• If you don't have an existing Xbox Live account, or perhaps at least an email with Microsoft's Outlook or old Hotmail, the Games for Windows Live service this game remains tied to is probably gonna cause you an exceptional amount of trouble (As it has for the many writers of the Do Not Recommend reviews). And from what I'm told, good luck playing this game if you do run into trouble. I have an Xbox Live (Gold) account, so either I passed with flying colours or I was lucky.
  There is however an easy workaround I've successfully tested to disabling GFWL on launch, which whilst will not let you play Multiplayer at all while using it, will allow you to enjoy the Singleplayer modes without the need for GFWL.
  
  Firstly, head here to download the fix I located (Never have found the creator): https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Bulletstorm#Play_without_Games_for_Windows_-_LIVE
  The contents of the .zip are "xlive.dll" & "xlive.ini", which will disable GFWL when copy-pasted into the game's files.
  
  Secondly, simply copy & paste the "xlive.dll" & "xlive.ini" here: Steam\SteamApps\common\Bulletstorm\Binaries\Win32. It doesn't overwrite anything, so no need for backups or changes to adjust to (Other than the previously mentioned inability to play Multiplayer whilst these files are in Bulletstorm's Game Data).
  
  And there you have it! You can enjoy the Singleplayer Campaign & Echo Missions without the need to use GFWL. I hope it helps you as much as it has me!
  
  
• Although the game's default FOV is 85, which is within my personal comfort zone, I encountered constant screen tearing due to the capped 22-62fps smoothed frame-rate (Even with VSync turned off), and Mouse Smoothing is enabled & I don't believe it can be disabled via the Options Menu.
  PC Gaming Wiki however has instructions & a recommended tool; "BulletStormINIEditior" to allow you to edit the game's encrypted Config' files to uncap the frame-rate & adjust your numerous FOV levels. With it, I can now play at FOV 90 with no issues at all, I've had not one instance of screen tearing since and have turned Mouse Smoothing off outright. Here's the wiki page for more details: https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Bulletstorm
  
  
• If you unfortunately cannot play the game, but adore the game's soundtrack, Epic Games has officially released it freely to download along with the Epic 20th Anniversary Original Soundtrack. And speaking personally, it's gloriously badarse!: https://web.archive.org/web/20160728175257/http://epicgames.com/community/2013/12/essential-gaming-top-15-original-soundtracks-of-the-generation/
  or
  https://www.fileplanet.com/archive/p-22010/Bulletstorm-Soundtrack

Right, with that cleared up:



In Summary:
You have crash-landed on an abandoned Resort Planet infested with Mutants & Psychopaths. You have a wrist-mounted Energy Leash, a gloriously strong kick & an small assortment of weapons seemingly forged by Gods of Extremely Cruel & Highly Unusual Punishment, each vastly unique from each other (Which in addition to your standardly equipped Carbine, two can be carried in Singleplayer). The environments are littered with lethal hazards such as Exposed Wiring, High-Altitude Drops, Deadly Vegetation, and many more. I can never tell you this more literally; GET CREATIVE.

Just don't expect to be able to find anyone in Co-op Multiplayer via Matchmaking. I haven't yet (Not big surprise). But on the bright side, it can be played alone without significant difficulty, and if you're lucky enough to have a friend to bring, it's quite the Horde-like fun (Only it's much less surviving and so much more score-earning, so be sure to Kill with Skill!)


In Detail:
Bulletstorm is unmistakably a console port, but all things considered, a pretty damn good one.

With your mouse & keyboard and fully rebindable keys (Which can be given secondary bindings also), you can Kill with Skill with beautiful control! And with the fixes I mentioned above, you can have a glorious shooter experience with this game almost akin to that of the classics who threw realism out the window for sheer mayhem!

The more modern mechanics like Rechargeable Health & ADS do often work in the game's favour, as the lack of concern of health is helpful in allowing you the utmost creative freedom in killing and extra zoom to land those headshots & hard-to-hit crotchshots. But although Sprint gives you exceptional speed (With Sliding even greater, especially on slippery-looking & sloped surfaces), it serves more as a quick exit mechanic than anything else, with enemies eagerly coming to you or standing still to suffer at your hand. And be warned about difficulties above Normal, as you can find yourself the odd occasions where you will find the need to cower behind a chest high wall to wash away the red cowardice from your screen. But otherwise, the game's main challenge relies on you being creative as possible & racking up your Skillpoints/Murdercash to resupply & upgrade newly found weapons, whose costs vary upon difficulty.
It's also worth noting that there's no shortage of Quick Time Events in the more cinematic moments of the game. However, People Can Fly differentiates them by rewarding Skillpoints based on your response time to their prompts, which if left unpressed sometimes proceed with a 0 Skillpoint reward depending on the event, or if do cause a reset-to-checkpoint failstate, don't require sharp-timing or anything beyond single-button prompts to avoid. So in my experience, their presence was not uncomplimentary at all.

