Bulletstorm

[MicoSelva]

While waiting for Twitcher 2's release and desperately looking for something to do other than write my LP, I've decided to give Bulletstorm a chance during the weekend. I played the game for around two hours maybe, and somehow really liked it - despite it being a console-port shooter, of which genre I wasn't able to stomach any one game so far.

Here's what I liked:

- No cover system.
- Skillshot system. An in-universe justified return to scoring points for killing enemies. With bonus points for being creative. Works really nice, but I'm afraid it might get a bit repetitive - unless new Skillshots will appear until the end of the game.
- Setting. I'm a sucker for this type of Sci-Fi. Somewhat of a crazy version of Firefly universe. IN SPACE, UP TO ELEVEN and OVER NINE THOUSAND, etc.
- Characters. Both Gray and Ishi are somehat one-dimensional, but likeable.
- Mood. It begins by the heros being seriously fucked up and gets worse. And then worse. And then... Well, You get it. And it's all presented in a light-hearted black humor way that I'm just unable to dislike. The humor is rather crude, DN3D style, but a more sophisticated one wouldn't work here.
- All the on-screen hints like 'Press E to kick the barrel' can be disabled, along with aim aid and other Next-Gen Game Enhancers (TM).
- Over-the-top-ness. All the restrain bolts from Painkiller era are gone. Escaping on a train from a giant grind wheel while being chased by jetcopters and sand-torpedos. No comment is necessary.

What I didn't like:
- Ridiculos pacing. I really like to take my time in games, if only to watch the well-rendered scenery. Really hard to do it in this game.
- Linearity. You just run from point A to point B. No exploration at all.
- Scripting. Clearly visible and too much of it.

What did not bother me:
- Regenerating health. With this game's pacing and incentive to kill enemies in creative ways, You really don't want to worry about losing too much health in one combat so You can survive the next one. And despite this innovative "feature", I still died. A lot actually. In before 'You suck at action games, lololol', yes. I do suck at action games. Lololol. That's why I'm playing on Normal.

Has anyone else here played it? What do You think?

 

[Markman]

I played the demo and thought it sucked.
Its a slo-mo Necrovision adjusted for console kiddies. The big ass slowdown when pulling someone so xboxers can manage in time to pull their joysticks up is annoying, the BIG ass buttons with "click here and cool shit will happen" annoyed me too. Was not impressed by that 10 minutes gameplay, and there was a 5 minute gameplay video before and after I got to play going " look how kewl this game is, buy it, its really cool, trust us, look at the explosions" that turned me off really good.
Im thinking of getting it for 5$ tops on a steam sale, its not worth more IMO. It just lacks that "killer" feeling.

 

[CorpseZeb]

Nah... 'cause this:

- Ridiculos pacing. I really like to take my time in games, if only to watch the well-rendered scenery. Really hard to do it in this game.

and that:

- Linearity. You just run from point A to point B. No exploration at all.

... thus –for me - nope. Want some action, sir? Fire right away Stalker, sir, set “stalker” difficulty and be prepared for pleasure of pain...

Ps. Old'good first Painkiller and Serious Sam's comes to mind too...

 

[Angthoron]

I actually really enjoyed this one. It was fun, mindless, in-your-face over-the-top (especially rescuing Serrano with a three-way gang war and a fucking dinosaur, and the ending) rollercoaster, it never pretended to be anything else, and it's exactly what I was looking for at the given moment.

As one complaint that you haven't raised, I want to add lack of jumping. Yeah, I regularly replay Rise of the Triad, but hey, come on. Being able to jump would've made the game so much smoother in some parts.

Otherwise, yeah, the characters were flat, but at least they were all dynamic, there was more character development in the course of the game than in any of the recent Bio RPGs, the graphics were fairly nice, and the (s)killpoints were really something I enjoyed. Too bad weapon upgrades/customisation turned out to be a bit shallow though, felt the system could've gotten more love, with mutually exclusive upgrades and more over-the-top shit.

Some guns are really a bit under-utilized when others are something you want to spam all the time, like the bomb-sling or the sniper rifle. For example, I barely used the shotgun at all, and this is in a "corridor" shooter.

