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Bulletstorm is one of a kind, you won't have experienced anything quite like it in some time. The game is full of comedy and never takes itself too seriously, but when you think that's what the game is built around, it makes you wonder whether we've just received another bog standard shooter with a bit of humour in it? I can state clearly this is not the case. The game plays as well, if not better, than many other triple A shooters out there and with the skillshots system it really rounds off the package brilliantly.

The game seems to pack in so much you won't know what to do first. With a lengthy campaign, Echoes mode which allows you to replay campaign missions to get the best score but without the storyline and Anarchy online mode, which is like a wave defence coop mode but you must get a certain amount of skillpoints to proceed. Having all this content really does blow your mind!

The game is based on a hostile planet which you've crashed onto. It's full of strange and wonderful creatures who hate humans and want to kill you at every chance they get. You landed on the planet pursuing a man who had betrayed you called Serrano. With such a simple story line it's surprising how involving the story is, but once again Epic games have come on top with a pretty top notch story mode. The characters in the game, and the one you play as, are over the top muscle popping space marines who love to swear and get drunk. Even though these characters  appear to be generic, they're in fact fairly deep characters which you'll get attached to over the course of the story.

Campaign mode can be played in two different styles, there could be the standard FPS fan who just wants to shoot the enemies and run to the next batch, or the ones who really use the game to its full potential and attempt all the trickshots which can be found in the pause menu. Either way you play it, the campaign is stupidly fast paced where you'll have a very close time limit which often seems impossible, but given the pace and intensity of the game is actually very achievable. The game will see you sliding, running and kicking your way through swarms of enemies and debris which will be blocking your way. The leash also delivers innovation to the gameplay, allowing you to pull down near enough anything which can open new pathways or just flatten your enemies. The main attraction of the game is you can play how you want to, which allows it to fit a number of different styles and abilities.

Bulletstorm is a very good looking game. The fact that the planet is already a warzone and being destroyed by many different groups of people makes the map layouts to be interesting. Not only do they stand up there with the best on consoles, but also the map design has to be up there too. There are always interesting routes to work out and go round the level. With the kick and the leash at your disposal as well as explosive barrels and other environmental effects, you will never have a tough time working out how to get past a section. Even though this does at times get repetitive the reaction of when you do it is always different and causes for some true 'OMG' moments.

After playing Bulletstorm for a while you'll get used to its hectic gameplay mechanics and all of the trickshots involved. You'll see it to almost be like playing a game of trickshot pool where you have to check out your surroundings then take a shot and hope for the best, the only difference is in Bulletstorm if you miss you can just shoot the head off the unfortunate enemies. Looking at the trickshot list may overwhelm some people but they're actually all easy to do given the right scenario - nothing is meant to be too difficult in the game as long as you plan it out, the game is focused on fun after all! With skillshots like 'pricked', where you kick someone into a cactus, to simple stuff like a headshot there is always something to obtain. It's very unlikely you'll hit 100% skillshots during your first play through, which adds to the re-playability as you'll want to see what each trickshot is like.

Halfway through the campaign is where things really start to get exciting. You'll start unlocking many different weapons including a sniper in which the bullets are controlled by you, a penetrating drill machine and many many more. Despite these weapons allowing you to cause havoc, the two main weapons are still the same, the kick or sliding kick and the leash which will lead you to your amazing trickshots with the downright insane weaponry you receive. Each weapon you receive has standard ammo and also a one-hit kill shot which are unlocked with your skillpoints. Having these will ease the fight especially when you're fighting multiple bosses at once, as these do incredible damage. You can also upgrade your leash with thumper attacks which cause a mini earthquake. Spending your skillpoints is the key to survival, especially on higher difficulties so don't be afraid to spend those points; the more you spend the faster you'll get more back in return!

Echoes is another single player mode which offers the single player chapters at a lightning pace. If you thought the campaign was fast then you'll be shocked to witness Echoes, where near enough all of them are over in under 3 minutes. This takes the game to a whole new level were you're competing with friends and members of the community around the world to get as many trickshot points as possible in as little time as possible. This can put you under immense pressure but at the same time is very rewarding and ridiculously fun. Echoes is the sort of mode for people who enjoyed the campaign but don't want to be doing numerous playthroughs, and being able to play your favourite parts with no cut scenes or interruptions really is cool. The leaderboard system is very impressive also, which has similarities to that of the Autolog from Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit.

Anarchy mode is the online mode in Bulletstorm which pits 4 recruits in a small arena based map fighting off hordes of enemies, but with a twist. The twist is that you will receive a certain amount of enemies to kill but not only do you have to kill them all without dying, but you also need to obtain a total amount of skillpoints between the team using these enemies. This means team work and communication is key to gain alot of points - you will have to do team skillshots and to do these will take a bit of planning. This doesn't take away from the fast paced action gameplay we came to love in Echoes and single player, it's all there to great effect but now the inclusion of team work is bundled in too.

Despite this game being near perfect, it does have a few little niggles. There are times where you can get stuck in a single player mission due to accidentally blowing something up too soon, which hinders your progress and is very annoying, but because the checkpoints are rather close together it doesn't matter too much. Also I, like many other people, would have loved to see a competitive multiplayer mode in Bulletstorm. Even if it was as simple as a 4v4 team deathmatch I believe it would have been a great addition to the game and could have been up there with the top competitive FPS games out there. Despite this I feel there is enough meat in Anarchy mode for us to enjoy the multiplayer for many many hours, not to forget the inclusion of the early-access Gears of War 3 beta on the disc if you pre-ordered the game, which will certainly lead to an extended stay on the Bulletstorm front.

Overall Bulletstorm is the near perfect shooter. Even though it does borrow from other games, it feels surprisingly refreshing, and I feel we won't see much like it for quite some time. Despite some small hiccups Bulletstorm is one of the great games of this generation of consoles, and must not be missed. After playing the game it'll forever stick with you and you might even find yourself using some of the style you received in other FPS games. It's the perfect mix between humour and a laid-back style with a pretty strong narrative and consistently interesting gameplay.

Bulletstorm Gets An Official Game-Pad: 9.8/10