Platforms: Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3 / PC
Developers: Epic Games / People Can Fly
Publishers: EA
Players: Single Player / Online Multiplayer
Genre: Shoot Em Up
Price: €59.99*
It’s insane, violent, sexy, colourful and over the top, we can only be talking about EA’s latest shoot em up Bulletstorm. Heralded as a game packed with foul mouths, sexual overtones and excessive violence we remained calm and composed…for two seconds then began drooling at the thoughts of the chaotic first person shooter. Bulletstorm is almost four years in development, and now that it is finally here we’ve spent an entire weekend getting to grips with the ‘leash’ and a whole arsenal of weapons!
You take on the role of Grayson Hunt, a space pirate with a drink problem and an attitude as bad as his… drink…problem (basically you are a bit of a space b*st*rd… the game thought us swearing… while pointless is always funny)! Gray and his crew are all former soldiers, secret black-ops in Dead Echo, an army meant to protect the Confederation of Planets. After a series of events the truth of their real purpose became clear and the squad left the army and began their lives as wanted fugitives, intent on bringing down the man who betrayed them all, General Sarrano.
The game opens with an encounter with Sarrano and his ship the Ulysses and after ramming them both ships crash on a nearby planet. Gray survives but soon his crew are cut down and he is left with Ishi, who after a somewhat botched cyborg operation has the personality of the Skynet computer. Together you must fight your way through war torn territory, to find Sarrano and get off the god forsaken rock!
Bulletstorm is not your typical first person shooter, it’s not sleek, perfect and it does not take itself very seriously… which is a relief! The FPS market has been swamped these days with games that pride themselves on their accuracy and attention to detail! Bulletstorm plays on an entirely different level to the average FPS! With colourful backdrops, a foul mouth smart ass alcoholic as the protagonist and the means to kill your enemies by anything that you find lying around, the game really feels like there are no holds barred!
Gray has three forms of attacking: a wide array of firearms from the machine gun, high powered revolver, shotgun to a grenade launcher, his own powerful kick and lastly the ‘leash’. A weapon capable of latching onto surroundings, weapons and even enemies and pulling them towards you before you send them packing with enough lead to open a string of lead factories!
Using the leash and upgrade points known as ‘Drop Kits’ you can upgrade your weapons, buy ammo and unlock new abilities as well as checking your statistics and your skill shots.
Skill shots are what keep this game from becoming stale! Simply filling your enemy full of bullets is not considered a skill in the game, however latching onto them then blowing their legs off will earn you a lot of skill shot points which you may then used to purchase upgrades at the ‘drop kits’. Each weapon comes with its own unique skill shots for you to master whether you use the high kickback blast of a shotgun to send your enemy flying onto very sharp and pointy rubble or you eviscerate an entire squad with the grenade launcher.
Bulletstorm is a welcome break from the more serious FPS games, after EA’s Dead Space 2; it is the perfect way to relax and actually have a laugh. The game was highlighted by Fox News for its excessive use of violence and sexual innuendo, (so you know it’s going to be good!) highlighting that it is not suitable for a nine year old to play! Being perfectly honest, we really weren’t interested in the storyline of the game, we enjoyed the banter, the swearing, the violence and the amazing visuals! If you are nine years old and reading this, it sucks to be you because you are missing out on a very fun game!
Good Points
Skill shots are a great way to distract yourself
Great visuals
They swear for just the hell of it!
Bad Points
Not exactly a Pulitzer prize winning plot
Doesn’t really have a replay factor
Online Multiplayer not the most engaging
Rating
7.5/10
