Developer: People Can Fly/Epic
Publisher: EA
Release Date: Out Now
Players: 1, co-op 2-4 online
Words By:
The frenzied action (as well as a couple of notably sharp TV ads) would imply that the guys at Epic and People Can Fly were deeply fed up with the archetypal gameplay supplied by Call of Duty and all its clones, and decided to do something about it.
In the aptly-named Bulletstorm you play as Gray (Grayson Hunt - probably rhymes with something), a rogue commander of an elite unit known as Dead Echo. Gray discovers that the manipulative General Sarrano has used them to murder innocent civilian targets, so Gray and his unit steal a Confederate ship and go rogue. Ten years later, you’re basically a bunch of pirates and Gray is a bit if a boozer (bottles of booze act as collectibles in the game.) His drunken thirst for revenge on Sarrano results in a violent and damaging space battle that brings about the death of most of his crew and leaves him and the survivors crashed and stranded on a ‘shithole planet’ Stygia (their words not mine). Stygia is, in fact, a former resort planet gone bad, now overrun with mutant tribes of criminals, meat-eating plants and something VERY large that lays eggs the size of a truck. Coming round after the crash Gray finds that one of his finest men, Ishi Sato, is critically injured and so he sets out to search for a life-saving energy cell. He quickly encounters the planet’s less than welcoming locals and also sees Sarrano’s ship crash to the surface of Stygia.
You soon find a “leash” used by a Final Echo Elite soldier, and this is a sort of ‘plasma lasso’ that allows you to drag distant objects (including enemies) toward you with great force while simultaneously encasing them in their own personal time distortion envelope and thus slowing down time. They can then be kicked into the air or into sharp or destructive scenery to kill them, or just shot mercilessly before they recover their senses. This allows for Devil May Cry levels of stylish killing, only with a lot more violence and gore involved. The game encourages you to find more imaginative, spectacular and gory ways to kill the enemy; flashier kills are rewarded with XP that can be spent on ammo and upgrading weapons. The whole game revolves around the ‘Kill with Skill’ paradigm, and fortunately there’s a sizable Confederate Skillshot database available via the back button. Points are awarded for Skillshots, which can be anything from a headshot to shooting the baddies in the nuts.
The controls are user-friendly – 'LB' operates the Leash, 'RB' charges your selected weapon, 'A' is sprint with a double tap to slide (and you can reload while sliding) and 'B' delivers a swift kick. On the down side, there is no dedicated jump button, vaulting over an object is also mapped to 'A' which regularly doesn’t work and you find yourself running straight into the obstacle you were planning to swiftly jump over.
Dead enemies drop weapons for you to collect. Finding a ‘Drop Kit’ unlocks the ability to rearm, upgrade the capacity, unlock the charge mode (like a secondary fire mode) and upgrade charge for weapons you find, and searching for these Drop Kits becomes an integral and interesting part of playing the game. The weapons available to you are many and varied and you can upgrade every one with an additional further charge shot.
You start off with a Peacemaker carbine (PMC), a general assault rifle which upgrades to fire a clip of 100 bullets in a single concentrated blast!
The Leash's upgrade is called The Thumper which will smash anything that’s leashed into the ground and launch any enemies in the immediate area into the air.
The Screamer is a pistol that upgrades to fire flares that set fire to anyone near the target.
The Flail gun wraps around anything and then explodes and the charge is an overheated chain that slices through anything in its way.
The Boneduster is a shotgun and its charge fires a vapourising shockwave which will even burn the flesh off enemies hiding behind cover.
Headhunter sniper rifle – the first charge gives you the ability to steer a controllable explosive round to the target, a second upgrade allows you to hit the target with a guided bullet, steer it to a new destination and detonate it when you want to with a second press of 'RT'.
The Bouncer launches grenades that bounce around until you release the fire button. The charge shot detonates the grenade repeatedly on every contact, giving you multiple explosions as you bounce. The grenades can also be kicked and leashed around to take out multiple targets.
The Penetrator is basically a power tool that fires drill bits which act like rockets - the charge shot shoots a rocket propelled drill that suspends the enemy in mid air and then launches them off into the distance to a target you can preselect. Some bosses also drop their weapons like the minigun, which can be used to cause a brief but massive amount of havoc.
The only online multiplayer is a 2-4 player co-op mode called Anarchy, similar to Gears of War 2’s Horde mode, where you face off against waves of increasingly tough enemies and try to achieve a required score to progress to the next level. The difference here is that you can upgrade and change the appearance of your character and upgrade weapons between waves. Certain enemies also offer up the chance for individual challenges (simultaneous leashing, killing with a particular weapon etc.), some of which may require the co-operation of the entire team. Although more modes may follow Bulletstorm’s campaign would have been great fun in 2-4 player co-op and it’s a shame that’s not included as an option.
I should probably mention that as well as well as its ultra- violent, blood-splattering, limb removing action Bulletstorm’s dialogue is also full of gratuitous profanities (many of which, I must admit, made me giggle like a 10 year-old who hears his Dad swear), but anything else in a full force, in-your-face, blast-fest like this, with a leading character like Gray would seem unrealistic. On the whole, this game is an exciting, enjoyable romp and an amusing antidote to the grittiness of Call of Duty and all of its clones, and even Bulletstorm’s own “big cousin”, the rather sombre Gears of War 2.
Best Bits
- Eye-poppingly spectacular at times. - Frantic yet skilful action. - The perfect remedy to CoD overdose etc.
Worst Bits
- Despite efforts to avoid this, and depending on how imaginative and experimental you are, it can get repetitive. - Backdrops and lip-synch could be better - Only one save slot.
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