I really liked how they weren't afraid to add or remove new AI teammates. So many games lock you in the same scenario from beginning to ending and have to make contrived situations to keep things the same.
I think I'm having even more fun on my second playthrough; big combos are much more common and second-nature.
I also can't get over how great this game looks - some of the vistas are just gorgeous. Most UE3 games, Gears included, have had really weak explosions and fire effects, but People Can Fly did a great job here. The only visual blemish that really bothered me was the cinematic of Trishka beating up the mutant. She pulls every punch and obviously isn't making contact with any of her attacks. You can just picture the two mo-cap actors play-fighting, making sure to not hurt eachother.
I think I'm having even more fun on my second playthrough; big combos are much more common and second-nature.
I also can't get over how great this game looks - some of the vistas are just gorgeous. Most UE3 games, Gears included, have had really weak explosions and fire effects, but People Can Fly did a great job here. The only visual blemish that really bothered me was the cinematic of Trishka beating up the mutant. She pulls every punch and obviously isn't making contact with any of her attacks. You can just picture the two mo-cap actors play-fighting, making sure to not hurt eachother.
On the console version at least, Unreal Engine games tend to have TERRIBLE close up textures and models. You can see that in Bulletstorm very well. The game looks gorgeous until you look really close at it.
Now, does anyone on the 360 want to organize an Anarchy match to get Anarchy Master? I recently found out you need to do it in one round, wave 20, and not over the course of the entire match. Harder than I thought, but doable.
10/10. ONLY blemish on the game is that it's a bit glitchy. Masterfully crafted single player. Wonderful scripting, great variety. Beautiful graphics. Could play these endlessly.
Just beat it last night - this is a hell of a game. Such a refreshing experience in the sea of CoD clones out there. It stumbles a bit near the end, losing sight of what makes the rest of the game fun, and the "ending" is totally unsatisfying and cheap. Still, the meat of the game was an absolute blast.
As many have said, the lack of a New Game+ in a game with this kind of design is criminal. I can't believe it was not made a priority during development.
As someone who just completed the game just now, I must agree.
The sort of gameplay involved in Bulletstorm BEGS for a New game + mode. I really hope that People Can Fly are allowed to come back to this and patch the game to include such an option.
Anyway, I'm not very good at finishing games recently, especially shooters and if I'm honest, I shocked myself finishing the game within such a relatively short space of tine (for me). The game was an absolute blast and is one that I will certainly return to. Some of the weapons and the ways the game encouraged you to use them in non "standard" ways were fantastic and I haven't had so much fun in a shooter in years.
One or two really bad cinematics aside (macro-blocking FFS, why does this still exist in 2011?) the game had a great flow from start to finish, the way the music pushed the action was very Painkiller-esque and the pacing was brilliant.
My personal score? 9/10. Not perfect, yet the game is exactly what I was needing in this generation of shooters, highly imaginative, inventive and the scoring system was a shot in the arm for the genre.
Great game that completely took me by surprise. The gameplay was great and very refreshing. I loved all of the options available to you as well as the gun upgrading mechanic. The only downside is the no new game plus option, which is kind of baffling. I haven't really tried the multi but it seems fun if you were to really get into it.
The graphics were great although frame rate problems came up near the last couple of levels (on 360). Brilliant use of color to and this game just made me ache for Gears 3. Some gorgeous vistas here. Really sublime.
For what it was I really enjoyed the story too. The game wasn't the whole toilet humor deal that I thought it was going to be. There are some really funny moments in the game as well and not dialog related. The ending was a bit of a let down but it sets up nicely for a sequel.
One final thing, the echo kill trials remind me so much of Mirrors Edge's TT. It becomes pure shooting zen. I think this is one of the best compliments I can give to the game.
Eh, just shipped off my copy to someone who bought it from me via Amazon. I beat it and played through all the Echos (and a few Anarchy rounds), but the game never managed to really grab me. *shrugs*
I got to play the first three chapters with a friend a week ago, and I really want to play this myself...but no funds at the moment prevents this from becoming a reality.
I beat the game 3 times and played the shit outa Echoes mode. Bought it from Amazon for 60 with 20 dollars off a future purchase. Traded it back in to them for 40 credit. God bless you, Amazon.
