Bulletstorm Xbox 360
User Score
7.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 364 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 280 out of 364
  2. Mixed: 38 out of 364
  3. Negative: 46 out of 364

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  1. Dyskresiac
    Feb 25, 2011
    4
    There used to be a flavor of Campbell's Soup at Hand that tasted like a Taco. Your first sip, you got really excited. "Wow, this really DOES taste like a taco." And as you drink it, you start to realize that drinking a taco is basically the same thing as sucking up all the grease and fat from the bottom of your pan.

    Bulletstorm goes out, and hits you in the face with this stylized kill    ing mechanic that makes the game feel very unique. The way the plot is set up is thrilling. And it excites you. Yet, you eventually find yourself going through the motions just as you would in any other shooter. Then everything else turns into a crude Gears of War with worse dialogue and plot- and that's not a fanboyism. It doesn't even try to be anything other than a clone.

    Yes, the kill system is unique. It could have been executed so much better had it not been your average "Only one way to go, keep going forward, just shoot everything" shooter. I'm amazed at how many reviews talk about how unique this game is. Chances are they made the review the day they go it and before it started collecting dust on their shelves.

    Oh well. I didn't buy it. (Thank god.) Rented it. I suggest you do the same.    … Expand
  2. go4fps
    Feb 22, 2011
    1
    i just cannot see the excitement for this game. It is fun for a very short time. Games have to offer much more. This game lacks on almost everything what a blockbuster game needs. The multiplayer is a joke actually. I am sorry, but i am really disappointed by this game.
  3. Ares55
    Mar 19, 2011
    4
    This game was great! I had a good time with it. You can't expect a masterpiece, but if you are looking for a short game which is fun, i would totally recommend you this game. It offers challenges for hardcore gamers, which are called echo missions. In these mission you can replay scenes from the game, but now there is a timer and your game-play gets rated with stars.
    This game is nothing t    oo special , but you shouldn't miss it , if you like short and fun games… Expand
  4. Wesker500
    Jan 18, 2012
    1
    Thank God EB Games lets you return the games you dislike for a full refund and Thank God again that this game didn't profit so there's no sequel because I was massively disappointed in this game, I was staring blank at the screen the whole time, didn't even chuckle and I don't ever want to see this god awful game again and I'm so glad the sequel will never see light of day.
  5. gypsygib
    May 1, 2011
    2
    The the story is bad, the gameplay is extremely bland, the AI is horrible and it actually involves less skill than the majority of FPS games out there. The controles are very limited and the game becomes so repetitive that even getting through the campaign is a chore. I definitely do not recommend this game, it's simply just not good at all.
  6. CROSSEYEDJIM
    Mar 26, 2011
    4
    I'm going to put this bluntly. Bulletstorm is not good. It's not even decent. It's downright bad, and I find the ludicrously high critic scores for it to be compelling evidence of a disturbing trend of lauding big games just because they're big and have a big name attached to them, in this case Epic. I'll start with the good parts. The graphics are really quite good; the texture work is done well and the game has that signature polished metal look that most games Epic has been involved in share. The lighting is fantastic, though that is to be expected from the Unreal Engine at this stage. The sound is also good, with guns sounding suitably powerful and ambient noise doing a nice job of setting the stage. The soundtrack, however, is lifeless, mundane, and generally weak. It does nothing for the game, and in more than a few instances I found myself wondering aloud why they would include such awful, mediocre music. The bad doesn't stop there, either. The story is horrendous. I'm not sure who came up with the idea to actually pen a story that tries to take itself seriously in a game like Bulletstorm, but they should be fired. The opening scene involves you and a redneck partner stumbling around your ship drunk while interrogating a hostage and eventually assaulting a much larger capital ship. The whole opening is laughable and the only demographic that will find it interesting or funny is the slack-jawed frat boys who like anything if it has to do with drinking. The story then proceeds to try to tell a touching story of redemption and revenge through the lens of an awful and completely unlikeable protagonist, whose name I can't even be bothered to remember now. There are some failed attempts at humor, but for the most part the game seems to actually think it has something meaningful to say. Bulletstorm would have been better had the entire story been removed from the game. I never even bothered finishing it - a true rarity for me - because I couldn't have cared any less about the world, characters, or "mission." Unfortunately, the awful story is backed by some of the worst writing I've ever heard. The script sounds as if it was composed by middle school students who are just beginning to experiment with cussing. I can't even repeat most of it here, but suffice it to say that about 75% of the dialogue is a pathetic attempt to string together swear words, sexual organs, and bodily functions into barely coherent insults. It isn't funny, it isn't cute, and it can't be classified as anything but awful. Even more unfortunate for Bulletstorm is its immense failure to capitalize on its one major draw: the skillshots. These kills range from kicking an enemy and then shooting him in the genitals/anus (of course), to sliding into him and knocking him into a conveniently placed spike wall. They are enjoyable for the first level or so (you don't even unlock them until an hour or so into the campaign), but quickly devolve into tedium due to the fact that the pretty pop ups telling you what you did and displaying the huge points you got for doing it soon shrivel up into withered little +10s that are about as satisfying to look at as a plank of wood. Go ahead, Bulletstorm, make a sex joke. I'll wait... Ostensibly this is to force you to use new moves. Seeing which moves have to be done to get back to the dopamine-producing pretty lights, however, involves pausing the game and scrolling through a list of dozens of possible kills. In a game designed to be focused on action and gunplay, the decision to force players out of the action every ten seconds or so baffles me. It completely breaks any immersion that the game had gong for it (which wasn't much due to the bland enemies and laughable AI), and it sucks all the life out of the action. It's like going grocery shopping with bullets. Look at list, complete action, look at list again. This is one of the most poorly thought out mechanics I've seen in recent years, and it kills any value the game had. Why not let the satisfying kill pop-ups continue and simply give more points for unique kills? Why inhibit the only good feature in the game? I certainly don't know. Beyond the poor campaign, Bulletstorm offers no real multiplayer. It does offer a horde-like cooperative mode that can be fun from time to time, but really just boils down to a less-than-innovative twist on a mode Epic has done before. The other option is Echo mode, which essentially just funnels you through the most action packed levels in the story and compares your scores and times against others on a leaderboard. This had potential, but again it is limited by either forced and frequent list checking or simple memorization. I had high hopes for this game, and I'm sad to report that it has failed miserably to live up to them. Apparently some like the game for reasons I don't understand, but I recommend avoiding it at all costs. SKIP.… Expand
