[Review] Bulletstorm

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Bulletstorm is a 2011 first-person shooter video game developed by Polish developer People Can Fly and the American company Epic Games, and is published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The game was released on February 22, 2011 in North America and on February 25, 2011 in Europe.

The game is distinguished by its sense of style and crass humor as well as excessive violence and profanity, rewarding players with points for performing increasingly ludicrous and creative kills. Bulletstorm does not have any competitive multiplayer modes, preferring instead to include cooperative online play as well as score attack modes.

Upon release, the game received positive reviews from critics who praised the game's voice acting, characters, graphics, action, soundtrack, humor and storyline, but has amassed a great deal of controversy following its release. Bulletstorm was a commercial failure for both Epic Games and Electronic Arts. A remastered version, Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition published by Gearbox Software, was released on April 7, 2017 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Steam. A Nintendo Switch version, with all previous DLC included, titled Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch Edition will be released in Q3 2019.

While so many other remasters feel like exercises in nostalgia or an excuse to squeeze some more dough from an old warhorse, Bulletstorm deserves this second chance. Developed by Epic Games and People Can Fly, it was released in 2011 to the general bewilderment of a public wanting more Battlefield and Call of Duty. With EA’s marketing muscle behind it, it was never going to flop, but it never reached the mass audience that could have taken it to heart.

Sure, on the surface Bulletstorm looks dumb, like an FPS designed by Gears of War fans who were concerned that their favourite series was growing too intellectual. Its attitude to violence and women could be seen as problematic, while there’s something deeply adolescent about its musclebound heroes, space fantasy locations, dodgy gags and appetite for gore. Yet Bulletstorm is actually a smarter shooter than it at first appears; a precursor to last year’s awesome Doom reboot in many ways.  

True, your protagonist, Grayson Hunt, seems like another one of Epic’s meat-head space marines, while the plot – escape a savage planet and take revenge on his corrupt commander – is hardly cliché-free. Yet Bulletstorm rarely takes itself too seriously and openly revels in its mindlessness. It knows its genre, its audience, and how to get the most from both.

Game Story

Bulletstorm takes place in the 26th century, where the universe is run by the Confederation of Planets. Grayson Hunt (Steven Blum) is the leader of Dead Echo, a black ops team under command of Star General Earl Sarrano (Anthony De Longis). Following Sarrano's orders and assassinating alleged criminals, Dead Echo kills a man known as Bryce Novak. Immediately after, they discover Novak was a civilian reporter, documenting civilian deaths caused by Dead Echo. Realizing they have been tricked by Sarrano, Grayson and his team desert and become space pirates on the run from Sarrano's forces.

Ten years later, Grayson commands a ship with his old teammates, Ishi Sato (Andrew Kishino), Rell Julian (Chris Cox), and Dr. Whit Oliver (Robin Atkin Downes). He spots Sarrano's battlecruiser, the Ulysses near the planet of Stygia. In a drunken rage, he attacks and rams the Ulysses. The ships collide and crash land on the surface of Stygia, critically wounding Ishi.

To save Ishi, Grayson and Rell leave the ship to find an energy cell for the ship's medical equipment. On the planet, a former po[CENSORED]r tropical-like resort, the po[CENSORED]tion has mutated into feral tribes and carnivorous plants. Grayson reaches one of the Ulysses escape pods, and retrieves the pod's energy cell, and a device called an "instinct leash." The leash provides him with strange tactile information, such as points for each enemy he kills. Grayson and Rell return with the energy cell, and Doc begins replacing several of Ishi's body parts with cybernetics, including an AI processor for parts of his brain. In the middle of the operation, the mutants attack their ship, killing Doc, Rell, and leaving Ishi a disfigured cyborg.

Grayson and Ishi decide to work together to get off the planet, despite Ishi's disapproval of Grayson's thirst for revenge. Throughout the game, the AI processor in Ishi's brain takes over several times, fueled by his anger at Grayson's selfish and reckless actions which killed their teammates and put them in danger.

The instinct leash leads Grayson to another escape pod, where they find Trishka (Jennifer Hale), a Final Echo soldier. She agrees to work with Grayson and Ishi under the condition that they rescue Sarrano. As they battle through the ravaged city, Trishka explains that Stygia has been used by Final Echo as a training ground. The instinct leash is a means of ranking the user. Only by scoring kills can the soldier get more ammunition and supplies to survive. Upon learning that Trishka was Novak's daughter, Grayson tells her that Sarrano was responsible for her father's death, but lies about his involvement.

