VGArabia
The same way Vanquish made third person shooters fun again, Bulletstorm did it now for first person shooters. Every developer these days want to create a similar military shooter to Call of Duty in an attempt to seize some of the success the Call of Duty franchise does have these days. People Can Fly and Epic Games have had a different plan with Bulletstorm.
Bulletstorm is all about kill with skill. Sure, you can play the game boringly like how you would play any other shooter. But you will miss what makes Bulletstorm a unique and enjoyable shooter. Also, you won't be rewarded with points if you do so. Killing enemies in creative ways and getting points are the main design ideas in Bulletstorm. Bulletstorm reminded me why I love Platinum games last two titles, Bayonetta and Vanquish. You can button mash your way through Bayonetta or you can play Vanquish like a standard third person shooter, but where is the fun in doing so?
Bulletstorm takes place in the 26th century, where the Confederation of Planets are protected by a secret black-ops army called Dead Echo. The story follows space pirate Grayson Hunt and his partner Ishi Sato, who were both dishonorably discharged from Dead Echo after they were betrayed by their commanding officer, general Serano. In the prologue chapter of the game, you will play a flashback during the days when Hunt was working with Dead Echo under the command of general Serano. The flashback explains why Hunt want to take revenge on the General and his forces. Ten years later after the incident that made Hunt leave Dead Echo and be a space pirate, he got the chance to get his revenge. But unfortunately, he fails while his ship crash-landed on the planet Stygia, a formerly-hospitable planet now overrun with freaks, feral mutant tribes, criminals, and Godzilla sized monsters.
While the game's story doesn't take itself too seriously, The story of the game has some good plot twists and likable main characters. The sense of humor is apparent in Bulletstorm. I've laughed a few times while listening to the chatter between Hunt and the other characters in the game.
The player can kick, slide, leash, shoot and use the environmental objects to create mayhem in the most creative and destructive ways possible. The level design is truly great. Every area has some environmental objects that act as a killing device for you to use: From a simple explosive barrel to man eating plants. The game makes you feel like a bad ass and the great level design motivates you to experiment new ways to kill the hordes of enemies that are coming to kill you.
The game contains seven different weapons with each weapon can be upgraded. All of the weapons are fun to use. My favorite weapon is the four-barrelled shotgun. Pulling an enemy with the leash ability and shooting him with the four-barrelled shotgun never get old.
Graphically, the game looks great that due to the beautiful artistic style. While the game looks great most of the time, some areas lacks the polish and detail of the better looking areas in the game. Beautiful lighting effects and colorful visuals makes Bulletstorm a great looking game overall. During some of the very hectic action scenarios, the game frame rate stutter. While it doesn't ruin your experience of the game, it's annoying nonetheless.
The campaign mode of the game is broken up into 8 chapters (including the prologue) which will take you between 7-8 hours for the first time. The campaign mode is very enjoyable with some crazy set pieces. If you want to play the same levels of the campaign without the cut-scenes, you can play echoes mode. The lack of the ability to play the campaign co-op with a friend is disappointing. But don't worry, as Bulletstorm has a very enjoyable co-op mode called anarchy.
In anarchy mode Four players compete for points against waves of enemies, points which can be used to buy upgrades between rounds. But to successfully complete a round a score should be achieved, which requires players to work together and perform team kills if they want to progress. This mode is an evolution of the horde mode that was introduced in Gears of War 2. Anarchy mode is highly addictive, enjoyable and lots of fun.
Despite the frame rate issues, few boss fights (I wanted more of them) and the lack of ability to play the campaign mode again with all the weapons fully upgraded from the beginning, Bulletstorm is one of the most fun, intense, crazy and over the top games I have ever played in years.
Score: (9.2/10)
http://www.vgarabia.com/2011/02/20/bulletstorm-the-vanquish-of-first-person-shooters/