  7. DanKageakaTeamK
    Feb 23, 2011
    1
    Take the retarded cousin of Gears or War and the Unreal series, and give it a gun. The graphics are the only nice thing about this, and thats being generous. The story is what gets me, and when you add a point system for deaths on top of that, you lose me. With SO many other great FPS games out there, Id skip this one.
  8. mafiaalexpt
    Feb 24, 2011
    1
    simply a game that does not function in all the aspects where not to jump is most evident ................................................................................................................................................................
  9. PavelKKK
    Feb 23, 2011
    1
    i played this game but it was not was i was expecting at all. Singleplayer is very cheap, multiplayer does not exist. It is a shame it could have been a good game. The offering is not worth the money and i will try to sell it ASAP.
  10. TheReaper
    May 28, 2011
    3
    This game lacks soul and i just don't like it at all. Yes the graphic are good , yes the enemy deaths are elaborate but in a nut shell it poor single player game with an even worse co-op mode. BUY Borderlands instead.
  11. JDAWGNIT
    Apr 29, 2011
    0
    total trash. slow motion isnt a very good game mechanic. ur surly robo partners awful dialogue? omg is it bad. u almost have to play this game to truly appreciate how awful it is, just dont buy it or EA will never learn. like theres 4 guns but ur always outta ammo, they dont work very well, and the power ups are super lame. the tractor beam whip thing doesnt even work on half the enemies, so i didnt bother with it. the combo kills, which are the games gimmick, are really just a chore. the online is attrocious, just horrible, i nerdrage quit halfway in, its just ppl spamming the "get over here" whip thing. the voice acting is like a half aborted larynx. very pretty though. one of the prettiest POS ever.… Expand
  12. SpunkyMonkey
    Aug 23, 2012
    2
    This is one boring and repetitive game. BS starts off absolutely superbly with an action packed, testosterone fueled intro that leads you to believe you're gonna be in for one hell of a ride, but you are quickly bought back down to earth when you try to get your teeth into some real action. You see, for all the scenic grandeur, epicn-ess and trashy marine-talk that the game offers the gameplay itself is very dull and very gimmicky. For the brief moments where combat plays like a real shooter it can get very exciting, but these moments make up 1% of the game with a stupid slow-mo "bulletkick" and the "creativity of you kills" being a tiresome gimmick which the whole game is based around and which just bogs it down. The mechanics work well enough, but there were just so many moments in the game where I though "I wish I could just cut through the BS and enjoy the game". Enemy AI is dire and, as with so many other games, you can hide away whilst your team-mate goes and kills everyone for you. Throw a mish-mashed, bloated, & poor plot into the bag and you've a game to definitely avoid. As gimmicky as games get and very, very poor for it.… Expand
  13. killzone3
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    Game is rubbish and generic,just cheesy as hell and very short,there is no multiplayer,just online co-op playing against computer AI,loads of bugs n glitches in the 360 version so if your gonna buy this game get the ps3 version.
  14. MrReviewer
    Mar 10, 2011
    4
    More generic FPS boredom for the already gigantic pile available on the market, the promised "innovation" of stylish kills wears thin fast, as all it really consists of, is kicking enemies into spikes and other random scenery. The campaign is painfully short, the only thing that this game is worth praising about are the visuals, which are crisp and the environments are nice, but otherwise, please avoid if you are tired of generic FPS games.… Collapse
  15. Mofatts
    Mar 23, 2011
    2
    First things first, i copied this game from someone elses computer during a lan party, so i paid zero dollars.
    I started playing this game expecting it to be fun, i heard from my friends it was really fun and had funny dialogue. 15 mins in i literally was bored, theres no real challenge in pulling off any of the skillkills since the game freezes anything you kick for 2 handholding seconds     to make sure you don't hurt yourself. also it doesnt try to hide the fact that it wants you to kill guys a certain way during different parts. one section it makes sure you are away of hotdog carts, and that you can kick them, there is no way not to know the existance of hotdog carts, or their ability to be kicked. or cactuses, which are comically huge and have 4 foot spikes that enemies home in on once they are kicked, Dark Messiah style. Weapons are a pretty standard affair of contraptions that kill people in the least sensible way.
    The ai is simply retarded, most guys will just run right at you, others just kinda stand still and shoot tiny bullets at your adamantine frame. The graphics are actually pretty dated, ut3 may still be pretty, but you can see the age marks on the terrain details. the plot is abysmal, though who didn't expect that?
    Now for the best part, the dialogue. Its hard to make a game where characters are funny and likable, they cant be too witty or too realistic, or else they're just boring. Bulletstorm does neither of those and makes a character who has both the wit and vocabulary of a 5th grader. Now pull up a carpet square children and lets imagine something. imagine that kid everyone thinks is funny, even though everything he says isn't funny to you and you hate his guts. That right there is the main character. Nothing he says is funny or imaginative, he might as well just spout out a random meme you've heard a million times every time he kills someone. Thats who you have to deal with through the length of the game. Also theres this lame asian character who plays the 'sane-person dealing with the trained ape' shtick, at least he just mumbles and you can never really hear him, he also doesn't even do damage to anyone, he just blindfires in their general direction. oh, yeah, speaking of damage. like i said before, Grey's armor/entire being is coated in some kind of anti-bullet creme that lets him laugh in the face of guns (This was on hard mode), so don't worry about dying.

