This obscene shooter can be a blast, but it seems to run out of things to do after the campaign is over.
The Bad: Boring story, polluted by some annoying supported characters; combat at its core is not very fun, and it becomes repetitive; Echoes and Anarchy feel tacked on
I was really hoping Bulletstorm was going to be the next great shooter from Epic, which gave rise to the widely loved Unreal Tournament and Gears of War franchises. But in all honestly, this effort at a new IP is a swing and a miss for the folks at People Can Fly.
The graphics look good in some places and great in others. Character models look a little dated, and the awesome panoramas you'll be exposed to can't quite make up for that, though they come close. Character animations are fairly solid, and the first person viewpoint works well when combined with these.
The gameplay is certainly going to be the biggest draw for most people interested in this title, and I will go ahead and say that I have mixed feelings about it. The combat does some things right, but it can't escape its repetitive core, which is simply a mix between UT and GoW. It feels similar to what you might imagine a first person Gears of War title to play like. You have a standard arsenal of weapons with a few unique ones that help this aspect stand out. Some notable ones include a gun that shoots a bouncing, detonate-on-demand grenade at opponents and a sniper rifle with steerable ammunition. You also have at your disposal the Leash, which reels opponents and sets them floating in front of you, allowing you to dispose of them in any number of ways. You can (and will be most of the time) kick them into and off of environmental hazards (anything from cacti to cliffs). However, the level and enemy design are fairly standard and uninspired, so this hinders a good bit of creativity. You are rewarded, however, when you are creative, and you use points earned through this to purchase upgrades and ammo for your acquired weapons. This system works sufficiently well, although you accumulate a lot of points as the game progresses, so it would have been nice if there were something else to use those points for.
But these are all simply nice add-ons to a system that at its core is simply flawed. Analyzing the combat leaves us with a generic FPS that is unsatisfying and in most cases unrewarding. The kicking mechanic, which along with Leash is as foundational of a concept as shooting, doesn't consistently work like you'd want it to, and it is similarly difficult to communicate to the Leash what you want it to do as well. This reveals not necessarily a problem in the implementation, but more likely in the design. If you think about it, this game could have theoretically taken great advantage of the Kinect and Move systems. It would be much more satisfying if you could direct your Leash pulls with your Move wand (or better yet, without a controller at all) and if a simple targeting system were used when kicking your targets. More often that not, I found myself kicking an opponent and slightly missing my mark, thus foiling what devious combo-kill I had had in mind. All in all, even for its innovations, Bulletstorm couldn't get around the fact that its poor design limited the player's enjoyment through simple frustrations, resulting in a fairly strict adherence to only a few tried-and-true methods of dispatching and unavoidably creating a sense of repetition.
The story is nothing to run home about. Many of the characters are either too vulgar to be likable or too annoying to be sympathetic. I mean, Ishi? Come on? Ishi?? There was nothing wrong with Kim, and even Tai didn't sound terrible (even if he was a little stereotypical). The worst part about it is, for most of the story, we as gamers (and the writers) understand that the campaign is just a ludicrous romp through some awesome setpieces that set us up for some cool boss fights and gameplay elements (remote-controlled dinosaur!). But in the last couple of acts, all of a sudden we're supposed to be attached to a couple of crude, watered-down, brutish sacks of meat when the story tries to take a serious turn? Cliched story elements coupled with plot devices relying on emotional connectivity to a bunch of huskies does not make for a good mix.
The sound overall is standard fare as well. Effects are well placed, but that's come to be expected by now, and the soundtrack is nothing but typical. The presentation is fairly slick, but it doesn't stand out enough to be worth of mention.
As for value, it was clear that the developers tried to boost its replay value with two extra game modes, Echoes and Anarchy. Echoes is a timed points-fest of excerpts from the campaign; it plays exactly like the campaign, so... I guess if you liked playing that part of the campaign, why not just play that section again? Anarchy is a slight improvement, but it could have been better. You and up to three other teammates take on hordes of enemies in one of a number of maps. However, once again, much of the enjoyment is hindered by the sheer chaos that ensues from a combination of lag, greed, and visual overloading. There is frankly too much going on to be able to coordinate effectively with your team when everyone is trying to maximize their own score, there are almost ten enemies on screen, and the weakest connection screws up any sort of intra-party combo. The maps are fun for a few rounds, but they, too, get old somewhat quickly. If you give Anarchy a chance, you can procure about an hour of enjoyment from it before disappointedly moving on to something else.
Graphics: 8.5/10
Gameplay: 7.5/10
Story: 6.5/10
Sound: 7/10
Presentation 7.5/10
Value: 6.5/10
Tilt 8/10
Overall Impression: 7.5/10
Bulletstorm certainly isn't a bad game; just be warned that you shouldn't put down the full sixty-dollar price tag for it. From someone who has played through it, I can recommend it for a rent. You will definitely enjoy the boss battles, and those are worth the couple dollars you will spend on the rent. Experience it at least, but don't expect the next Gears of War.