Bulletstorm runs out of ammo…fast

You're gonna need a bigger gun buddy.

The video game world is mired in first-person shooters. Bulletstorm enters the fray with guns blazing, but has a few added twists in an effort to set itself apart from the free-for-all of others in the genre.

But it’s merely an effort and nothing more. If games like Halo: Reach, Modern Warfare 2 and the Mass Effect series are a steak dinner, then Bulletstorm would fall under the category of a two-day-old Happy Meal. And not even the included toy can save it from mediocrity.

 

You can call that toy the leash accessory used to lasso enemies, items and the environment Wonder Woman-style. The leash can be used to suspend enemies in mid-air to pull off different skill shots for more currency used to upgrade your arsenal. Being as creative as you can in your killing spree gets rewarded, like booting a foe into a cactus, down a chasm or into man-eating plants. There’s a good number of these skill shots to pull off in the game, but you’ll likely stick with the standards to push the story along.

 

It’s fun accomplishing these violent feats of danger at first, like picking up a cheesy action movie at Blockbuster and passing on The Shawshank Redemption. But the novelty wears off fast. Maybe this would have agreed with me more 10 years ago, but it seems as though my tastes have matured. As in, I’d rather The Shawshank Redemption with a few explosions.

 

The story is pretty standard fare. Our hero, ex-soldier Grayson Hunt, is out for revenge on his former, asshole general for sending his team on missions to take out innocent people in order to quell any discontent. In his thirst for revenge, however, he does just as much or more damage – a fact pointed out by the general at the end of the game. You’re accompanied by your buddy Ishi, who gets badly damaged at the beginning of the story and needs to be reconstructed with robotic parts. He struggles with his robot side at times, but the act was unconvincing.

 

Bulletstorm has the most profanity-laden dialogue in game history. I’m not against this at all, but it does get crammed down your throat at times and isn’t done intelligently. When lines like ‘I’m going to kill your dick’ get tossed around, you know they were trying too hard to be outlandish. I admit, I chuckled a few times, but more at the witty quips from the grizzled, Tim Allen-sounding protagonist.

 

Graphically, the game stands up pretty well. The environments vary from a destroyed resort city to underground passages. There are explosions galore, but after a while, you notice a glaring trend. The heroes survive a catastrophic explosion that would surely kill your standard soldier at the end of every act. Like, every act. It got ridiculous fast.

 

The highlight of the game by far was getting to control a giant, monster robot, destroying enemies in your wake. If I packed it in after that, I think I would have been content.

 

Bulletstorm tries to offer something different in the FPS genre, but different doesn’t always translate to fun. The novelty of the ‘kill with skill’ gameplay wears thin and what’s left is just another action game.

Bulletstorm gets 5.5 original, VHS copies of The Shawshank Redemption out of 10.