Usually the amount of action follows some kind of progress bar in most of the games that make up this genre. You can argue that the difficulty and the intensity of the action seemingly increases the further into the game you get, which is a pretty standard formula for most FPS games. Bulletstorm is not like those games, and truly delivers 100% action right from the very start and doesn’t stop for nothing untill the end. This will feel very refreshing because it is not something you may be used to. It's more common that the game will give you some time to adapt to the gameplay, move around, and feel the calm winds before the storm. Half Life is a good example of a game that follows this formula. You have the infamous never-ending train ride in the beginning, then you experience some strange occurances with the equipment in the facility (indicating that something is wrong and/or will go wrong), and finally, with a really bad feeling in your gut, you push that wagon into the beam and all hell breaks loose. This is a very effective way of building up the atmosphere before the cake is served so to speak.
Bulletstorm does not allow for any atmosphere to build up at all. It just hammers it in from minute one. You will find yourself sliding down relentless slopes with sharp rocks and edges that normaly would tear people to shreds, crashing ships from outer space by crashing into other ships from outer space (in outer space), or falling off enormous collapsing platforms, constructions and vehicles that will send you plunging into hazardous toxins and into the lairs of mutated man-mutilating monsters. The best part is that somehow you still always manage to escape the situation without any injuries to speak of whatsoever. Chuck Norris has nothing on these guys I tell you. The game also constantly switches between cutscenes and vehicle fighting to controlling dinosaur-sized robots to make for some great variety in its gameplay. You will often find yourself surpriced at your current situation.
Aside from the fast-paced flow this game has, there is a huge emphasis on creativity when it comes to dealing with the countless waves of enemies you encounter throughout the game. Introducing the Enery Leash, a weapon that allows you to grab hold onto enemies from afar and toss them across the screen with great force, and more ordinary weapons such as the always mandatory assault rifle or sniper rifle is of course implemented in the game along with other generic weaponry.
The innovative thing about killing your enemies lies within the so called ”skill shots” which undoubtedly is the most important aspect of the game. By killing enemies in various ways, such as shooting your assailant in the nuts, followed by a kick or gunshot that decapitates them while they scream in pain for mercy (yes, you can actually do this) will earn you a certain amount of points that then are used for purchasing clips and upgrades for your weapons. Harder skill shots will earn you more points and so on. The way skill shots work will also prevent you from spraying and praying mindlessly, and you will automatically put more effort into aiming and using your creative wit. On the other side of the coin, you might be spending TOO much time trying to aim for the crotch instead of focusing on advancing forward in a timely manner.
The graphics are good, but despite what many other reviews state I’d say that there is nothing extraordinary that will drop your jaw to the table. To put it simple: It’s what you would expect from a game like this in this modern age of 2011 with the Unreal graphic engine. I will argue for that there are other games such as Crysis 2 that will be released in the same timeslot, and those games will probably overshadow Bulletstorm pretty quickly.
The scenaries and the environments this game harbours feels like a ripoff from games like Borderlands, Singularity and even Bioshock. What I essentially mean is: You have a standard post-apocalyptic place where monsters/survivors have mutated, usually from prolonged exposure to nuclear radiation or similar substances that will alter your genes. Does this plot sound familiar? Indeed it does. But don’t get me wrong, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, quite the contrary. It opens up tons of possibilities for any possible combination of weird and imaginative enemies. However, it isn’t a new concept, and Bulletstorm didn’t exactly add anything fresh to it. Sorry, but no bonus points there.
When it comes to the story, it’s not the strongest. Yet, it is in fact an FPS game, and those usually aren’t that story-driven to begin with. There is a larger focus to action and gameplay and most of the time you really won’t care for the story too much, but that doesn’t mean that story isn’t an important factor too. The short version of the story pretty much consists of two soldiers (one is you, the main character) who are accompanying eachother through a barren wasteland, and they are trying to reach a ship to get of the planet. The longer version is more complicated, and involves betrayal, intrigues and comedic punchlines. There is indeed a lot of dialogue between the two soldiers, and they are very generic marine-badass-like in their demeanour. Liking the characters will be totally up to you. I think it’s a 50-50. I didn’t like them all too much, but once in a while they produced a funny joke or two. Mostly it was just bad language without any purpose though.