I got it the other day. I don't have that much to say about it other than it's such a great shooter. The combat is incredibly fluid. If you know what you're doing, you feel like you're conducting the combat rather than playing it like in most shooters.
The only design change that I would have made is that you'd get a bit of health back when you kill someone with more health for me higher point skill shots or chaining kills. There's nothing worse than having to sit behind cover when you were just about initiate a cool skill shot.
Am I the only one who wishes I could spend skill points into a 'Boot' skill that allows me to kick enemies farther? I find my self kicking enemies two or three times to get them to where I want them to go. (Off ledges, Impale, or in the plants)
I'm astonished the game is getting so much love. I didn't really care for it as much. True to its name, Bulletstorm is predominately about shooting the enemy in plenty of manners but there's nothing more to it, and prolly was not intended to have anything more to it. Nevertheless, Bulletstorm is a 'one-trick pony' of a game (in spite of its 100+ Skillshots) and therefore it isn't the type of game that i would really like or have it in my favorite games of the year.
However good one thinks the Skillshot mechanic is, it's pretty much the only thing to note in the game. And however newly freedom or creativeness one thinks the combat brings to the FPS genre, in all its other elements Bulletstorm is as restrictive and limited as any other scripted\linear\corridor that the game supposed to stand against, if not even more so.
The combat and gunplay were indeed fun and refreshing but the more i played the less i was taken by it. It lacks the 'staying power' and the motiviation to set-up another Skillshot - You upgrade your weapons quickly enough and your points are get stacked without any of real use. I was happy enough to use the environtmental skillshots that included kicking the enemy to exposed electric wires, spikes, plants and so on. Those skills provide more than enough points and they are as satisfying and gory as any other killing. Sometimes i couldn't, or needn't, bother with going out of my way to get a specific Skillshot. (I also wasn't good enough to get the killings that involved the back side of enemies; coudln't really get into a position where i facing their backs).
But really, my issue isn't about the combat mechanic as much at it is about the game hand-holding the player 'till his hand is crushed; bear-hugging him out of breath. The first 2-3 chapters are highlighted by how frequently the game insists on seizing the control out of the player hands by strings of cutscenes, QTE's and 'only my way' design. The cutscenes' tendency lessens later on but the other stuff continue to reign supreme.
I can only jump when the game allows me and only in a speific place of the barrier that i'm supposed to skip-over. So yeah, not really 'jumping'. I do have sliding which is nice but the ability to jump freely around could have added another dimension to the Skillshots.
I can't even drop off a hole in the ground to a lower level but only when i press the action button that sets forth the so complicate animation of descending down that the game just had to yank the control from me. Every barrier and obstacle are vividly and overtly marked lest the player need to do any contemplation. Every kick or leash perfectly pave your way on. This 'philosophy' reached absurd proportions when reaching a supposed dead-end without the game highlighting what needed to be done,
Trish stricts ~15 seconds for you to figure out a way forward. When time runs out, she does the bit for you
. Are we really that desperate and intimidated by the player not doing anything other than pull the trigger? For him to be, god forbid, 'stuck'? To have anything other than straightforward shooting?
This treatment of the player as unaware or 'untrustable' (to not use harsher terms like 'dumb') is best seen in the game's Quick-Time Events. The QTE's in Bulletstorm are horrible, not because QTE in general are so, but because the ones in Bulletstorm are pointless. Normally, QTE's are used for more delicate and unconventional situations that aren't as easily achieved otherwise. However, in Bulletstorm, what you do in the QTE is the same as what you do in the whole gameplay: shoot. Why do i need a QTE in order to do so? Why can't i shoot it myself in 'live' gameplay? Why am i stripped-away of the need to even aim where i shoot in a FPS? Of course, this games subscribes to the 'Coolest Stuff Happen in QTE' design, but also, for lack of any other reason, the gamer is thought to be dim not
to shoot the explosive tank exactly when that dino passes under it
by his own. Not
to spot the mechanical dino is controlled by someone and proceed to kill him to end the attack
by his own and so forth.
Will you stop taking my control over the action? To have all the cool bits happen with little to none regard for the player? To make those sequences less entertaining because of your underestimating people?