 

[abnaxus]

- Setting. I'm a sucker for this type of Sci-Fi. Somewhat of a crazy version of Firefly universe. IN SPACE, UP TO ELEVEN and OVER NINE THOUSAND, etc.

It's the Gears of War universe.

But yeah, one of the better potato games out there.

 

[MicoSelva]

- Setting. I'm a sucker for this type of Sci-Fi. Somewhat of a crazy version of Firefly universe. IN SPACE, UP TO ELEVEN and OVER NINE THOUSAND, etc.

It's the Gears of War universe.

I don't think that's the case. Wikipedia does not mention these games sharing the setting. Where did You get that information?

 

[Sceptic]

Works really nice, but I'm afraid it might get a bit repetitive - unless new Skillshots will appear until the end of the game.

They do keep appearing, but it doesn't matter, for 2 reasons. First, you get WAAAAAAAAAY too many points, I had around 200K at the end, and that's with buying a lot of shit that I then never used. Second, it's far too easy to get skillshots, in fact I'd argue it takes no skill; just fire randomly with a weapon and you'll see the skillshots pile up with no effort or thinking required. The only ones that require actual skill are the "secret" ones, but since you don't know what they are they end up being a product of pure luck.

- Characters. Both Gray and Ishi are somehat one-dimensional, but likeable.

Yes to the first, no to the second, in my experience. Ishi in particular is absolutely not someone I felt like rescuing.

- Mood. It begins by the heros being seriously fucked up and gets worse. And then worse. And then... Well, You get it.

Yeah it does. And there's 2 ways it gets worse: either by your PC acting in the stupidest possible way in a cutscene, or YOU the player being forced to do an absolutely stupid action to advance the game, and THEN being called an idiot by the game. Sorry, but any games that FORCES me to fall into a painfully obvious trap just to up "teh drama" is incarnate. You want me to fall into a trap? fine, but at least have the decency to make it believable. By the time I got to the final level I was screaming at the game for all the utterly stupid stuff it forces you to do. And to top it off the ending SUCKS.

- All the on-screen hints like 'Press E to kick the barrel' can be disabled, along with aim aid and other Next-Gen Game Enhancers (TM).

Really? I didn't see any toggle for disabling the on-screen hints.

- Over-the-top-ness. All the restrain bolts from Painkiller era are gone. Escaping on a train from a giant grind wheel while being chased by jetcopters and sand-torpedos.

I expected this to suck, but it turned out to be quite entertaining. The grind wheel in particular was good fun. But a lot of the other gimmicks overstay their welcome. Most obvious one is the dino - it goes on for about twice longer than it should have.

- Ridiculos pacing. I really like to take my time in games, if only to watch the well-rendered scenery. Really hard to do it in this game.
- Linearity. You just run from point A to point B. No exploration at all.
- Scripting. Clearly visible and too much of it.

Yes to all these, but you forgot the fucking cutscenes. There are WAY too many of them, whether they're real cutscenes or Half-Life style "move in the cutscene while waiting for the door to magically unlock."

Graphics are pretty, environments are occasionally fun and some of the set pieces are a lot of fun (see grind wheel). It was enough for a single play, but nothing more. Oh and engine is an unoptimized turd. Depending on whether it likes your card or not it'll either run silky smooth or stutter to hell and back. I ended up as the latter.

 

[Angthoron]

- Characters. Both Gray and Ishi are somehat one-dimensional, but likeable.

Yes to the first, no to the second, in my experience. Ishi in particular is absolutely not someone I felt like rescuing.

Yeah, Ishi wasn't terribly likeable, but I kinda get the reason why the PC wants to save him, it's in a way more for his own sake than for Ishi's sake really - substituting one great whale for another, so to say, from revenge to redemption. He also supplied the otherwise lacking gravity to the story, I mean, take him out and you just have a rofl-a-thron. Then again, not that it would necessarily be a bad thing, I could have gone for an option where Grayson and Trishka would go through the game calling each others limp dicks and rancid vaginas. Liked the character dynamics between those two, by the way, obviously overdone as well, but still, nicely so.

