Creating something new in the "shooter" genre is akin to flying into space. And People Can Fly manages to do it for the second time. After the thrilling Painkiller, the developers have delivered another excellent shooter — Bulletstorm. In terms of adrenaline, the game easily surpasses recent competitors!
Plot
Charismatic Grayson Hunt is a former captain of the special unit "Dead Echo". One fine day, he discovered that his own government had used him to eliminate people undesirable to the ruling elite, as well as those who knew too much. Outraged by such betrayal, he deserted from the army, taking his entire squad with him. As you can imagine, "specialists" of this caliber are never truly former, and the brave Captain Hunt now roams the galaxy on his cozy ship, occasionally raiding government caravans.
He would have continued drinking, robbing, and committing other immoral acts, but fate gave him a chance to settle the score with his main enemy — Admiral Sarrano. After crashing his ship into the pride and joy of the galaxy, the implacable foes end up on a planet that has suffered an ecological disaster. The population has mutated, and the infrastructure barely withstands natural pressures to avoid collapsing. The only survivor after the crash, his partner (Ishi), is half-zombified by artificial intelligence. In short, the situation is unenviable, and throughout the game, we will try to fix it.
Essentially, after a brief preview that I outlined above, the thrilling plot begins with the principle of run, shoot, whip, and kick everything that moves — and so it goes until the very end. As you progress, Hunt doesn't hesitate to communicate and comment on events, so blood, torn bodies, quips, and swearing flow continuously throughout the game. The playtime is calculated precisely — just as you get tired of one location, the next one loads, and the scriptwriters won't let you get bored!
Gameplay
As before, People Can Fly has prepared an extensive arsenal of weapons: in addition to the standard assault rifle and sniper rifle, there's a lot of exotic weaponry. Each gun has an additional mode besides the primary one; for example, the assault rifle uses a powerful incendiary round that incinerates enemies in a line, while the flail gun in alternate mode tears through everything in its path.
The gameplay is expanded by elements such as the whip and the ability to kick enemies. The whip allows you to pull enemies towards you, so you can then kick them into an abyss or onto spikes. You can also use the whip to grab an object and bring it down on enemies. As you progress, upgrading the protagonist by earning kill points will be useful — these points are used to buy ammo in the game and upgrade weapons. The system works excellently, as Hunt himself put it: "You've got a great natural selection, those who can't shoot well won't buy ammo."
Those who have completed the main campaign will be delighted with the Echo mode — that's where you can get extra adrenaline and fun! And for hardcore lovers, the developers have prepared four different difficulty levels.
Graphics
Who would have thought that the old Unreal Engine 3 could still deliver such quality visuals? Probably no one... but it can, and the developers have proven it! In addition to quality shadows and effects, the game delights with detailed textures. The level designers did an "excellent" job — the locations are large, vibrant, and the scenery vividly transports the player to another planet, right into the action.
Among the less obvious drawbacks, one can note some graphical roughness with the Unreal Engine 3 and unimplemented features (specifically jumping).
