Review: Bulletstorm

I first heard about this first-person shooter and greeted the description with some trepidation.

Generally, when a video game claims to be “over the top” and “totally outrageous,” it means the game developer is trying to hide inadequacies in the gameplay or some other deal-breaking deficiency.

Bulletstorm, with the tagline “Kill with Skill,” has no such problems.

You play as Grayson Hunt, the leader of an elite execution squad that discovers they’ve been killing innocent people, instead of the evil menaces that General Victor Sarrano has been saying. The squad, known as Dead Echo, rebels and breaks from under the thumb of Sarrano.

Upon seeing a chance to kill Sarrano, the team forces a crash landing on a planet rife with mutants. In the crash, team member Ishi Sato is injured and during medical treatment, an accident causes Ishi to be half man, half cyborg, with computer side struggling for control. The pair set out to find and kill Sarrano.

The core of the gameplay is comprised of earning Skillpoints by killing mutants as creatively as possible.

Aiding your efforts are an array of weaponry and the Leash, a wrist-mounted stream of plasma.

The way is works is that normal killing (shooting with gun until dead) only earns you 10 points at a time. Creative killing, however, can rack up big points.

For instance, grabbing and kicking a mutant into a cactus is a Pricked skillshot (500 skillpoints); an Afterburner skillshot is awarded when a mutant on fire is shot and killed; a Sausagefest skillshot is death by exploding hot dog cart. The possibilities are endless.

Well, maybe not endless. There are 131 possible skillshots to be discovered. I found 87 on the first run-through.

Two abilities greatly aid the completion of skillshots and also in enjoyment of the game – sliding and kicking. At any time, you can slide toward enemies, kicking them into the air or into obstacles or each other.

Also integral to earning points are the gonzo weapons that become available during gameplay. Integral to the game is the Leash, which allows you to grab a mutant or a loose object and use it in combat. When unlocked, the Thumper ability with the Leash adds to the enjoyment. Thumpers, which have to be purchased individually, allow you to grab an enemy and violently “thump” him to the ground, causing he and other nearby enemies and objects to bounce, in slow-motion, into the air. This then provides further opportunities for points, such as skeet shooting the mutants out of the air.

Nothing is more satisfying in-game than to send a group of mutants flying skyward, in a kind of slow ballet of destruction.

Other weapons provide more skillshot possibilities.

The Flailgun, which sends two grenades attached to a chain hurtling at an enemy, wrapping him in a lethal embrace that that can then be detonated, is a favorite. Also notable is the Head Hunter – a sniper rifle that fires a bullet that can be guided toward a mutant. Weapons that fire exploding balls, metal stakes and four shotgun shells are also available.

Each weapon also features an unlockable “charged” mode that ratchets up the damage. The Head Hunter charged mode makes the bullet radio-controlled, allowing you to target more than one enemy in succession, while the Flailgun charged mode superheats the chain, allowing it to slice through mutants.

Gameplay throughout is smooth as silk, even when sliding across a level with enemies all around. Visually, the game holds your attention. Voicework is appropriately over-the-top, with constant rude comments and jokes during the witty banter.

Besides the single-player campaign mode, a timed mode called Echoes is available that allows a player to replay segments of levels, earning stars and achieving other skillshots.

While the single-player mode in Bulletstorm is rock solid, multiplayer is rather limited. The only offering is a four-player co-op mode, with up to four player working together to complete levels and reach goals, many specific to the mode. For instance, a tug-of-war skillshot involves teammates using their leashes to pull an enemy back and forth until dead.

Bulletstorm is a nice new intellectual property to add to the first-person shooter arena. The game ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, meaning more skill-killing should follow, providing this one sells well.

Platform: Playstation 3, Xbox 360 Rating: Mature Manufacturer: Electronic Arts Score: 9 skill-filled chilies