It is this approach that made the 'boss' fights weak and unfulfilling. They don't really ask of the player much, or anything other that constant firing. The fight against
the giant rolling wheel
was disappointing because you
get attacked by waves of other enemies who divert you attention from the visual of that big structure chasing you
. I would have liked it better if
there were fewer enemies and that the player would have needed to do more elaborate actions to try and sway the wheel to have it lose balance and slam down.
Back to the gunplay, i see no reason why the game is limiting you to 3 weapons at a time. It doesn't aid anything. I want to have all the possibilities of Skillshots open to me anytime. It's not like Bulletstorm prides itself on challenge or balance. You always find yourself wishing that you had X weapon in that section because it suits better to use it then. There's also couple of weapons with small amount of ammo so they arent used often , and not being able to take ammo of the once-in-a-while enemies that use those weapons because you don't equip them adds to the discouragement.
Other than that, there's the usual lack of variety and there's a werid thing about the enemies that the latest enemy type, the one that is billed as the most dangerous and powerful,
the Burnouts
, turn out to be the easiest ones -
quickly dispatched by shooting their glowing parts
.
The sections of them attacking in waves proved to be quite a breeze when you can just stand in place and kick every one of them into an environmental hazard.
To close this up, I only recommend renting Bulletstorm or buying at a lower price and only if you really like what you see from the combat system, because it's the main thing the game has to offer and it's one of those elements that produce varied enjoyment. Also, graphics are quite nice and there some great looking views along the campaign.
I finally put some good time into this game over the weekend and I am in love! sure its not high art or anything but its damn fun and I laughed a lot.. maybe that says something about me but who cares it's a guilty pleasure.
finished the story mode again: by far the most fun i had with a sp shooter this generation.
i really hope this game does well but the demo put a lot of people off. maybe release a new demo, epic?
Can someone tell me the point of friendly ai if they do absolutely nothing to help 95% of the time? I beat the game last night and there's a certain room with 4 minibosses and a shitload of respawning melee and rocket enemies (horrifyingly bad frame drops in this room as well, btw) that just proved how bad the friendly AI is - I'm not expecting them to gun down every enemy I don't, but at the same time I wasn't expecting them to remain motionless on the ground floor and occasionally pop one shot off (that doesn't kill anyone) while I'm sliding and running around the room like a madman. Smh.
Anyway, overall I thought the game had it's moments but I'm glad I rented it. Oh, and the writing/story is godawful (intentional or not), and performance/image quality on PS3 is not up to snuff, IMO.
Yep. It's best seen against those fat enemies when you are ment to to weaken them by shooting their backpack. Your friends will not fire a single bullet at its exposed back while you draw all the enemy's attention.
Single player is boring!?!? Most other FPS must have the poor feller comatose then.
One thing that sticks out with this game is I loathe it when the AI kills enemies. Other games I get annoyed at how useless friendly-AI is, with Bulletstorm when they kill an enemy I get pissed.
I finally beat it. Yeah, I took my time with it because I loved it so much. The hardest difficulty is the best way to play this game.
Moments from the campaign that blew me away:
Walking down the skyscraper, Doc's death in the operation room (blood on the window), the train ride from the giant wheel of death (why I bought this game), the escape from the heckaton's cave on the helicopter, The 3D posters outside of the theme park, The dam collapsing, The giant plant boss battle, first encountering the burnouts, kicking the giant burnout into the helicopter blades, The HECKATON BATTLE, looking through the windows of the Ulysseys as it is taking off, and Ishi's reincarnation after the credits. There is so much more and I'll have to play through again.
Bulletstorm has the best gameplay in any shooter I've ever played, hands down. Playing on the hardest difficulty made me scrounge for points and ammo, I loved having to use my ammo and points carefully, running out of ammo and relying on my leash and the environment was exciting as well. I had to think which guns fit each situation.
The vistas were beautiful, the gameplay was perfectly varied, the game was paced really well. My friend said Uncharted 2 heightened his expectations so much that everything else fell flat in comparison, well this is that game for me. It's my GOTY for 2011, I don't care if it's only March.
