As with many games that come packed-in with some sort of bonus, a lot of gamers decided to pick up the recent first-person shooter Bulletstorm for one reason, and one reason only--early access to the Gears of War 3 beta. While some may have actually opened the initial game and found it to be quite a thrill ride, others probably still have their copy of Bulletstorm sitting in its shrink-wrap, and are waiting anxiously for April 18.
As I've stated before, I too fell victim to picking up Bulletstorm for the Gears of War 3 beta. Although I was interested in the game since its first announcement trailer, boiling down to the release day I was still unsure if Bulletstorm would warrant a $60 price-tag. The single-player looked cool, but with the absence of co-operative campaign play and an iffy online mode, I was starting to feel like I should wait for a price drop. It was only when I found out that the game came with early access to the Gears of War 3 beta did I start to think, "hm, maybe I should pick it up on release day..."
After playing Bulletstorm religiously the week of its release, I was quite pleased with its single-player offering. Bulletstorm has excellent pacing and wildly switches up the scenario you are in. While it has the standard vehicle sections and point-to-point mission structure, there are still a lot of original and fun experiences to be had. My biggest gripe with the game came in the form of its trademark "Skillshot" killing system, a mechanic that rewards the player for killing enemies in over-the-top ways. The problem is that the system was way too limited and you were only free to kill with whatever way the game provided; this could end up being a row of cacti, a nicely placed helicopter, or the overly used wall of spikes. You can only be as creative as the game ultimately allows you to be, certainly not the freedom I was expecting.
It also doesn't help that you have to play through long stretches of the game to unlock your arsenal of weaponry, hence, adding to the linear experience.
So, I beat Bulletstorm and decided to try out Echoes mode--the game's 'Time Trial'-esque feature. While it is fun, I often felt like I may as well just play the campaign mode, at least that way the gameplay is seamless and I have something leading me along. Time trial modes are fun, depending on the game, but to me the Echoes mode in Bulletstorm felt even more confined and the levels were briskly short, especially for a game designed for players to go about situations their own way. In the end, I gave up on that.
Anarchy mode, Bulletstorm's online co-operative component, is an interesting idea on paper--have a few buds team up and take out waves of baddies and even set up Skillshots (creative kills) for each other. In reality, it turns into, for lack of a better term, a clusterfuck of friends and enemies getting in each other's way, ruining perfect setups, and ultimately boiling down to hearing a lot of yelling on the headphone's speaker. Sure, some of you can argue that you have friends to join with and actually do have a good time with Anarchy mode,which is perfectly fine. However, that isn't the case for the rest of the world.
After stating that I was bummed about Bulletstorm not having a co-operative campaign mode, perhaps the lessons learned from Anarchy mode show that Bulletstorm really isn't meant for co-op play at all. After all, not every game is, right?
My play-through of Bulletstorm's story mode was a fun ride, but attempting to go back to it was kind of a downer. The dialogue was getting old, the Skillshot system wasn't as robust as it could've, or rather, should've been, and quite frankly I was getting tired of pricking and "French Revolution'ing" people. I was experiencing a severe case of, "been there, done that," and more so here than in other games. It's quite remarkable when you think about it; I can play Left 4 Dead pretty much to death, yet Bulletstorm was becoming dry quickly. The game has terrific pacing and bosses, but there was a spark, a "piz-zaz" that was missing. Whatever it was, I was feeling the side-effects.
Since beating Bulletstorm and experimenting with its additional modes, I haven't touched the game.
I had a thrilling experience with Bulletstorm on the first go around, but perhaps this is a game that is nothing more than a mere fire-and-forget experience.
What's your take on Bulletstorm? Will you say farewell to it once the Gears of War 3 beta is done? Although the game had an exciting campaign mode, is it enough to warrant a spot in your gaming library?
Discuss.
