A fun game that doesn't capitalize on it's own merits.
Bulletstorm tells the story of a band of mercenaries called Dead Echo, who receive most of their contracts from the heartless General Serrano. During a mission you realize that Serrano has had you killing innocent civilians the entire time, tricking you to believe they were evil. In an attempt to strike back at the general years later, whilst aboard his ship, your vessel as well as Serrano's crash lands on a hostile planet, Stygia, thus leading to the demise of most of your team. You control the hot-headed leader of this band of misfits named Grayson Hunt who's fueled by revenge and as well as an escape from the planet with his partner Ishi, who was injured during the crash and is now in a constantly struggle with the A.I. brain that he was implanted with.
The story itself is decent, but the over-abundance of swearing may draw many off. There are so many f-bombs dropped I nearly put the game on mute, not because I was offended, but because after awhile it starts getting annoying. Be that as it may the good parts of the story is when Grayson reminisces on his guilty past. After the 7-8 hour long campaign, the game ends on relatively weak note with a cliched ending leaning towards the thought of a sequel in mind. Nothing, however has been announced as of yet. There are a few different collectibles to be found such as newbots that can be destroyed or Alcohol bottles that can drunk. Aside from this though, there isn't much reason to replay through the campaign, unless you are trying to net all the difficulty based achievements.
What makes Bulletstorm different is it's "Kill with Skill" mechanic. There are so many different ways to dispose of your foes. Levels have different hazards and each of your weapons have a list of different skill shots that can be performed with it. Each skillshot has a unique name, that goes along with the skill kill such as "Rear entry", where you shot an enemy in the butt and kill him or "voodoo doll" where you impale on enemy on a sharp metal object. Aside from a few, most of the weapons are common FPS flair, but each weapon has an over charge which is sort of a secondary fire, but completely devastating nonetheless. Finding all the skill shots possible in the game will be a challenge and may warrant multiple play-throughs just to unlock and see them in action. Along with your arsenal you have the ability to kick which sends your opponent flying into a "zero-gravity" state where you can then pummel him with bullets or what have you.
Early on you unlock one your main tools of destruction, the leash. The leash is used many time through the campaign such as removed door panels or obstructions in your path. But one of its ideal uses is for combat. The leash pulls a any enemy towards you as well being able to unleash its overcharge which catapults any enemy in the vicinity into the air, slowed in zero-gravity. The means of disposal given to you are nice.
Even with these welcomed additions to the game, the campaign still suffers from traditional problems seen in every First person shooter such as linear level design. There is no real places to explore and the game pretty much lays it out in terms of telling you what to do. But With the Skillshot system the game won't feel like a chore as well differentiating the action such as escaping a giant wheel on a train to controlling a mechanized dinosaur killing everything in your path. Bulletstorm is far from boring.
Not only is it visually rewarding but each "skillshot" you perform awards with points that can be used on "dropkits" littered throughout the levels. Accessed by your leash, dropkits allow you to buy ammo for weapons as well as unlock their "overcharge" function and increase ammo capacity of each. Drop kits also show your Skillshot Database which show which skills shots you've currently unlocked as well ones that have yet to be performed along with a small description giving hints on how exactly to perform them.
Each level you complete also unlocks that level to play in Echoes mode. Here you have a time limit to reach the end of the level and get as many skillshots possible with the current weapons you have as well as environmental hazards that can used to your advantage. At the end you are graded between 1 and 3 stars depending on total skill points acquired and time it took to complete. This is a nice addition, and is best suited for getting all the Skill shots in the game in certain areas without having to replay the campaign.
Graphically Bulletstorm is very impressive. The planet you are on was once a resort getaway and side from all the destruction that has taken place, there is some nice lush environments to appreciate. Blood and Gore is ramped up to the max as you leave your enemies in a bloody pulp. Sound is also very good, from gun effects to explosions you will not be disappointed. Grayson Hunt is voiced by Steve Blum, the same guy who does Wolverine in every video game adaptation of the character( which is funny since Hunt looks like a "Wolverine-wannabe"). If you can get past all the swearing, the Voice work is well done. Technical speaking, Bulletstorm is quite stellar.
The biggest problem with Bulletstorm is the multiplayer and how limited it is. It only offers up one mode suited for four players in which you fight off a slew of enemies and try to work together to get a high skillshot score. This mode has been made popular with Gears of War's "horde mode" and Halo's "Firefight." The difference is, those games had competitive modes as well, whereas Bulletrstorm has none. A great addition would've been the ability to do skill shots online in modes such as deathmatch, TDM, CTF, etc. along with modes unique only to the game. A very big oversight the developers could've capitalized on, but missed. Also the inclusion of co-op would of being greatly welcomed. Throughout the story you are always accompanied with Ishi or Trishka or both, so lack of co-op is a severe low blow, because it could've easily have been implemented.
The game is worth playing, and has enough to offer to warrant a purchase. In the long run, however, you will get bored of it's one multiplayer mode and limited scope. The story isn't amazing and leaves many question unanswered in the end, but Bulletstorm has enough thrills to make it worth checking out.