And to top it off the ending SUCKS.

You mean Serrano getting away and the Ishi thing? Yeah, that pissed me off. The planetside pre-detonation stampede, on the other hand, was quite amusing in the way it was incredibly over the top in "everything and a kitchen sink" way.

I guess I can see why they let Serrano live, he was actually a fairly entertaining villain, but the part with Ishi, was, well, DUMB. The guy ate a freaking clip and then some, he should've been swiss cheese.

But a lot of the other gimmicks overstay their welcome. Most obvious one is the dino - it goes on for about twice longer than it should have.

Yeah, the dino was really too much, waves respawning over and over killed all the joys of having such an uber weapon. I guess this is a console limitation, but it would've worked so much better if you'd see a huge fortified camp full of gun emplacements, vehicles, copters, cannibals etc and then just smash through it with the dino and then have it lose all juice right after or close to the end for a "FUCK!" moment.


It's definitely not a flawless game, and it does drop the pacing in a few places with some possibly unnecessary (and predictably resolved) drama, but on the overall, I expected a much worse game than what this turned out to be.

 

[Sceptic]

He also supplied the otherwise lacking gravity to the story, I mean, take him out and you just have a rofl-a-thron. Then again, not that it would necessarily be a bad thing

I think it would've improved the game actually, or just keep him as the moralizer that he's supposed to be in the back story. which would've made the trio dynamics even more fun. You can mix roofles and drama and pull it off (see Anachronox) but Bulletstorm didn't do the mix particularly well, mostly because the drama is out of place, so taking it out and rolling with the lulz would've only improved the game.

Liked the character dynamics between those two, by the way, obviously overdone as well, but still, nicely so.

The overdone stuff here at least fits with the general over-the-top attitude of the game. Especially since at the end Garyson does not get the girl, which was a nice subversion of the typical cliche.

You mean Serrano getting away and the Ishi thing?

No, the whole story leading up to it. Everything from rescuing Serrano and on, including the stupid, stupid, STUPID things you have to do once you get into the big spaceship. I mean would it KILL Grayson to subtly signal Ishi to go stand next to Serrano? Really? I mean there's someone out there who DIDN'T see this one coming? And once you catch up with him again the stupidity in the final room just piles up. Hey, we've spent half the level kicking off baddies through the airlock - so let's go stand together IN the airlock and wait and see what happens!
:facepalm:

Yeah I know spoilers. Sue me.

I guess I can see why they let Serrano live, he was actually a fairly entertaining villain

Didn't find him entertaining at all. Then again I'm not a fan of games forcing on me exceedingly annoying NPC's without any chance to shut them up or even reply to them. For all his wit elsewhere Grayson suddenly loses his tongue when around Serrano. WTF?

And if you absolutely HAVE to let him live, let him get away in a slightly less retarded way please.

I expected a much worse game than what this turned out to be.

It was about what I expected: a short game with lots of stupid designs and some genuinely fun set pieces. Wish that there was less of the former and more of the latter, but what can you do.

 

[abnaxus]

It was pretty retarded how Trishka didn't immediately just shoot Serrano in the end, after she was told multiple times throughout the game that he was responsible for her father's death, not to mention after getting thrown off a freaking building by him.

I was almost yelling at my screen for her to pull the trigger.

 

[Secretninja]

On act 5 chapter 3 now, pretty fun, although it is nothing stellar. I would recommend waiting for a steam/d2d sale.

 

[Angthoron]

No, the whole story leading up to it. Everything from rescuing Serrano and on, including the stupid, stupid, STUPID things you have to do once you get into the big spaceship. I mean would it KILL Grayson to subtly signal Ishi to go stand next to Serrano? Really? I mean there's someone out there who DIDN'T see this one coming? And once you catch up with him again the stupidity in the final room just piles up. Hey, we've spent half the level kicking off baddies through the airlock - so let's go stand together IN the airlock and wait and see what happens!
:facepalm:

Ah, good point. I did facepalm a lot during that period, Serrano isn't exactly a very hard to read character in that he wants to fuck everyone over and get away before the bomb goes off. It's pretty fair to expect that he's not going to be honorable about just about anything, and the best thing to do would be to just empty all the arsenal into him right away instead of letting him talk. The final fight annoyed me.

