If there’s one genre that’s become incredibly popular with modern gamers, it’s the first-person shooter. Ever since Doom first let us take on the hordes of Hell while wielding an arsenal that even Charlton Heston would have found overkill, gamers have delighted in committing virtual genocide against anything that moved (and even some things that didn’t). Naturally, developers have been all too happy to allow us to satiate our digitized bloodlust, and we’ve had no shortage of games letting us play one man wrecking crew in a variety of settings.
Of course, it goes without saying that with so many options to choose from, there are bound to be games that fall through the cracks. And one of the saddest casualties of this was none other than Bulletstorm. The result of a collaboration between People Can Fly (the designers of Painkiller, that game that gave you a gun that shot shurikens and lightning) and Epic Games (the ones behind Jazz Jackrabbit and some unimportant game called Gears of War, though I doubt anyone has heard of that one), Bulletstorm was a breath of fresh air in a genre that can sometimes feel a little stagnant.
So, what is it that made Bulletstorm so damn good? Well, that’s a good question. The first reason was the plot. You see, unlike in most other games where the plot is either tacked on to justify the carnage (You don’t like these guys? Here’s your gun.) or so idiotic that your brain tries to give itself an aneurysm out of despair (Hello Far Cry 3!), Bulletstorm managed to straddle a fine line between irreverent and mournful. In it, you play Grayson Hunt, former leader of a black ops team known as Dead Echo in the 26th Century.
Naturally (as required by law) Dead Echo learned that they had been tricked into murdering innocent people by their commander, and end up going rogue. The game then starts up 10 years later. Still led by Grayson, Dead Echo have become space pirates, while Grayson has become a drunken shell of his former self (as well as a grade A asshole). Stumbling upon the battlecruiser of their former commander, the (still drunk) Grayson ends up ordering his men into a literal suicide charge. In what any sane person could have predicted, things do not go well. Cue an emergency crash landing on the nearby planet Stygia, the death of most of the crew, Grayson’s best friend Ishi turned into a cyborg in a desperate bid to save his life, and the pissed off inhabitants of both the battlecruiser and the planet out for blood.
The game then proceeds to follow the fallout of this event, with Grayson hellbent on revenge and Ishi understandably pissed with Grayson’s drunken idiocy. Now, if Bulletstorm were any other game, it is at this point it would devolve into heavy handed symbolism and overly depressing writing. Thankfully though this is Bulletstorm, and what proceeds is several hours of some of the most gloriously immature and hilarious writing this side of South Park. Between some of the most creative insults ever recorded for a game (Butterdick Jones is a personal favorite), threats of dick killings, and Grayson’s own enthusiasm for mass slaughter, it would be hard for even the most puritanical of gamers to keep from laughing at least once during the game.
Now, in most games, this kind of tonal shift between the more serious subject matter and delightfully immature writing would clash. But in Bulletstorm it works, thanks in part to the over-the-top situations that Grayson and co. find themselves in, as well as the establishment early on of Grayson essentially being a drunken man-child. And some stellar voice work really helps sell everything, in particular industry veterans Steven Blum (Spike Spiegel, Wolverine, and Jamie from Megas XLR) and Jennifer Hale (FemShep, Fall-From-Grace, and Katnappe from Xiaolin Showdown) as Grayson and Trishka, respectively.
But enough about the writing. “What about the gameplay?” I hear you cry. Well, you are in luck, because it is in the gameplay that Bulletstorm truly shines. See, Bulletstorm isn’t like the other first-person shooters. It doesn’t matter if you kill your enemies. No, what matters is how awesomely you do it. And to that end, People Can Fly and Epic Games gives you some of the most brilliant and fantastic tools to unleash the most awesome mayhem imaginable. First up? The Energy Leash. The Leash is simplistic in concept, but beautiful in execution, and one of the most wonderful tools ever given to a gamer since Capcom first gave us Bionic Grappling Arms back in ’87.
Now you may be wondering, what makes it so great? Well, what makes it so fun is the way it lets you manipulate not just the surroundings, but enemies themselves. The Leash allows you to grab enemies or objects, briefly suspending them in slow motion. At this point, you have two options: yank ’em close (and then deliver a swift boot to the face to send them flying), or pound them on the ground (causing anything in a nearby radius to shoot up into the air and become suspended for several seconds). Impale enemies on sharp objects, kick them into the mouths of giant man eating plants, slam objects into them, send explosive barrels flying like makeshift missiles…the potential for creative anarchy is almost endless, especially thanks to the many (many) hazards littering Stygia.
Of course, the Leash is all well and good, but a FPS lives and dies on the strength of its weaponry. And once again Bulletstorm delivers. Oh boy does it deliver! You’ve got your standard FPS weapons, like the Peacemaker Carbine (assault rifle), Boneduster (shotgun), and Headhunter (Sniper Rifle), as well as much more exotic weapons such as the Flailgun (twin grenades attached by a chain), Penetrator (rocket powered drills!), and the Bouncer (cannonball launcher). However, even the standard weapons become delightfully insane thanks to the presence of the Alt-Fire modes.
Take the Peacemaker Carbine. While its standard mode works like your typical assault rifle, its Alt-Fire allows you to charge up and unleash a lance of burning hellfire combined with 100 bullets, leaving your enemy a charred skeleton and distant memory. The Boneduster? A quad barreled monstrosity with enough force to send enemies flying (or ripping them in two), and an Alt-Fire capable of tearing through cover. The Headhunter? Radio controlled bullets that can be steered to their target, and an Alt-Fire that allows you remote control said enemies. The Flailgun? Those grenade-bolas can be wrapped around enemies or objects, and the Alt-Fire superheats the chain so it can cut through enemies like a red hot Buster Sword through butter.
But the bloody cherry on this delicious murder sundae comes from Skillshots. Remember how I said the goal of Bulletstorm was to kill enemies as awesomely as possible? Skillshots are what enforce and reward this mantra. For every creative way that you “murderize” your enemies, you gain points. Send an enemy flying into a sharp object? Points. Hit a miniboss in the gut with a drill, and then kick it into them for extra damage? Points. Wrap an enemy with a flail, kick ’em into a group, and detonate it? More points! Those points can then be redeemed for weapon upgrades and more ammunition, which then allows you to get even more skillpoints, and so on and so on. Skillpoints can even be stacked, and points are multiplied by nailing multiple enemies at once. This results in a delightful rhythm of murder, mayhem, and upgrades that no other game can come close to matching.
Sadly, while Bulletstorm was a critical darling, the great reviews never translated into the sales it deserved. But while the chances of a sequel are low, there is a silver lining: the game can typically be found for under $20, particularly on Steam or the Xbox Marketplace. So if you have even the slightest interest in shooters, get it. It’ll be an experience you won’t soon forget.
Liquid was a community contributor to ICXM, writing 1 article in 2016 covering opinion pieces. ICXM operated as an independent Xbox and Windows gaming outlet through the run-up to Xbox One S and Project Scorpio, plus the broader Windows 10 gaming push, drawing from a rotating bench of editorial volunteers.