The three fight their way to Sarrano's escape pod, which landed on a skyscraper. Trishka accuses Sarrano of her father's death, but he pushes her off the building. Sarrano then warns Grayson and Ishi of an armed "DNA bomb" on the Ulysses that will wipe out all life on the planet. He urges them to disarm it as his rescue ship will not arrive in time.

As they travel to the Ulysses, Sarrano explains that prison convicts were used as the labor force to maintain the planet. They rebelled when toxic byproducts, created by the planet's solar radiation shields, were dumped in the underground prison. The convicts destroyed the shields, exposing the entire po[CENSORED]tion to mutating radiation. Aboard the Ulysses, Sarrano tricks Grayson and Ishi into arming what was actually an inert bomb, and leaves. As fire breaks out aboard the fallen ship, the two are saved by Trishka, who survived the fall.

The three race to Sarrano's rescue ship and get on board. They fight through Sarrano's elite troops and eventually confront him. Trishka demands to know who killed her father, and Sarrano reveals Grayson's squad carried out the order. As the heroes argue, Sarrano hijacks Ishi's computer systems and forces Ishi to turn on his friends. Grayson manages to break Sarrano's control, and Ishi sacrifices himself to save his teammate. Enraged, Grayson impales Sarrano on the debris sticking out of the wall. Sarrano, still alive, ejects Grayson and Trishka out of the rescue ship.

Grayson and Trishka race back to the Ulysses and board an unused escape pod. They launch it into low orbit, then the explosion of the DNA bomb propels the pod into space. Inside the pod, the two talk about Grayson's revenge, the loss of his team, and Sarrano's escape. Trishka asks Grayson what he is going to do about Sarrano escaping, and the screen fades to black.

In a post-credits scene, it is revealed that Sarrano was revived as a cyborg. Ishi also survives and is now taken over by the AI processor.

Its secret weapons are the boot and the ‘instinct leash’, the latter discovered within the opening section of the game. Bulletstorm is a game where enemies come at you thick and fast, and where ammo is in scarce enough supply that killing all of them at a distance isn’t an option. Instead you learn to kick onrushing foes before they reach you, sending them flying for a second of slow-mo into the air. This gives you ample opportunity to shoot them in the kisser.

The leash, meanwhile, is one handy high-tech whip. You can use it to grab certain objects or explosive barrels, but also grab foes – even when they’re lurking behind cover – and drag them flying through the air towards you. And if you happen to lash out with your foot as they near? Well, that hurls them back the other way. Why not shoot them to make sure they don’t come back?

Together the foot and leash make a cool core mechanic, but what makes Bulletstorm brilliant is the concept of the skillshot. Kill one or more enemies in a creative, stylish fashion and you’ll rack up points that can be spent on ammo and upgrades. Some skillshots can be pulled off anywhere, just by combining the leash and the boot with gunplay and taking a cheap headshot, or anywhere-else-shot (you can probably guess what the Rear Entry skillshot means).

Gameplay

As a first-person shooter, Bulletstorm focuses on combat. There are a variety of fictional firearms available, each with distinct behavior, from a pistol to a cannon that shoots a bolas weighted by grenades. Each weapon has an "alternate fire" mode which uses "charges"; for example, the assault rifle's "charge shot" is a single volley of bullets that destroy almost everything in its path.

Much of the story and gameplay puts focus on the "energy leash", a rope of energy projected from a device on Grayson's left hand. The leash allows him to pull enemies towards him, activate certain devices and traps, and slam down a ball of energy that launches all nearby enemies into the air. The player can also kick enemies or run and slide into them. If an enemy is launched into the air from the whip or by being kicked/slid into, he goes into slow motion, allowing players to perform skillshots.

"Skillshot" is one of the game's unique features in which it rewards the player for killing opponents in the most creative and destructive ways possible. Points are rewarded by various actions, such as killing enemies in midair, making use of environmental hazards or utilizing a weapon's distinct feature. The more complicated or unusual the skillshot, the more points players acquire. Points are used as currency at "dropkits" scattered across the planet to purchase firearms, ammunition and upgrades. The dropkits include a shop, a skillshot checklist, and gameplay statistics.

The player can carry up to three firearms, the assault rifle is the default one and is always carried. Bulletstorm uses a recharging health system, in which damage to the player is reflected by the screen turning red, and the player quickly returns to full health when not taking damage.

Others make use of our old friend, the exploding barrel, obliterating suicidal goons or – better still – a range of environmental hazards. Big drops, spikey cacti, huge fans, sharp edges, loose electric cabling, high-voltage signs; all are grist to your destructive mill.