Didn't find him entertaining at all. Then again I'm not a fan of games forcing on me exceedingly annoying NPC's without any chance to shut them up or even reply to them. For all his wit elsewhere Grayson suddenly loses his tongue when around Serrano. WTF?

If you put it that way, absolutely. But then again, mind you, it's not just Grayson that goes IDIOT in Serrano's area of influence, Trishka goes drooling idiot as well, and she's supposed to be smart and careful and so on and so forth. In fact, I would argue that she goes into an even bigger moron mode, especially on the big ship. I mean, I can expect Grayson to be an idiot by that point, he's been that through the whole game, but her? That's almost out of character.

I liked Serrano from the point of view that he just gets off being a douche, no secret drama, no higher goals, the guy is just an asshole and he doesn't hesitate to show it. That, and he has some good lines that criticize the whole idea behind this and many other shooters, namely the "You just killed hundreds of good men with families to get to me." bit. So, despite not being able to shut him up or blow his head off (And Ishi even says at one point that he's fine with this), he's alright, but yeah, he should've either survived some other way, or died and be replaced by another villain in the next game.

It was about what I expected: a short game with lots of stupid designs and some genuinely fun set pieces. Wish that there was less of the former and more of the latter, but what can you do.

Well, that's more or less what I expected as well, just thought it would have a greater share of Decline. I was (slightly) pleasantly surprised when it was actually more or less exactly what it promised to be.

It was pretty retarded how Trishka didn't immediately just shoot Serrano in the end, after she was told multiple times throughout the game that he was responsible for her father's death, not to mention after getting thrown off a freaking building by him.

I was almost yelling at my screen for her to pull the trigger.

Also, this.

 

[BLOBERT]

BROS I CALL STORYFAG ALERT

I PLAYED THE DEMO IT WAS FUN BEATING HIGH SCORES IN ECHO MODE

BROS SOME OF YOU GUYS ARE TRYING SO HARD TO LOOK FOR THE SHIT IN GAMES YOU END UP GOING ASS BACKWARDS CAUSE YOU FIND MORE SHIT THAT WAY BROS I THINK THE STORY MODE MIGHT NOTBE THE BEST PART OF THE GAME

IN THE DEOM LINING UP THE BEST SKILLSHOTS FOR POINTS MADE IT FUNFOR ME AND WHEN IT GETS TO9 20 DOLLARS OR SO I WILL BUY IT

 

[BLOBERT]

BROS I HAVE ANOTHER HINT FOR YOU THE STORY WAS MEANT FOR BARELT LITERATYE 10 YEAR OLDS ARE THEY RETARTED FOR MAKING THE STORY THAT WAY OR ARE YOU RETARTED FOR TRUBGING TO ANALUYZE IT!!!!!

 

[Gragt]

Heck, Painkiller was really a case of "skip cutscenes, play games and lose nothing", so I kinda expect the next game from the same people to be somewhat similar.

 

[MetalCraze]

Barrel blocks your way, can't move it. 5 static enemies behind it. You kill them. You move barrel. Barrel blocks your way, can't move it. 5 static enemies behind it. You kill them. You move barrel. Barrel blocks your way, can't move it. 5 static enemies behind it. You kill them. You move barrel. Barrel blocks your way, can't move it. 5 static enemies behind it. You kill them. You move barrel. Barrel blocks your way, can't move it. 5 static enemies behind it. You kill them. You move barrel. Barrel blocks your way, can't move it. 5 static enemies behind it. You kill them. You move barrel. Barrel blocks your way, can't move it. 5 static enemies behind it. You kill them. You move barrel. Barrel blocks your way, can't move it. 5 static enemies behind it. You kill them. You move barrel. Barrel blocks your way, can't move it. 5 static enemies behind it. You kill them. You move barrel.

End credits.

 

[sea]

I tried the demo and thought it was, to be blunt, pretty fucking bad.

