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As a gamer, I've found that there are many different kinds of games. And due to the many different kinds out there, you have to have an open mind to truly enjoy them all. This game is no exception to that rule, so if you are not open to over-the-top violence and absurd lines of dialogue kin to Duke Nukem . . . well, please stay away.
To make things simple, here's what I've found:
Pros
-Entertaining / Fun.
-Short but lasting. The main story is fairly short, however, the variety of weapons and ways to kill leave a lot that can be done over multiple plays.
-Variety of weapons
-Open to DLC / sequel.
-Wonderfully epic moments. The boss fights were quite memorable.
Cons
-Can be repetitive
-If you don't enjoy linear games, stay away. There is one set path, with some secrets but nothing major off track.
-Lack of versus multiplayer
-Extremely short. If you're looking for a long lasting story, this isn't it.
-Not enough boss fights. The boss fighters were epic, but there weren't enough of them.
All in all, this game is a lot of fun. If you're annoyed by cursing, violence, or extremely over-the-top action stereotypes though, this will not be enjoyable for you.
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The title of this piece refers to an interview I once saw with the developers of Halo: Combat Evolved. This was Bungie's big goal, to create 30 seconds of fun for the gamer, and then let him do it again and again. And it worked Halo is arguably one of the greatest FPS franchises in the business!
However, without fail, the same thing could be said for just about EVERY shooter out there. Point, shoot, reload, point, shoot, reload... Still fun though, right?
People Can Fly and Epic Studios have done just that with their new opus, Bulletstorm. Only, this time, they added a couple new wrinkles to that 30 seconds; a nifty new tool, the tether; and a carnival house devoted to pain! Just about everywhere one looks in Bulletstorm, one sees something they wouldn't want to get too close to in real life cactus covered in deadly spikes, exposed electrical wiring, man-eating plants, etc. Each of these things are designed to be used by the player to rack up crazy combinations of over the top violence visited upon the bodies of maniacal (and most probably cannibalistic) muties out to kill you. The more you manage to wring out of a combo, the more points you get. However, since points in Bulletstorm equate to cash, and cash is what you need to buy more ammo and upgrades for your fabulously twisted weapons arsenal, it behooves the player to be as creative in his kills as he possibly can. This "skillshot system" is what changes everything People Can Fly obviously love video-games, and it shows in a perfectly balanced system designed to reward player creativity with bigger and better toys...
One example is the flailgun, a weapon you find early on that shoots spiked grenades connected by a chain like a sadistic bolo, perfect for tying up a foe which you can then use to fling into a group of his buddies before remotely setting off the explosives, multiplying your skillshot count by the overall amount of enemies. If any of them end up stuck to a cactus, or slamming up against an explosive barrel, you get credit for those things, too! All these seemingly disparate mini-atrocities add up to one big score, which the player can then use to buy themselves something nice from the store. And since every item in the store is a weapon or something weapon-related, that "something nice" is definitely gonna be something you like. This, of course, is just one small example not only does each weapon have a secondary mode, they also have their own specific skillshots to unlock inspiring the player to use each weapon in ways he may never have thought about before!
As for re-playability, Bulletstorm has that in spades. Playing thru the campaign opens up challenge areas you can take on separately by yourself, or with a couple of friends (the main campaign has co-op as well!). Your scores are kept track of and placed on the gamerboards for everyone else to see. The better you get at manipulating each one of these spaces, squeezing out more and more skillshot points, the better you end up being in the campaign upon every consecutive play-thru. In the end, the experience is akin to billiards the better you get at it, the more satisfying the experience. And with graphics this good, and characters this fun to hang out with, you're gonna want to get better...
On the subject of multi-player, results can be mixed. If you're playing with friends with a common goal, you're gonna have a lot of fun. If you're playing with strangers, you're probably not gonna have any fun at all as most of the gameplay relies on mutual cooperation and good communication. But with a single-player experience this good, who cares?
Best Deals for Bulletstorm - Xbox 360
Instead of reviewing this game on the simple story, sound, graphics, gameplay criteria I will instead review this game based on what it's advertised as being. I find that to be a more realistic scale than comparing every game to each other. Instead I'll just tell you what Bulletstorm delivers from what it promises. The quoted statements below will be comments Epic Games put out to advertise why people should buy Bulletstorm.
"Incredible New "Skillshot" System Combine outrageous gunplay with Bullet storm's unique kick, slide and leash mechanics as you kill with skill. Every enemy presents a new opportunity for stylish, over-the-top and ever increasingly bloody ways to take them down."
