Review: BulletStorm

By Mike Wheeler

Publisher: EA

A cross between the reality of Call of Duty and the perverted cartoonishness of Naughy Bear with enough blue language and gore to make the Quentin Tarantino see red, Bulletstorm is one of those first-person shooters where you feel the developer’s first priority was “how far over the top can I go?”

Quite a bit. Set in the future, you play soldier of fortune Grayson Hunt, who is bent on revenge to kill his old commanding officer, General Sarrano, who used Grayson and his cohorts for his own nefarious means without them realises it. After shooting down the general’s spaceship (his ship was also fatally disabled by Sarrano during the same battle), Grayson crash lands on a planet where anarchy reigns and where a rogue’s gallery of nasties want to do you harm.

Gameplay itself is straight forward. You gain points by killing the bad guys – the more points you earn, the more you can trade in for various weapons and ammunition. You also get more points for creative skillshots – ie, kicking one of the bad guys into a downed helicopter’s rotor blades that are still spinning, or shooting a mutant in the nether regions. This latter method of killing has caused some angst amongst critics of the game, but I must say, upon playing it, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Also, when you kick an opponent, they fly slow-motion into the air allowing you to dispose of them at your leisure using the weaponry at your disposal.

My two favourite weapons are the electric lash, which allows you to lasso an opponent, bring them towards you, then kick them, which causes them to splatter into a cactus tree or other piece of scenery – much like the kicking application. The other is the sniper rifle that allows you to shoot an opponent from distance, then in slow mo you guide the bullet towards your victim. Very cool.

Where the game gets a bit OTT for me is the language. I’m no prude and can cuss with the best of them, but this is one of the few occasions where I feel the foul-mouthed utterings of the characters is bordering on the gratuitous.  I’d guess this is where it gets his MA15+ rating from, as opposed to the cartoonish gore.

Overall, a nice first-person-shooter that probably earns the right to be in the same company as Alan Wake or Darksiders, but not quite reaching the heights of Call of Duty.

Pros: Creative kills, excellent choice of weapons, graphics are pretty good
Cons: OD’s on profanity, not long enough, can be repetitive

3.5 Shacks Out of 5