    Ima wrap this up. Bottom line: i didn't even pay for this game and i dont even have the will to play it. If you want a substitute, just play UT3 and yell out 'piss-dick' every time something interesting happens.    … Expand
  16. MRMike90
    Jun 26, 2011
    4
    Now that this game has been out for awhile I realize like many people already have that this game gets really boring and repetitive after awhile. Even though there are "so many ways to kill your enemies," I found it to all be the same. It's pretty much you either shoot him, kick him into something, or pull him towards you with a leash and then shoot or kick him. The campaign was good but I thought it was a little bit short, and the multiplayer is one of the most repetitive that I've played on an Xbox 360. This game is worth renting if you want to kill a few hours, but definitely not worth buying.… Expand
  17. steffon
    Sep 21, 2011
    2
    In short: this game is failure, because is for 12 years old, but it has 18 rating...
    Also it seems painkillers guys wanted to make painkiller like game, but Epic said no, make it more like Gears of War... so for example, in game when main reason is you killing for points, you also get two AI sidekicks... wtf? Also BS is very scripted, almost like on rails, with no replayablity. Gameplay is     boring, AI doesn't exist, monsters are scripted, there unnecessary cutscenes, with unnecessary foul language.… Expand
  18. CrimsonWraith
    Apr 3, 2012
    2
    I was not at all impressed with it. There was practically no storyline, the characters did not interest me in the least, and I simply did not find the "humor" in it to be funny, at all. The skillshot system is an interesting concept, but I think it could have been done a whole lot better. If you are looking for something different with a bit of innovation, you may want to give it a rental, but do not go into the game with high hopes. I personally think that you are better off with just about any other first-person shooter on the market right now.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
84 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 83 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 77 out of 83
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 83
  3. Negative: 0 out of 83
  1. DailyGame
    Dec 12, 2011
    75
    Not a bad game, but also not a great one that misses the mark on a few levels, most notably the dialog for this gamer. I am sure there's a target market out there who eats this type of language up, and will be mimicking what they hear for a while, but sadly I am not this market.
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  2. Videogameszone.de
    May 24, 2011
    85
    Bulletstorm is not only offering a lot of enemies to shoot. We did not expect such good character development and such an entertaining story.
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  3. GamingTrend
    May 10, 2011
    84
    I guess the question really comes down to whether Bulletstorm is worth your hard-earned gaming dollar. If you're a single-player campaign person, there is a fun and engaging story to be found. If you're into the multiplayer scene, I'd highly recommend getting the full version (you may want to calculate your new cost vs. used cost + 800 points). It is definately worth playing ... the question you need to answer for yourself is whether it's worth owning.
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