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by Jerry Whorebach 02/27/2012, 8:47am PST |
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My claim that the entire game felt like a tutorial wasn't meant as a knock against the difficulty. It was meant as a knock against the lack of agency. The jump button is a perfect example: Bulletstorm doesn't have one. Here's a game in which you probably jump a hundred times over the course of the campaign, and every time it's treated as a little QTE. Most of the time you'll be pressing the Run button (A) to vault over Bulletstorm's bizarrely inappropriate 'speed bumps'. Other times, you'll be pressing the Reload button (X) to make dramatic leaps off 'collapsing' (not-really-collapsing) structures, or out of (what you're informed are) untenable situations, events that might as well be cutscenes for all the say you have in where you'll end up (none). The vast, sweeping vistas you're presented with at every opportunity only serve to make the corridors feel even more constricted and artificial, as if you're constantly running along a very narrow road carved into the side of a very steep mountain. The worst part is, you get the impression the enemies are just as much victims of the designers' whims as you are. They show up when they're scripted to, give a half-hearted little combat bark, then mostly stand around waiting for you to dick-kick them into a cactus or something. It's almost pathetic :(
Another issue for me was the regenerating health. I have no problem with regenerating health in principle; in fact, I rather like the idea of going into every combat encounter with full resources, just so the game is free to throw everything it's got at you all the time. What I do have a problem with is Bulletstorm's specific implementation, which ensures you spend two-thirds of your time in combat with a screen covered in strawberry jam, and half of that with an obnoxious TAKE COVER flashing in the middle. If you're already taking fire, do you really need to have your visibility compromised as well? Granted, the regeration is fast enough once you do hunker down, but constantly being punished for not hiding enough has a way of making even the most intense firefights less fast and furious than they probably should be.
I should stress at this point that Bulletstorm isn't a bad game. The controls are comfortable and responsive (despite a slightly shaky framerate on 360) and the combat is appropriately gory, with plenty of satisfying environmental kills. The Flail Gun in particular is fantastic, firing explosive bolos you can wrap around your target's legs or neck, and goes a long way towards making up for the fairly pedestrian arsenal you'll probably end up using for most of the game (PROTIP: assault rifle, shotgun, and sniper rifle are a predictably flexible loadout). The Leash is a somewhat fresh take on "huge ungainly invisible physics arm" (even if I'm not entirely sure why it has the power to slow down time), while the first-person kick attack is a class leader. As I said before, the writing is pleasantly stupid. Maybe you'd find it less charming if you didn't imagine every silent protagonist in one of these games as an amoral daredevil retard with a foul mouth and a heart of gold ANYWAY, but the laboured obscenity was probably the one aspect of Bulletstorm I enjoyed unreservedly.
So yeah, a couple bucks sounds like a fair price. |
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Has there ever been a game where a stamina meter really worked by Rafiki 02/19/2012, 9:50am PST 
It's sole purpose in Deus Ex: HR by fabio 02/19/2012, 10:38am PST
What's best is when your flashlight draws energy from the same pool O_O by Jerry Whorebach 02/19/2012, 8:32pm PST
I'm still pretty sure the worst is also dxhr by jeep 02/19/2012, 8:40pm PST
I'm still confused by the battery thing by fabio 02/19/2012, 10:01pm PST
Re: I'm still confused by the battery thing (spoilers) by Ice Cream Jonsey 02/20/2012, 10:42am PST
Re: I'm still confused by the battery thing (spoilers) by fabio 02/20/2012, 11:59am PST
Re: I'm still confused by the battery thing (spoilers) by Arbit 02/20/2012, 9:34pm PST
Re: I'm still confused by the battery thing (spoilers) by fabio 02/20/2012, 11:01pm PST
Re: I'm still confused by the battery thing (spoilers) by jeep 02/21/2012, 6:59am PST
You can use one unconscious guy to bait others and tran dart them one by one. by Worm 02/21/2012, 10:58am PST
No, Skyrim (or any Elder Scrolls game) by Arbit 02/20/2012, 9:01pm PST
Probably! On a SSD transitions tend to cut off mid-sound/animation/whatever. NT by Mischief Maker 02/19/2012, 8:47pm PST
Keep in mind, even REGULAR hard drives aren't standard equipment on consoles yet by Jerry Whorebach 02/19/2012, 9:34pm PST
They were on the original Xbox :( NT by Mischief Maker 02/20/2012, 1:14am PST
One of the reasons it was only in production for four years. HDDs are expensive! by And they don't get much cheaper. 02/20/2012, 1:38am PST
