Bulletstorm, developed by EPIC games and People Can Fly, is finally here. Back in January fellow WRS staff member Brad gave us his first impressions on the short but sweet demo. But now that the full game is out, its my turn to share my thoughts. Bulletstorm takes place on a planet named Stygia, a resort planet now infested with various gangs, man eating plants, and epic sized beasts. As the story unfolds, players soon witness lead protagonist Grayson Hunt and his group of space pirates being betrayed by their commanding officer. Years later, Grayson and his squad reunite with General Sarrano and attempt to exact revenge on him. Somewhat unsuccessful, they crash land on Stygia. From there they fight their way through groups of vicious enemies in attempt to find a way off the hellish planet. All of this of course, with the inclusion of ridiculous over the top dialogue, violent skill shots, and some pretty unique and varied weapons.

The first notable thing about this game is, of course, the skill shots. They’re not only what makes this FPS so much fun but also so unique. Progressing through the level while killing enemies is the overall challenge but with Bulletstorm, they’ve implemented their own little twist. Players are awarded points for the ways they eliminate their enemies. Along with many sweet ass weapons, Grayson also has a leash – a whip that grabs enemies and pulls them towards you – and the ability to kick and boot enemies towards hazardous set pieces – cacti, electrical wires, man-eating plant life, and spikes just to name a few. The more unique the kill, the more points you get. With 100+ different skill shots in the campaign mode alone I had more than my fair share of fun. Some skill shots are easy to discover, such as Vertigo – send an enemy down a huge drop, or Shocker – fling an enemy into an electrical source. Although with 100+ different ways to kill your enemy, some of the bigger skill shots can be quite challenging to find. After completing the single player campaign I’d say my favorite has to be Show Off – kill an enemy with the Head Hunter (Sniper rifle) from 10 Meters away without using the scope. As you earn skill points from implementing skill shots, you spend them at drop kits throughout the game to buy upgrades for guns or ammo as needed.

As if the gameplay itself wasn’t good enough, the set pieces and environments throughout the planet are stunning. It’s certainly very reminiscent of Gears of War as well as Unreal Tournament, EPIC’s other two franchises. The entirety of Bulletstorm is filled with vibrant colors and impressive vistas. To be frank, this game is beautiful. Each level is unique and sets the feel of a very diverse world. As the levels change, so do the set pieces available for killing your enemies, opening up even more gritty deaths with which to relinquish to your foul foes. The skill shots kept things feeling fresh, and the periodic weapons and upgrades kept the game rolling along. Not once did the gameplay get boring or feel repetitive. The characters are also great. Grayson Hunt, voiced by Steven Blum of Cowboy Bebop (Spike Speigel) and the Wii game Madworld (Jack) (which clearly influenced Bulletstorm) is fueled by vengeance, while his partner Ishi suffers an unfortunate accident and throughout most of the game battles the AI that has taken over his brain. The character development throughout feels very believable and is well scripted. All of this added to the tight controls and superfluous skill shots makes for a brilliant campaign, certainly one that should not be overlooked.

Along with a solid campaign, Bulletstorm also offers up Echoes Mode as well as multiplayer. Echoes takes sections from the campaign and times players as they try and rack up as many points as they can. These are quick, time-trial-esque levels that reward players with a score of 0-3 stars. Much like Mirror’s Edge, these are meant to be played and perfected. Find the best multipliers and move through the level as quickly as possible to score three stars and a high score on the leader-boards. I found it very addictive replaying these missions, trying to beat my friends’ scores. I played one mission countless times and ended up placing in the top 150 globally, which was very rewarding. As you earn more stars, more Echoes missions become available. This certainly added a bit more replayability to the game after completing the main storyline.

Another thing that Bulletstorm contains is multiplayer, although, not in a conventional sense. Rather than fighting other players, this mode plays more like Horde from Gears of War 2, or Firefight in Halo: Reach. A team of four players fights off waves of enemies, executing team skill shots to earn extra points. To progress, the team must earn a collective score high enough to meet the requirement for that particular wave. Spanning 20 waves, players must work together to move forward, especially in the higher waves. Many skill shots within multiplayer require multiple players working on the same enemy. This can be a bit frustrating if playing with newbies, although it doesn’t take long to learn the skill shots and how to work together to achieve them. If you ever don’t know, or simply forget, there is an in-game list of all the skill shots and how to do them. This is also included within Echoes mode and campaign. There is a variety of multiplayer levels as well as the ability to rank up, the max level being 65. Unlocking new armor, weapon camos, and leash colors is very fun as well. There are a few minor gripes I have with the multiplayer mode though. For one, you are unable to see the rank of the players on your team except for on the game lobby screen prior to starting a match. This isn’t a huge deal but more of a small annoyance. Also if you join into a game in progress, which is the case most of the time, you get thrown into a match at a random wave. I can see how this would be a hard thing to avoid apart from creating a private match or a full squad of friends prior to starting a game, but anyone looking to try out multiplayer on their own is likely to be thrown into an ongoing fight. This doesn’t always happen, but the ability to choose a wave would’ve been a plus.

Overall I’d definitely say that the campaign is the strong point of Bulletstorm. Echoes mode and multiplayer are great as well but it’s hard to compare them to the fantastic experience I had playing the main story. It’s exciting, well-paced, and offers a brand new twist to the FPS genre. People Can Fly and EPIC games have certainly scored big with this one. If all this just isn’t enough for you, keep in mind that this disc will gain you access to the Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta. It’s no doubt a win-win situation. If you’re still on the fence about picking this game up, do yourself a favor and indulge. You will certainly not be disappointed.