I'm on board for Bulletstorm 2. Seriously. I want vehicles, competitive multiplayer, destructible environments, a theater mode, more guns. Get working guys. I'll pre-order on announcement.
Finished it up on Very Hard last night and I agree with most of the other folks here that this is the most fun I've had with a FPS in quite a long while. I had no problem with the ending and I'm eagerly awaiting a sequel.
I don't know if it was discussed here, but PC Gamer has an editorial concerning the game, to which Bulletstorm's creative director responded.
It's about Bulletstorm being a very linear game with lots of 'hand-holding' and playing the game for you and the like. The comments made by Adrian Chmielarz sum up my main concern in the way games are being developed nowdays.
The main goal of ANY developer is not to fight dicks as Tom noticed, most of the time we cant win this fight anyway it is TO HELP PLAYERS WHO ARE JUST NOT GREAT AT THIS. And by NOT GREAT I really mean: Dont have a hardcore gamers mind and experience.
Not making it 100% guaranteed that people learn how to use a certain button or a gameplay feature is like booking a vacation in Mordor: you can do it, but its not necessarily a very wise decision.
I don't understant why the keep trying to make games for people who aren't 'gamers', who don't play those type of games regularly, who can get confused by the most linear and straightforward game released. This fixation with reaching the widest possible market is hurting the final product.
There are ways to make games more accommodative which aren't as extremely intrusive and suffocating as they are in Bulletstorm. Applying such measures that they interfere and hamper the experiene for the other type of players should be a no-go. Going through with it just results in lesser (quality-wise) games.
I had absolutely no issue with Bulletstorm's linearity due to it's lightning pace and encounter variety. I didnt think there was much 'hand holding' at all. Sure, checkpoints and interactive stuff was all highlighted, but that's not what I think of when they say hand holding. To me hand holding is taking gameplay away from the player at the cost of depth, or streamlining an otherwise deep experience. I dont really think Bulletstorm had either of these problems. One of the things I liked was even with highlighted checkpoints and what have you I still felt in control, and I never felt any of the mechanics were dumbed down or streamlined beyond what worked well within the context of the game.
Even the lack of the jump button, something I was sure was going to piss me right off, didn't bother me at all.
Yep. The linearity served the purpose of the gameplay, which is creatively killing lots of different types of enemies in lots of different types of environments. It was about approaching an encounter any way you want.
If the game was about exploration then yes we would have a problem, but it's not.
I am usually the first one to complain about linearity in games, but in Bulletstorm it didn't bother me at all, in fact it worked well. I liked the cutscenes too, wouldn't have skipped them anyway.
The linearity served the purpose of the gameplay, which is creatively killing lots of different types of enemies in lots of different types of environments.
That's not 'serving the purpose'; that's being jarring and in the complete opposite of what the game tries to sell itself on. Did anyone read my lenghty mini-review post? If those examples don't count as hand-holding and extremely limiting the player, then i don't know what is.
Of course the game takes gameplay away of the player: everything you need to do is spelled out for you and highlighted - your role diminished only to the guy that needs to press that button.
The game has the most horrible QTE's sequences i think i ever got to play. You don't call that taking away control of the player? Some of the best would-be moments of the game are relegated to QTE, cutscenes and minimum input of consideration of the player.
The game doesn't need to base itself on 'exploartion' in order for it not to leave any room for judgment by the player; for me not to able to do almost any action without the game specifically telling me when and where; for god-damned shooting in FPS to be done in QTE because some incompetent person might blow it otherwise; for not dearing to let the player ease on the trigger and spend the minimum time in figuring out a way around an obstacle without giving you 15 seconds to do so, and if not, the games does it by itself.
Even the director admits to the game resorting to hand-holding because you need to make sure all the none 'hardcore' players can get on with the game. In most examples, the game are worse because of that and Bulletstorm is one of the games where it's the most noticable - especially because the way it handles the combat.
Great game, and since trading it in to Amazon for 40 bucks I'm going through withdrawal. I'll pick it up again when it drops below 20. And when did good game design become hand-holding?
Alright, I think I'm going to give in and buy this game. Last game I bought was God of War 3, but the Gears 3 beta has pushed me over the edge. I already loved the demo so I figure I should pick this up.