The game is also a bit short, not in it’s length, but in hours played. This is probably due to the game being so fast-paced, and it will probably leave you hungry for more. In the end you are left with a cliffhanger and the plot isn’t resolved at all. A very strong indication that a sequal or expansion will be released in the future. On a personal note I really don’t want to see this game becoming a franchise or something, I just don’t believe it would survive that very well.
It's a good turkey shooter, but isn't exactly groundbreaking in any aspect except for it's innovative ways of inducing violance. Though, from one perspective, perhaps that's all that's needed. One must debate, however, that this game is definately not for everyone. Even among FPS enthusiasts there is a limit to how violent things can be up to a certain level, and I think this game crosses the line just a little little bit too far. However do note that it isn’t so violent that it should be illegal, but it isn’t something you wanna show to the weakhearted either. If you enjoy blasting stuff to smithereens in gruesome ways, my advice is that you should definately try it out.
My final score is a 6/10. The plot and story certainly brings it down a bit. If you were to break down the game to fragments, certain aspects of the game would get a much higher scoring individually. Overall, however, it just doesn't make the epic cut, and it will most likely not age very well either.
Back in 2011, Epic Games and People Can Fly launched a Call of Duty parody - Duty Calls - that has been lost to the annals of history.
"Duty Calls: The Calm Before the Storm" sounds more like a massive case of the sh**s. 😂
I saw the parody mention, and half expected the ability to drop a deuce on your opponent... I left disappointed.
Never too much Taco Tuesday!! Now if only we could just achieve eternal Taco Tuesdays without the inevitable Wipe-It Wednesdays!!! 😂😂
Replies(3)
Hahaha i actually just dropped a review of this game on my channel! I hit all the story beats for anybody too lazy to install it and play through it
https://www.youtube.com/wat...
Bulletstorm will soon receive a VR remake, but is it worth revisiting? Take a look back at the original 2011 release.
Absolutely. I remember when the game came out on ps360, I thought: "wow, another shooter" and in the 7th gen that wasn't an unfair reaction.
But when the game was re-release on ps4 I took my time an played it (it was on playstation plus at the time) because, ironically, I missed a shooter in that console. And boy, what a fun game! They made a game to be played and not to be watched. It was a fresh air in the genre that deserved better.
So yes. Maybe it find its audience this time.
It's an awesome game. The only exception (for my taste) is the script writing, which is OTT, but I guess that's what they were going for. It does at least match the OTT action and gore. I thought it was great overall and actually being in this game is going to be bonkers!
Yeah, I agree that storywise it's not an Oscar nominee, but it's like a porn movie in game format.
Agree with the over the top script, and felt at the time that was the only thing that people were hyped about, the language and not game play.
But in vr this game is going to be great. It has everything that would make a great vr game. Lots of bombastic action, gunplay, blood, and that leash.
Looking at the gameplay now it seems that the game was ahead of it’s time and was perfect for vr before vr wasn’t even off the ground.
I got it on PS3 at launch and am still waiting for the long rumored sequel to finally be announced. Currently have it on Switch and wish a physical version of that would be released. Absolutely love it.
I actually feel like this game gets revived all the time, not that I hate the game, I actually quite like it, it's just constantly available, unfortunately I'm not a fan of VR so I'll be skipping this version.
GF365: "Here are eight games that need sequels. These games are ones that players would love to experience another time, bigger and better."
Bloodborne is a game I still restart and play every few months. I would welcome just a re release in 60fps with a visual upgrade. It's a perfect game. If I was king for a day I would include the randomizer mods because then it would be a kind of rogue like and I could play it forever.
I agree. It can be real fun at times but seem repetitive at other times. I would probably give it a 7. The voice acting was kind of awkward to me.
I agree. Personally I Didn't really like this game. It got really repetitive really fast.
I also agree. Got very boring very quick for me and the god-awful dialogue, poor textures everywhere and story didn't help.