Bulletstorm

Bulletstorm is a pretty well known entity right now. A score-based shooter, you’ve already seen how the multiplayer works, and you’ve probably already played the demo of the Echos mode. There you can get a pretty substantial impression of Bulletstorm and how it plays.

I can confirm this, as I’ve played the entire game. Nope, this isn’t a review (keep an eye out for that later this month), but a quick and easy final preview before the game launches later this month. If you haven’t played the demo, stop what you’re doing and download it and play it now.

I can wait.

You done yet? Good. What you expereinced is ten minutes of how the entire game plays. That’s a good thing, as Bulletstorm is a raucus and outrageous game, requiring players to kill smartly and in as many crazy ways possible. It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that this sort shooter gameplay can be very very fun, as well as very competitive. Single player doesn’t really require players to earn a high score, as players are just trying to work through the storyline, but a good player will still try to make the craziest kills possible. Better kills mean more points to spend on character upgrades. Better upgrades mean more ways yo kill.

One thing players won’t find in the demo is the inclusion of the skillshot catalog. At any time the player can find a complete list of every single skillshot, and it’s pretty satisfying to check off each kill. It’s not easy to make every single one, but the addition of the skillshot list makes finding all of them that much more satisfying.

The craziest thing about Bulletstorm, at least for me, is how insanely gory and violent this game can be, with some of the silliest explicit turns of phrase I have ever heard. Fantastically, all of this can be turned off. Seriously. Every drip of blood, every disembodied skull, every foul swear word and more can be turned off with the flip of an option switch. Bulletstorm, played in this mode, is actually no less fun, but is oddly different. It’s so clean that it earned the Japanese equivalent to a Teen rating. Go figure.

The plot, however, is all the same. It’s a story or revenge and vengeance, and while the game does sort of discuss the implications of violence and the death of innocent people, the story is really about Greyson and his cohorts trying to get off the planet of Stygia. With violent mutants and freaks all over the place trying to tear them apart, the game is action packed. It’s not the hardest game, rarely offering a challenge on normal mode, but it does offer easy and very easy for new shooter gamers, and hard and much harder difficulties for those who want to play through a game more than once.

Those looking forward to the insanity of Bulletstorm don’t have to wait too much longer, as the February 22 launch date looms every closer. Keep and eye out for our review then. Is it the next great shooter? Or a major flop? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see.