10/10 The skillshot system is everything promised in the advertising and more. It is fun, it encourages fun strategy and is awesome to watch. Basically what this is is when you kill an enemy in a creative way you get more skill points to use for buying guns, ammo, upgrades, and buying new guns. So as you play you find that kicking an enemy into a giant cactus, throwing them off a cliff, or shooting them in the butt is much more cost effective than playing this like a standard FPS and just shooting from cover. Bulletstorm is also kind enough to have a data chart showing you which attack you have done and which ones you haven't so you can focus on new ones. It works wonderfully at encouraging players to develop new playing styles and experiment with new strategies, where so many other FPS's discourage creative play and boil down to hoarding ammo and shooting from cover or running and shooting. That won't work in Bulletstorm since if you play like that you'll get less ammo, and less upgrades, and the game really will be less fun since the skillshots really are quite impressive to look at.
"The Circle of Awesome Kill with skill to rack up the points. Cash in these points for upgrades. Use these upgrades to pull off even bigger and better "skillshots" and earn even more points. Bulletstorm's upgrade system truly is a circle of awesome that rewards players who kill in the most creative ways."
10/10 My comments on this are the exact same as for the skillshot system. You upgrade your weapons by activating dropkits and spending skill point you get from creative killshots to get better stuff. The two systems complement each other beautifully and it really is hard to come up with such a good system to promote gameplay, the right amount of fun and incentive to make the system work.
"Badass Weaponry From your trusty Peace Maker Carbine to the explosive Flail Gun, Bulletstorm delivers an arsenal of the most inventive, death-dealing weapons ever seen that truly put the fun back into the First Person Shooter."
7/10 LIES! Lies, slander and blood libel! Not really but they are stretching truth to the breaking point, the weapons are very generic and standard FPS weapons any FPS player should immediately recognize. They have specific names but they're irrelevant, despite their names what the weapons really are, are a machine gun, a pistol, a shotgun, a sniper rifle, a grenade launcher, and one weapon that I didn't unlock. In the game you also get temporary weapons like miniguns. Each weapon has an upgrade which all boil down to a secondary fire/explosion based attack, and while they're really cool looking and good for gameplay purposes Epic games is lying straight to your face when they say their weapons are "the most inventive" they're not. The only reason I didn't make this 5/10 is because one weapon the electric whip you get very early is awesome and inventive and makes some parts of the game hilarious and fun and is in fact "death-dealing" as the advertisements claim. So to recap the weapons are not in any way inventive, but they are fun and deadly, and the whip is new and inventive and the guided sniper rifle set up might be new to some players, but not likely.
"A Pulp Sci-fi Adventure Featuring a script by the acclaimed Marvel Comics writer Rick Remender (The Punisher), Bulletstorm takes you on a journey filled with plot twists and turns from betrayal to revenge and ultimately redemption."
7/10 This was kind of hard to judge, the story wasn't great by any means, but Epic games came right out and said it's a pulp sci-fi adventure so we know no realism or unique plot devices are going to be in the game. Which is good, this is what us players want; we want game developers to be honest about what they're selling instead of hyping up their product when it doesn't warrant it. The story does require suspension of disbelief, if you're going to sit there and question how humans could mutate into monsters or how a giant metal wheel could stay on a dilapidated train track in the desert than this won't be enjoyable for you. The plot does have twists and turn but all of them are very simple and many of you will subconsciously or consciously know what's coming before it happens. That being said though the story isn't boring, it's easy to follow and does give satisfying explanation on who Grayson Hunt is and surprisingly the game does pose some interesting moral questions. For example is Grayson as bad as the person he seeks revenge against for the people he's killed; this is the first FPS I've played where the main character is called out as a hypocrite for killing soldiers who were following their orders while at the same seeing himself as superior to the antagonist who kills innocents to achieve their own ends, who actually killed less people. You won't get that in most plot driven games, seeing it in Bulletstorm was impressive. Grayson's status as a hero, anti-hero, or just a person is completely open to interpretation from the player. The only major flaw with the games story was the ham fisted way they made it so they could set it up for a sequel. The plot had no resolution and both our antagonist and protagonist are in the exact same position as when the game starts. Because of that I can only give Bullestorms plot a 7/10, if the ending had been better I would have given it an 8 or 9 just because I support the game makers choice to be honest about the quality of the story line, but they ruined it by going for a cheap cliffhanger ending that can only be resolves through a sequel.
"A Dangerous Planet of Forgotten Paradise Travel from scorched desserts to tropical forests and an adult playground resort on a beautifully realized paradise defiled, delivered by the power of the Unreal Engine."
10/10 This one was easy, the graphics are incredible, the environment is great, the levels aren't too repetitive and it was enjoyable to travel through Bulletstorm. If all you want is good graphics and fun gameplay just read this and buy it. For the rest know that Bulletstorm goes through a decaying planet inhabited by feral humans and mutants constantly warring for food and you have to make it through the large decaying city through the various gangs and monsters in sewers, dams, city streets, disco balls, a horizontally collapsed skyscraper. The game graphics are good, they are bright, colorful, flashy, and are a nice change of pace from the dark grays, whites, and browns so common in most FPS's.