Awful performance considering my system, could have been the resolution bug but either way the port is just sloppy as hell and really does not reflect well on Epic (they pulled the same kind of shit with Gears of War as well, I thought People Can Fly knew how to make PC games after Painkiller).

Mouse lag/smoothing that can't be turned off in a fast-paced shooter? That right there kills almost all enjoyment for me. What is the fucking point of playing an arcade shooter, which revolves entirely around being accurate and quick on the draw, if I have an artificial limitation on my ability to win?

've had enough of games that consist of blandly shooting the same boring enemies in the face again and again. Maybe this is a bit of a moot point when you're talking about a shooter, but seeing people die horribly without any real emotional impact is just boring to me. I probably would have loved this game when I was 13, but not a decade later. Gory death animations can't save the fact that the level design is boring, most of the interesting stuff is in the form of cutscenes/scripted events, and the vast majority of enemies are extremely samey to fight against.

The skillshot system is fun for about five seconds before you realise that it's really not integral to one's enjoyment of the game at all. If they had actually integrated it in a way that made it easier to fight enemies, or certain moves/combos were even required to win, that would have been great, but as it is it seems much more like optional/flavour stuff to justify the lack of multiplayer using leaderboards.

Oh, and it's banal and stupid in the worst way possible. I think they were trying to go for a self-aware Duke Nukem-style approach where the game makes fun of its own ridiculousness, but all the characters are so annoying (even their voices), and the complete lack of anything moving you forward other than HERP DERP PRETTY LEVELS LICENSE UDK FOR YOUR GAME TODAY does not help. Maybe this is a subjective thing, but there is a fine line between stupid-funny, and stupid-stupid, and Bulletstorm is too far in stupid-stupid territory for me. Everything about Bulletstorm strikes me as trying way too hard, like they wrote up some big list of "most awesomest things ever" and then put them in the game. It's just blunt, there's no subtlety, class or depth to anything in it.

Yeah, I know, I only played the demo (I did watch some LP footage and video reviews, so I have a fairly good idea of what the rest is like), but aside from the admittedly beautiful (though strangely generic) visuals, I found very, very little to like about the game, and at best it represented a missed opportunity to do something genuinely fun. It's also fairly short, they completely wasted the potential for a new type of multiplayer gameplay, not to mention I'm sure there won't be any mods or decent post-release support... yeah, I can't see people remembering Bulletstorm for long.

 

[Metro]

Been a discussion about this already. The game is fine... just not $60 fine. More like $15-$20 fine. It's basically an indie game with a lot of bullshit and marketing behind it like most console games are today.

 

[Tycn]

^ This. It's Dark Messiah with guns set in a single fucking corridor.

 

[MetalCraze]

Eh? Dark Messiah is a good game.

Bulletstorm is an absolutely typical console shooter - a virtual shooting range.
You just stand and kill standing enemies with your gamepad for the 100th time.

And there is always some junk blocking your way until you kill those guys.


Arcade shooters are dead. Playing a crosshair moving mini-game is the best you can expect from anything that has XBox360/PS3 written in its platform list these days.

 

[SoupNazi]

it's a good game

 

[Jasede]

It's too Gearbox.

 

[Metro]

It's too Gearbox.

Eh, at least Borderlands had more than six hours of content.

 

[I.C. Wiener]

It's just blunt, there's no subtlety, class or depth to anything in it.

subtlety, class

FPS from the makers of Painkiller and Unreal

The rest of your criticisms are well-stated and enlightening.

I have not played this game, though I intend to pick it up once it becomes (very) cheap. The thing that turned me off was their stupid Duty Calls campaign. I like self-aware parody when 1) it's funny and 2) exaggerates or otherwise plays with the elements it's parodying, instead of hurr durr look how retarded the genre is and we're doing the same thing (see Eat Lead: Matt Hazard)

 

[Angthoron]

Eh, I'm more confused about the emotional engagement bit in an arcade shoother. I'm honestly not sure how that is supposed to work, since the emotions you're supposed to feel in those are those of sadistic glee.