The most violent videogame ever? Bulletstorm

Recently branded ‘the worst video game in the world’ by Fox News, Bulletstorm is gory, brutal and profane. It is frequently foul-mouthed, littered with sexual innuendos, and it rewards the player for killing enemies in the most gruesome ways possible. Beneath this adolescent exterior, however, lurks what is probably the most exciting innovation in first-person gameplay since the mind-bending Portal.

You see, Bulletstorm is something of a clever game in disguise; points are awarded for using weapons and environmental hazards in imaginative ways. This doesn’t seem very revolutionary on the surface, but it’s enough to make Bulletstorm like no shooter you’ve ever played. For one thing, the player has a number of specialised tools at their disposal. A traditional melee attack is replaced by a powerful kick, and the player is able to launch into slides which can knock enemies off their feet. Then there’s the leash, which is able to grab enemies and objects before either launching them toward the player or up into the air. These tools, when used in combination with the excellent arsenal of over-the-top weaponry (quadruple-barrelled shotgun, anyone?) make for great fun when exploring the depths of what the game calls the ‘skillshot’ system.

There really is huge scope for experimentation and Bulletstorm actively encourages this, dishing out significantly more points for the more complex skillshots. For example, sticking an explosive to an enemy before kicking him towards his buddies and blowing him up in mid air rewards the player not just with a spray of meaty chunks, but with the ‘homie missile’ skillshot. The game turns from a standard shooter into, bizarrely, a sort of puzzle game; the player is given enough health to survive all but the most suicidal assaults on enemy territory, and the main challenge comes from merely dreaming up the most interesting way to dispatch every creature in sight. This is such an integral part of Bulletstorm that simply shooting an enemy to death feels mind-numbingly dull in comparison.

Bulletstorm uses Epic Games’ Unreal Engine to great effect, generating both high quality textures and stunning vistas alike. These wide open areas are often used for the game’s set pieces and boss battles. I don’t want to give away much more, but some of the beasties in the game are utterly gargantuan. These breaks from the usual ‘kill everything that moves’ gameplay stop things from ever becoming repetitive in the finely crafted single player mode. Disappointingly, the only multiplayer mode is co-operative, asking players to team up and earn points by dispatching waves of enemies.

Ultimately then, Bulletstorm has little long term value, but if you’re interested to see an outstanding variation on the traditional first-person shooter, I highly recommend you give it a go. Don’t be put off by its gratuitous style, as the whole thing is delivered with tongue firmly in cheek. After all, in which other game could you hear a line like: “I named him Waggleton P. Tallylicker, but I never got the chance to tell him. He will be remembered.”?

See below for some brutal in-game kills. Warning: do not watch these while eating

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