth. Skillshots can also be combined together to rack up even more points.
While skillshots are the heart of Bulletstorm, they are only a small part of the single player campaign. My initial opinion of BulletStorm was that the story was shallow and would be filled with immature dialogue, one dimensional characters and a boring manly man protagonist that had been featured in countless games before it. At some point during my first playthrough my opinion completely shifted. The game is well paced and character interactions help flesh out the back story; I actually found myself becoming invested in these characters and wanting to see the conclusion of their story. The one dimensional characters I initially saw become much more interesting. Grayson Hunt grows from a one liner spewing drunk to a man who recognizes his failures and is put on a path of personal redemption. Much of the dialogue is still immature but it doesn’t always pander to the lowest common denominator and much of it is incredibly funny.
The many weapons of BulletStorm also standout as being one of the most inventive and fun to use arsenals in recent memory. Each weapon has an alternative fire that can be increasing amusing to use as well as its own set of skill shot requirements. The different firing modes for each weapon are inventive and lead the player toward experimenting with them within the environment rather than just trying to make it through to the next area as quickly as possible.
Guns are not Grayson’s only offensive tool. Shortly into the game you will come across a cybernetic leash that allows the player to attack enemies and manipulate the environment in several different ways. Latching the leash onto an enemy will result in Grayson snapping it and pulling the enemy forward. There are several objects within the environment that can be exploited by using the leash, such as pulling down an explosive container onto enemies below. In combination with the leash is a Duke Nukem patented boot kick that is much more effective and versatile than it sounds. Leashing an enemy toward you and then booting them into a wall covered with spikes to get the voodoo doll skillshot is very satisfying.
The single player campaign may start off as a slow immature experience but it quickly gains momentum with beautiful vistas, interesting level design and the experimental nature of the weapons and skillshot system. The only two drawbacks of the single player is the ending, which purposely sets Bulletstorm up for a sequel and the lack of leaderboards. The nature of the skillshot system lends itself incredibly well to a leaderboard comparing your single player performance against that of your friends.
While the single player lacks a leader board there is another game mode that has one. This game mode is called Echo mode which essentially has the player run through cut up levels from the campaign to amass the highest score possible. Unique and new skillshots as well as the time taken to complete the level all factor into how high a score can be achieved. To a point the addition of Echo mode does make up for the lack of a leaderboard system in the single player campaign, but I would have much rather have had Echo mode consist of entirely new challenge areas to play through.
Bulletstorm also has a competitive cooperative multiplayer component called Anarchy that pits four players against waves of enemies ala Gear of War’s Horde mode. Anarchy mode stretches across several different and unique levels and features many of the same weapons from the single player. The weapons, leash and the player’s character are all upgradable using the skill points achieved in Anarchy mode. Anarchy doesn’t feature a progressive upgrade system meaning that once the game ends all of your upgrades are reset to zero. Character appearance unlocks do carry over from game to game but I honestly didn’t pay much attention to my own or my teammates appearances save for the end of a round when you see who scored more.
While Anarchy mode is fun it does not have a lasting appeal unless you have four teammates who all talk and play with each other on a regular basis. The problem with Anarchy mode is that the only sense of challenge is reaching a prerequisite amount of skill shots points to proceed to the next level. Simply surviving is not good enough. In theory it sounds like a good progression system but when your teammates are performing the same skill shots over and over without racking up new points, it can become very frustrating.
The core mechanics of Bulletstorm could have made for an interesting competitive multiplayer experience but I can understand where balancing issues could have quickly arisen. If there is a Bulletstorm 2 I would like to see People Can Fly attempt a competitive mode because once I finished with the single player, Anarchy mode just did not hold my interest.
Bulletstorm is great single player experience that uses a throwback 90’s shooter style with an inventive kill with skill system that makes it feel like a fresh and exciting shooter in a market of stale military shooters. The addition of Echo and Anarchy mode help stretch the life span of Bulletstorm but other than for the sole purpose of obtaining achievements, do not add anything significant to hold the audience’s interest over the long term, compared to other multiplayer shooter experiences that dominate the category.
Bulletstorm is an incredibly fun action filled rollercoaster of a game that should satisfy the ADD appetites of shooter fans today.