The more spectacular your ultra-violence, the better equipped you become to pull off more. I’m not really sure what message Bulletstorm is sending, but it definitely makes for a gruesomely entertaining FPS. Weirdly, it’s so cartoon in its violence that it doesn’t even feel as sadistic as some of Call of Duty’s most brutal episodes.   

Your two mainstays are backed up by an impressive array of other weapons, each seemingly designed for maximum bloodshed and mindless destruction, each bearing a charged secondary fire mode. We’ll all have our favourites, from the grenade launcher with its bouncing bombs to the sniper file with steerable bullets and that spectacular gun that shoots missiles that bore their way through your target. Together they make for one of most entertaining arsenals in a shooter this side of Insomniac’s Resistance games or Doom.

The enemies you face are very much tuned for the kind of game Bulletstorm is. You get a few who hang around behind cover, begging to be leashed, but a large number will charge relentlessly towards you; others wander around bearing heavy weapons, or sneak about taking pot-shots with their whiz-bang, firework-blasting guns.

And while normally heavily armed and armoured foes are one of my FPS pet hates, Bulletstorm makes these encounters challenging and enjoyable, giving each one a weakness to be exploited and the chance to rip their armour from them with the leash. It feels good when these bullies finally go down.

Development

Development began in June 2007. In 2008, Electronic Arts announced that it would be publishing a new IP from independent game developer Epic Games. A trademark for the name "Bulletstorm" was revealed when game developer People Can Fly filed a trademark for the name in December 2009. Epic Games designer Cliff Bleszinski was originally scheduled to announce the game alongside Gears of War 3 during an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2010. However, his appearance was delayed to April 12, 2010 after his slot was taken by pop singer Justin Bieber. Soon after Bleszinski announced on social networking website Twitter that he would be announcing two games on the show on April 12, 2010. However, the game was revealed before the scheduled appearance when gaming magazine Game Informer released its May 2010 issue which revealed the game on its cover.

On December 17, 2010, two months prior to its release, Epic Games announced that there would be a limited edition for Bulletstorm exclusively for Xbox 360 known as the Epic Edition. The Epic Edition includes bonus in-game content for Bulletstorm when playing online, including 25,000 experience points, visual upgrades for the leash, Peace Maker Carbine, boots and armor as well as access to the multiplayer beta of Gears of War 3.

On January 14, 2011, Electronic Arts announced that a demo of the game would be available on January 25, 2011 for the Xbox 360 and on January 26, 2011 for the PlayStation 3. No demo was announced to be planned for the PC, which was described as odd by some reviewers, especially for an unproven video game franchise. It was remarked that Mark Rein, vice president and co-founder of Epic Games, previously described Bulletstorm as "a full-blown, oh-my-god amazing PC game". Following this announcement, Cliff Bleszinski, producer for the game, wrote a tweet on January 14, 2011 about how the demo was only for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which was considered by game reviewers as a way of making fun of PC players. Both Mark Rein and the official developer blog later stated that a PC demo would still happen. The PC demo was finally released on April 4 on Steam and Games for Windows – Live, and featured the same level as the console versions.

On January 30, 2011, Destructoid discovered that the Electronic Arts disclosure page for the game announced that a permanent internet connection was required to play. Adrian Chmielarz, a designer at People Can Fly, denied it on his Twitter page.

Remastered Version

Materials provided by Microsoft to the press ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2016 in June of that year included images that were claimed by the press of Bulletstorm with improved graphics, though Microsoft declined to comment, nor was any announcement of the game made at that time. According to Eurogamer, a reliable Brazilian retailer has included a listing for a remastered version of Bulletstorm to be released on Windows, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 in 2017; Gearbox Software is set to publish the title. The remastered version was revealed during The Game Awards 2016 in December. Entitled the "Full Clip Edition" and being published by Gearbox Software, the remastered version is set for release on April 7, 2017 for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The remastered version will increase texture resolution and include support for 4K resolutions on Windows and the PlayStation 4 Pro, and will include additional content created by People Can Fly. This includes the Overkill Campaign Mode, which starts the players with access to all the game's weapons, and six new Echo maps. Those that preorder the game get access to the Duke Nukem’s Bulletstorm Tour downloadable content, allowing players to play as Duke Nukem with a re-recorded script and new voice lines recorded by Jon St. John. Gearbox' Randy Pitchford explained that the remastered version will not be a free update for those that already own the game on the Windows platform, as the license is still held with Electronic Arts and they only secured the rights to help People Can Fly create the remaster, in addition to issues in transitioning from the discontinued Games for Windows Live platform.

