| 01 February 2011
Russ
I didn't know much about Bulletstorm before trying the demo, other than I knew it was co-developed by Epic Games. In all honesty, the game could go either way: Epic's current flagship series, Gears of War, has played well and even brought some serious storytelling to the plate in the last game - despite itself and its hulking, cliche-drenched characterization (seriously, is estrogen banished in the future?). Plus, they've really been batting 100 lately with their latest release, Infinity Blade on iOS. But then again, Epic has also made quite a few duds.
The game's controls are instantly familiar for anyone that's played Gears of War, but with a bit more of an arcade feel. The shooting is sufficient and the sensitivity is customizable, both positives. The ground never seems quite level and angles can change depending on the environment, giving a cinematic feel even behind a first-person perspective.
However, those are a few shining quality elements within a myriad of shitty ones. The game is set in some future world that's a mix of Earth a la Enslaved and the world of Spira in Final Fantasy X, and its tropical elements are in stark contrast of the developer's insistence on gory, low-brow mayhem. The touted "special moves" (lassoing enemies and watch them dangle in the air) reek of Mass Effect, and environmental kills are so staged that they feel boring even the first time you pull one off.
Lastly, it's the tone of the game that really turns me off. Gears of War succeeds because it tells a compelling story that makes the player want to endure the repetitive gameplay and cliche characters. Bulletstorm instead focuses on gameplay, combos, and repeated playthroughs and feels like a first-person gameshow. If I was fourteen and somehow fooled my grandparents into buying me this game, I would probably really enjoy it. But for anyone that's gotten to second base with a girl, this game will feel trite, manipulative and shallow. Go ahead and try the demo, but I have a feeling that you'll want to pass on the full version.
Steve
It comes as no surprise that Bulletstorm, the latest game by Polish developers People Can Fly, was picked up by Epic Games: It’s full of big, burly men (and even the odd burly woman) with big guns, trades on its over-the-top gore, and is filled with the sort of verbal diarrhea that we’ve come to know and love from the Gears of War series.
Right from the offset, Bulletstorm promised to be a slick, fast-paced and outrageous shooter, designed to titillate with thrills, spills, bad language and well… very little else. And the demo does exactly that; it gives you access to one (score-based) level, a handful of weapons, and sets you loose with the objective of putting the games “Skill Shot” system through its paces in order to try and set as high a score as you possibly can. However, the decision to base the demo around a score-attack level is a curious one. The level in question essentially looks like nothing more than a modified level from the solo campaign, which will likely be a divisive decision: On one hand, players will get to sample a little bit of both play modes, yet the game also runs the risk of being judged as a score-based shooter, which typically don’t sell very well - just ask Sega’s The Club.
The game itself plays much the same as you would expect, though the action sometimes isn’t as fluid as it needs to be. For example, sprinting, sliding and using the energy leash are often more unwieldy than you would expect, and it can be difficult to use these techniques with accuracy. This is especially true in tight quarters, where you’ll likely end up hitting the wrong target, missing your opportunity to follow up on your initial strike due to poor positioning, or accidentally sending your enemy sailing into a wall of spikes that you didn’t even know was there. If truth be told, the overall execution of the combat feels just a little too sloppy for the game to be as dynamic and slick as it would like to be.
If you just can’t wait for Gears of War 3 to get your fix of foul-mouthed, homo-erotic machismo in video game form, then Bulletstorm may well sate your cravings until it arrives. However, based on the strength of the demo, renting definitely seems like it would be the smartest option.
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