I'm playing Bulletstorm right now, and that game uses ACTUAL SPEEDBUMPS. by Jerry Whorebach 02/20/2012, 9:54pm PST
HOLY SHIT-PISS by Rafiki 02/21/2012, 8:02am PST
I'm halfway through the campaign on 'Very Hard', and I still feel like I'm in a by mandatory tutorial. 02/21/2012, 3:50pm PST
Finished the campaign. Maybe the other modes are better? by Jerry Whorebach 02/27/2012, 8:47am PST
What do you know, score attack mode is actually a little bit better. by Jerry Whorebach 03/02/2012, 5:56pm PST
Demon's Souls/Dark Souls? NT by Entropy Stew 02/19/2012, 9:54pm PST
This is correct. by Lizard_King 02/24/2012, 10:10am PST
fear 2 has a sprint meter by sdroa jists 02/24/2012, 2:41am PST
Jagged Alliance: Back in Action kicks you in the balls with stamina bullshit too by Eurotrash 02/24/2012, 9:33am PST
Do racing games count? by Last 02/24/2012, 9:56am PST
stamina meter goes on the pile with save points, cutscenes and...combat? by jeep 02/24/2012, 11:58am PST
Your ideas on games are pretty abhorent to me. by Arbit 02/24/2012, 1:28pm PST
He's the opposite of right NT by about everything 02/24/2012, 5:55pm PST
I don't spend a lot of time worrying about what tards think, but just this once by jeep 02/25/2012, 3:20pm PST
it wasn't an insult by about everything 02/25/2012, 9:27pm PST
oh well then thanks that's what I was going for from the start by jeep 02/26/2012, 8:58am PST
Why is he wrong? by Mysterio 02/24/2012, 9:45pm PST
Are games more like reading books (boo) or playing hockey (yay)? by Jerry Whorebach 02/25/2012, 2:50am PST
Here's a better(?) example. by Jerry Whorebach 02/25/2012, 6:10am PST
tl;dr - you don't fix boring games by making them less like games, you do it by NT by making them more like games. 02/25/2012, 6:23am PST
Jerry Whorebach: Ludologist by Let's Make Everything Into Games 02/26/2012, 5:39pm PST
A nerd who likes games is about the last thing you'd expect to find on-- by wait, where am I again? 02/26/2012, 6:19pm PST
Re: Why is he wrong? by Rafiki 02/25/2012, 9:10am PST
Don't think of it as a skip gameplay button then. by Mysterio 02/25/2012, 12:33pm PST
I think we might be talking about different things now by Rafiki 02/25/2012, 1:49pm PST
Re: I think we might be talking about different things now by jeep 02/26/2012, 9:14am PST
Re: I think we might be talking about different things now by Rafiki 02/27/2012, 1:51pm PST
I see what you're worried about but I don't think it's that big a risk by jeep 02/27/2012, 7:35pm PST
Out of hundreds, I've only played 3 (maybe 4) games whose story was "worth it." NT by Mischief Anachronism 02/27/2012, 1:58pm PST
True. Mostly I don't even remember plots, just certain scenes. by Last 02/27/2012, 2:29pm PST
same by jeep 02/27/2012, 6:46pm PST
"Think of it as adding a sandbox mode, then removing all the non-sandbox modes." by GAME GENIE 02/25/2012, 1:55pm PST
Re: stamina meter goes on the pile with save points, cutscenes and...combat? by Hans Clastorp 02/24/2012, 3:47pm PST
I knew when I put "combat" in people would get twitchy by jeep 02/25/2012, 5:08pm PST
Re: I knew when I put "combat" in people would get twitchy by Mischief Anachronism 02/25/2012, 6:55pm PST
How can you not like any Mario games? NT by Entropy Stew 02/25/2012, 11:46pm PST
Not challenging, setting is as bland and corporate as McDonaldland. NT by Mischief Anachronism 02/26/2012, 3:05am PST
The only excuse for not loving the NES version of original Super Mario Bros... by Jerry Whorebach 02/26/2012, 6:59am PST
You're partly right by Mischief Maker 02/29/2012, 9:08pm PST
If you were running for Difficulty Czar, you'd have my vote. by Jerry Whorebach 02/26/2012, 6:56am PST
re: ironman by jeep 02/26/2012, 8:57am PST
I wasn't being sarcastic. I wish every game had such a robust selection of by difficulty settings. 02/26/2012, 9:49am PST
you're still fucking with me right by jeep 02/26/2012, 10:20am PST
Oh, I see where the miscommunication came in. by Jerry Whorebach 02/26/2012, 11:31am PST
Re: Oh, I see where the miscommunication came in. by jeep 02/26/2012, 3:32pm PST
Re: I knew when I put "combat" in people would get twitchy by Hans Clastorp 02/27/2012, 3:28pm PST
I kind of liked the bit of The Void I played by jeep 02/27/2012, 8:14pm PST
How much do you think writers cost? by Jerry Whorebach 02/27/2012, 9:49pm PST
The problem with hiring decent writers isn't cost by fabio 02/28/2012, 7:44pm PST
american mcgee's the third policeman NT by jeep 02/28/2012, 7:52pm PST
Re: The problem with hiring decent writers isn't cost by Arbit 02/28/2012, 8:10pm PST
Re: The problem with hiring decent writers isn't cost by Arbit 02/28/2012, 8:11pm PST
LET'S BLAME THIS SHIT ON APPLE TOO NT by Arbit 02/28/2012, 8:12pm PST
Re: How much do you think writers cost? by jeep 02/28/2012, 7:49pm PST
Re: How much do you think writers cost? by Ice Cream Jonsey 02/29/2012, 10:18am PST
Wasteland 2? by laudablepuss 02/29/2012, 11:43am PST
Re: Wasteland 2? by jeep 02/29/2012, 1:13pm PST
It really is just ego by fabio 02/29/2012, 11:06am PST
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