VIDEO GAME REVIEW | Bulletstorm

‘Bulletstorm’

Grade: B

Details: Published by Electronic Arts for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3; $59.99

I didn’t much like “Bulletstorm” when I first saw it at last year’s E3 trade show. The excessive violence, the endless and predictable profanity, the blas attitude toward death and dismemberment — haven’t we seen it all before?

But complaining about games like “Bulletstorm” is about as productive as criticizing movies like “Transformers.” Yes, they’re loud, obnoxious and junky, but their target audience eats them up. “Bulletstorm,” I figured, just wasn’t for me. Imagine my surprise when I found myself enjoying it.

It’s pure pulp. The “hero” is Grayson Hunt, a washed-up, alcoholic mercenary whose desire for revenge leads to disaster. Hunt and his half-human/half-computer partner, Ishi, crash-land on a once idyllic resort planet that’s become overrun by mutants and monsters, and their mission turns into a test of survival.

Fortunately, they have first-class armaments. The default weapon is your everyday assault rifle, but it’s accompanied by the more exotic “leash,” which lets you yank enemies from behind cover. It’s so versatile that you frequently don’t even need bullets; you can pull a foe toward you, then kick him into a cactus.

The leash doubles as a “thumper,” causing a mini-earthquake that sends all the bad guys airborne. And the firearms get more elaborate, allowing you to shoot exploding flails, bouncing cannonballs and spinning drill bits into the masses.

“Bulletstorm” encourages you to mix and match weapons with its “Skillshot” system. Merely riddling an opponent with bullets is frowned upon; if you really want to rack up points, you can thump a baddie, then set him on fire, then plug him with a sniper shot.

The violence actually comes off as less offensive than in more realistic shooters, because the weapons are so flamboyant, and the skillshots so defiant of the laws of physics, that “Bulletstorm” plays more like a parody of the competition.

—Lou Kesten, Associated Press