In total Bulletstorm has great graphics, awesome skillpoint system and is really fun to play. The story is nothing special and the ending isn't good and the weapons are not unique, but that doesn't take away from Bulletstorm as much as I make it sound. It's a very high quality shooter, with great graphics, and creative game mechanics and honest advertising that should be rewarded over other games that keep releasing the same game over again with new maps and weapons and different characters. Bulletstorm brings something new, it's fun, and that's all I ask for. If you have any questions I'll respond to them in the comments section.
Honest reviews on Bulletstorm - Xbox 360
I'm writing this review for the gamers that are still trying to decide whether or not to buy this game. Here's the short answer; Rent it or wait until it hits $30 NEW.
Mini Review (Short and Fun Just like the Game-lol):
The Story (wait Bulletstorm has a story?)
The story is set in the future and the character you play is a guy named Grayson Hunt. He's a mixture of Marcus from Gears, Russell Crowe in Gladiator, and a drunken' swearing Uncle. If you so much as tripped over a FPS (First Person Shooter) you'll know the story cuz there all the same: You're a badass, who's got a chip on his shoulder, and someone backstabbed you so now you have to go get some revenge. You go from point A to point B like any other FPS, but in this game you're doing it in style. I did laugh occasionally thru ought the story mode but I basically skipped most of the cut scenes toward the end (which is cool that Epic allowed the player to do that). Oh yeah and there's a lot of swearing ....a lot.
Graphics/Sound
If you have surround sound this game kicks. I also can't say enough about the graphics. They're no Crysis 2, but they sure look good. Nuff said.
Gameplay
Let me start out by saying just get thru the first Two Chapters. The rest of the game (7 Chapters overall) is a blast. By Chapter 4 you're able to start really leveling up (more guns and add ons) and experiencing what the game really has to offer.
This game was made buy Epic (Unreal and Gears of Wars games) so they know what there doing. The controls are tight and fluid. Like I said before if you've played a FPS before you'll feel right at home. Bulletstorm's gimmick is something called the "Leash". You hit one of the thumper buttons and it brings your enemies to you. Which from there you can kick that enemy back into walls, kick'em and shoot'em, or just blast'em right there. This gives you kill points or kill/style points. The crazier your moves the more points you get. This overall is fun and cool but it does get stale only because of the game's limit of understanding of skill points. What I mean is I "Leashed" an enemy, kicked him up in the air, shot him in the head and a guy right behind him all at the same time and got 250 pts. It's hard to explain but if you saw it you'd be like wait he did that, and he got the minimum? What gives?
Replay Value
Online play has horde mode (fight swarms of enemies with friends/online players), and Echo's mode (Revisit any chapter and try to get a higher score).
Bottom Line (3 our of 5)
It was a simple, fun, funny experience, just short on replay value. Even though this game isn't selling that well I hope Epic decides to make another one.
No Online Multiplayer ( Team Deathmatch) kills buying this game for $60 for me. If you feel the same rent the game (to just play the story mode) or like I said buy it for $30 NEW. If you rent the game or buy it used ...you have to spend $10 online to unlock Echos Mode or the online horde mode (which isn't worth it).
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Bulletstorm - Xbox 360
First off, this game is very fun, but there's no need for anyone to buy this game; people should just rent it. The main story is pretty short (I'd guess around 6-8 hours though I'm not sure) and there's really no other modes to sink your teeth into. There's a challenge mode where you can join your friends and essentially play small portions of levels. However, with no competitive aspect and little variety it quickly becomes boring.
The story is a relatively generic jock sci-fi throwaway which ends up taking place solely in a blown up theme park. The game is very vulgar, but in a childish way where it's so stupid it's kind of funny. However other times it comes back around and you're left just shaking your head. The leash is an interesting gaming weapon, but it is very simplistic, allowing for very limited attacks and experimentation. Most effective attacks boil down to leash a guy to you (unless they're "too fast" which was annoyingly ridiculous) kick them away and blow of their head. The guns you get are pretty cool, but with very limited ammo most of the time and only two weapon spots the fun is limited. Also, the coolest part of the weapons, getting a new one and trying it out on a bunch of baddies, ends around 3/4 of the way through.
The whole point system is very interesting, with how the leash gives him the hud and points for effective play resulting in ammo and weapon upgrades, but at the same time it gives points for things that break the idea. For example groin shots (dude, you just don't shoot another guy in the d*ck), getting drunk, and killing insects. Why not just get rid of all the pretense and make a wicked awesome game, who cares if it does or doesn't make sense.
Finally, I had a multitude of glitches, the worst being a game breaking glitch where I had to restart the whole level. Along with that large glitch (of which I've heard there are many other gamebreaking glitches, mostly involving your AI partner getting stuck) there are many other smaller ones, for example some of the animations/challenges not activating when they should (especially for nut shots).
In the end, this game is essentially a placeholder for Gears of War 3. If they didn't have to release it when they did, I think Epic could have had an absolutely amazing game on their hands.
