Kill with Skill is the mantra behind Bulletstorm, a unique and unrestrained shooter co-developed by industry veterans Epic and People Can Fly. Their fresh new take on the first person genre is not a trivial one, with the Skillshot system players are forced to re-evaluate traditional tactics and obtain some all new skills. With an unforgettable line-up of weapons and locations, gamers are in for an exciting albeit brief time in Bulletstorm's obscene world.
Behind every great shooter is an arsenal of finely balanced weapons, with levels and fire fights that promote their creative use. Bulletstorm embraces this whole heartedly by introducing the Skillshot system. Instead to clearing a room as quickly as possible, skillshots instead encourage creativity and flamboyancy while dispatching enemies. To aid in this affair you have two abilities to manipulate the battlefield: an energy leash and a very powerful kick. These abilities grant the means to manoeuvre enemies and other objects into position for optimal skillshot combinations.
There are two lists of generic skillshots that include everything from utilising environmental hazards to defeating a mini-boss by booting him in the behind. Tailored to each weapon is an additional list that highlight it's unique nature. The Flailgun for example fires two explosives connected via a chain that can be used to wrap around an enemy or attach to an object for remote detonation. When one end sticks to a corner of a building the other wraps around the edge at a lethal velocity. If any creature is using that corner as cover they are going to be sliced in half (the Meat Slicer skillshot) and you will still have the remote detonation available for the Gang Bang skillshot should you manage to take out more than one opponent.
An assortment of shooter regulars fill half the game's arsenal while some truly unique offerings complete it. The sniper fires bullets that may be controlled remotely and the shotgun dismembers limbs as frequently as it knocks enemies into nearby traps. My favourite moments always kept returning to what make the title unique though. The drill like Penetrator, basketball sized grenade "Bouncer" and then my favourite; a three story high dinosaur with head mounted gattling guns. It is one of the most impressive line-ups of weaponry we've seen in a long while.
It is important to embrace the Skillshot system as the consequent score is the currency used to purchase and upgrade weapons both in the single player and multiplayer modes. If there is any complaint about the system it is so new and foreign that its quite a challenge to spot an opportunity in the seconds before it is lost. The battlefield is highly dynamic and only full awareness of your surroundings and the opposition will enable you to rake up high scores. Familiarity only truly results from repeated play-throughs, obtained primarily via the leaderboard centric Echoes game mode that relives moments from the main campaign.
While braving the chaos of the seven hour long campaign players will be privy to some of the best level design in any game to date. Bulletstorm abandons the traditional grey and brown customary in the genre, exchanging them for the vibrant and lush palette of a luxury resort planet. From the desert to the forest, skyscrapers to the streets and from a theme park's miniature city all the way to the hydro-electric plant; the designers have missed no opportunity to flaunt their talent. Even the most seasoned gamer will be impressed by the quality and originality of the locations and on a high end machine the visuals are simply breathtaking.
The production values are not always as consistently high as the title's combat or level design. Bugs occasionally reveal themselves and there is a clear console focus apparent when playing on the PC. There is also no purpose to the frequent profanity and drab one-liners. No offence to the very talented voice crew but the writing behind Bulletstorm is agonising and I repeatedly entertained the idea of muting character voices. Gamer's will be picking up the title for one reason alone and that is its commitment to combat.
I would say that the multiplayer experience is handicapped by the exclusive use of online matchmaking, but that would be too subtle. Bulletstorm's multiplayer is altogether ruined by it. There is no freedom to select a match with a good connection and players will be repeatedly thrown back into the same dodgy round if they ever decide to leave. Adding insult to injury, a permanent BAD CONNECTION warning is plastered on top of the aiming reticle for the full duration of the match. Of my time reviewing the title I played only three games where this was not the case, and I imagine the only way to avoid it would be to play exclusively via friend invitations. I find this very upsetting as when I managed to locate other Australians, the experience was highly enjoyable.
It'll be difficult to stay with the multiplayer for long however, as there are only six maps and one solitary game mode: Anarchy. In it you participate in a four player co-op melee against consecutive waves of increasingly difficult enemies. It is played very similar to the solo campaign but with additional team skillshots and multipliers when you dispatch enemies as a group. Progress is only possible via cooperation, as without the team multipliers it is difficult to reach the minimum score to advance to the next wave. It is a solid, but also fleeting feature that adds little length to the overall experience.
Bulletstorm is a modestly sized package of extremes. It is difficult to criticise any facet of the game's combat, which is both enjoyable and original enough to practically eclipse the game's deficiencies. The developer's focus was squarely on the genre essentials of level design, weapons and combat. A brief campaign, atrocious story and unserviceable multiplayer are responsible for hamstringing a potential top tier title. Overall you might not spend very long with Bulletstorm, but it is a mostly enjoyable game that has a lasting impression.
Platform reviewed: PC
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