Now, nobody wants to go back to the days when all shooters were such linear, heavily orchestrated efforts, but playing Bulletstorm reminds you why these games still work. It’s a theme-park ride full of tough and fun encounters, punctuated with spectacular set-pieces and even the odd boss battle.

It isn’t hard to see the rigging or the way these run on rails, but racing through the desert on a railway pursued by a gargantuan spiked wheel is pretty cool. The same goes for – of all things – a turret sequence where you tackle hordes of goons, their mini-copters and a Godzilla-sized monster to boot.

There are even some more inventive sequences, including one that gives you the remote for a radio-controlled monster with laser-beam eyes and a nice line in clawing and smashing. It’s one thing to make the action so breathless, but Bulletstorm has some imagination too.

There are some tricks it’s missing. Grayson isn’t the most acrobatic hero and his inability to jump or vault over all but a few, clearly marked barriers soon becomes wearing. Clicking down the left-stick to duck behind cover isn’t intuitive, and we’d love to see a sequel combining Bulletstorm’s attitude and killshots with the kind of movement we’re seeing in Titanfall 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops III or Destiny.

The Full Clip edition includes Bulletstorm’s Anarchy and Echoes modes, complete with all the post-launch DLC. The former is the main multi-player component and your classic wave-battling horde mode. We’ve had precious little chance to try it before launch, but on the Xbox 360 it was slick and a lot of fun.

Echoes mode is more a timed, score attack mode, re-staging bite-sized chunks of the campaign as single-player challenges with a final killscore you can post to the leaderboard and compare with friends. It’s an addictive, enjoyable little arcade FPS mode and a smart way to expand the single-player lifespan once the campaign is done.

Marketing

In January 2011, a viral video for Bulletstorm was released, parodying the Halo 3 "Believe" diorama. Television advertisements were aired on major networks and blocks such as Spike TV and Adult Swim. This was followed up in February with the release of Duty Calls, a free downloadable PC game that parodies the Call of Duty series, as well as general first-person shooter clichés. Film director John Stalberg, Jr. was hired to shoot two short films and four 30 second commercial spots that aired on the game's launch program on G4 network. The short films star R. Lee Ermey and comedian Brian Posehn.

Downloadable Content

Gun Sonata

On February 22, 2011, Electronic Arts announced Gun Sonata, the first downloadable content (DLC) for Bulletstorm. The DLC was released on April 14, 2011 on PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace, and on May 19, 2011 on Games for Windows Marketplace. The content includes three "Anarchy" maps, two "Echo" missions and two "Leash" colors and adds five achievements/trophies (on Games for Windows – Live/Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, respectively).

Blood Symphony

Blood Symphony was released on June 10, 2011 on Games for Windows Marketplace and Xbox Live Marketplace, and in July 2011 on the PlayStation Store. The content includes two "Echoes" maps, three "Anarchy" maps, a new mode called "The Ultimate Echoes" and five additional achievements/trophies.

is a eight-year-old game and very much of its time, and it isn’t hard to see its vintage in the scenery and character design. However, Bulletstorm was one of the best-looking shooters of 2011, its vibrant alien planet setting always looked fantastic and the remastering team at Gearbox has done a fabulous job of upscaling textures and enhancing the effects and lighting.

The end result is a game that doesn’t look at all shabby by modern standards; not quite up there with The Coalition’s sterling work on Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, but really not far off.

Having said that, there’s one enhancement we could have done without. The Duke Nukem Bulletstorm World Tour pre-order bonus shoehorns the Duke into Bulletstorm’s storyline, complete with (slightly) revised cut-scenes and voicework from the iconic Jon St. John. Sadly, it’s pretty woeful stuff: badly written and unfunny, and stretched to the limits when it comes to working with the existing material.

It actually manages something miraculous: it leaves you feeling even worse about 3D Realms’ classic hero than you did already. Do yourself a favour and keep the option turned off.

The Verdict

While it isn’t quite the neglected classic some claim, Bulletstorm was always a fantastic, hugely entertaining FPS. Nothing about that has changed: this remaster does a good job of bringing the visuals more up to date, and if you’re an FPS lover and haven’t played it, you really should.

Requirements

Minimum:

OS: Win Xp 32
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8GHz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3600+
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 2400 Pro or NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS
System Memory: 1.5 GB RAM
Storage: 9 GB Hard drive space
DirectX 9 Compatible Graphics Card

Recommended:

OS: Win Xp 32
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6400 2.13GHz / AMD Athlon II X3 440
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 4870 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
System Memory: 2 GB RAM
Storage: 9 GB Hard drive space