What a ride!
Bulletstorm is the new entry from People Can Fly, who brought us the majorly successful Painkiller. The game brings you to the planet Stygia, where your main goal will be to try to get off the planet while battling hordes of local clans and mutated entities.
Story 8/10
Bulletstorm introduces you to Grayson Hunt, an ex Dead Echo Squad soldier, on a crusade to get back to his former employer, General Sarrano, who's been setting him up into killing innocent reporters who had incriminating information potentially harmful to the organization. Grayson is aided by his shipmate Ishi Sato, half human, half cyborg. The desire for revenge will take them to the once-flourishing resort planet of Stygia, which ends up being host to multiple species of mutated creatures.
Graphic 9/10
I will start off by stating that the graphics blew me away. I was expecting an average looking game, and that is what you get during the first few hours. But as it progresses, so does the quality and effort put in the environments. The view distance is amazing, the colors are lush and melt in your mouth. On several occasions I found myself dumbfounded, stopped during gameplay, just looking at the scenery. The character modeling looks great and realistic (and sexy where it applies), and the bosses design is fairly well done. Some animated cut scenes in space are a bit disappointing in the simplicity of the spaceships, and you don't feel that overwhelming realism feel that you get from the planet itself, which environments look so much better.
Gameplay 10/10
The gameplay is without a doubt the best asset of Bulletstorm. From the beginning up to an hour or two into the game, the "killing with skill" is pretty awkward. You're not sure what to do, or what to kick / pull / slide an enemy into. Granted, it is easy and fun to accomplish, but it takes you a few seconds to ask yourself where should I throw this lunatic or what combination of moves should I use to get the most points out of my kill. But as the story progresses and as your experience with the whole concept increases, it becomes more and more fluid and natural to come up with original killing ideas. You also learn quickly how to successfully achieve the ones that are suggested to you in the interface and how to get the biggest point boosts. The guns all feel natural and smooth, as well as correctly balanced. They are as much diverse as they are sweet. You're presented with the perfect arsenal to kick some ass. For each gun can also be purchased Charge Shots, which I rarely use because they will decimate almost everything in sight, making encounters sometimes too easy. Nevertheless, I can see how they would very well fit on higher difficulty settings. The ammo is plentiful and fairly easy to come by or acquire via points. There are a few bosses throughout the game. The mini-bosses are easy but refreshing from the frenetic shooting, while the bigger bosses and the way to kill them are original. I must say that I'm not usually a fan of long big bosses, but while battling those ones I was actually really having a blast.
Sound 10/10
I have no complaints in the sound department. You can feel the guns power, and everything else sounds just as it should. The combat music can be quite exciting and mounts up the tension and fun.
Exciting and creative all the way through.
I can't give this review a 9, but 8.5 doesn't feel right either. 8.7/10 !