As for story, well, while the humour most often relies upon the foul mouths & one-liners of it's characters which can certainly get more than a chuckle or two for those not above genital jokes & 80s action, it does also provide a violent revenge tale which has the capacity to be taken seriously if it proves your thing. Don't expect a lot, but it might just keep you going till the end.

Unfortunately, the replay value isn't high at all. The linear design of the singleplayer often leads you to find the most Skillpoint-rewarding techniques, which can make repeat playthroughs seem like obeying an unwritten routine whilst not strict, is often practical. The Echo Missions (Singleplayer segments seperated for Competitive Leaderboards) are even more this as you find a means to find your best skill routine to earn your Stars and rank up the Score Leaderboard (Which could be your thing if you're looking for a challenge). As for Multiplayer; Think Horde with Bulletstorm's Kill with Skill, with an emphasis on racking up points instead of surviving ridiculous odds (But you might need to give downed team-mates literally a good & quick kick every-so-often as the waves progress). I haven't found anything via Matchmaking, and whilst it can be played on your own very adequately, the only appeal in doing so is ranking up to unlock new cosmetics such as Armour Camos & Gun Skins (Additional Leash Colours were bonuses for Special Editions or Pre-orders only if I recall correctly, although you have a choice of Blue & Quiksilver by default).


Verdict:
If you're looking for a fantastic shooter experience which harkens back to the old days of shooters of gratuitous violence, extreme attitude & action-packed fun, whilst embracing a fair few of the modern mechanics, this is one of them! (Although Wolfenstein: The New Order might be a more substancial offering & successful blend of classic-with-modern in comparison, but 9GB & Unreal 3 reliable performance vs. 50GB & id Tech 5 technical quirks which some have encountered on occasions are a big difference).

[h1]Before I give my praise for what I consider one of my favourite shooters of the seventh console generation period, [b]I must alert you to these facts:[/b][/h1] [list] [*] If you don't have an existing Xbox Live account, or perhaps at least an email with Microsoft's Outlook or old Hotmail, the Games for Windows Live service this game remains tied to is probably gonna cause you an exceptional amount of trouble (As it has for the many writers of the Do Not Recommend reviews). And from what I'm told, good luck playing this game if you do run into trouble. I have an Xbox Live (Gold) account, so either I passed with flying colours or I was lucky. There is however an easy workaround I've successfully tested to disabling GFWL on launch, which whilst will not let you play Multiplayer at all while using it, will allow you to enjoy the Singleplayer modes without the need for GFWL. Firstly, head here to download the fix I located (Never have found the creator): https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Bulletstorm#Play_without_Games_for_Windows_-_LIVE The contents of the .zip are "xlive.dll" & "xlive.ini", which will disable GFWL when copy-pasted into the game's files. Secondly, simply copy & paste the "xlive.dll" & "xlive.ini" here: Steam\SteamApps\common\Bulletstorm\Binaries\[b]Win32[/b]. It doesn't overwrite anything, so no need for backups or changes to adjust to (Other than the previously mentioned inability to play Multiplayer whilst these files are in Bulletstorm's Game Data). And there you have it! You can enjoy the Singleplayer Campaign & Echo Missions without the need to use GFWL. I hope it helps you as much as it has me! [*]Although the game's default FOV is 85, which is within my personal comfort zone, I encountered constant screen tearing due to the capped 22-62fps smoothed frame-rate (Even with VSync turned off), and Mouse Smoothing is enabled & I don't believe it can be disabled via the Options Menu. PC Gaming Wiki however has instructions & a recommended tool; "BulletStormINIEditior" to allow you to edit the game's encrypted Config' files to uncap the frame-rate & adjust your numerous FOV levels. With it, I can now play at FOV 90 with no issues at all, I've had not one instance of screen tearing since and have turned Mouse Smoothing off outright. Here's the wiki page for more details: https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Bulletstorm [*]If you unfortunately cannot play the game, but adore the game's soundtrack, Epic Games has officially released it freely to download along with the Epic 20th Anniversary Original Soundtrack. And speaking personally, it's gloriously badarse!: https://web.archive.org/web/20160728175257/http://epicgames.com/community/2013/12/essential-gaming-top-15-original-soundtracks-of-the-generation/ or https://www.fileplanet.com/archive/p-22010/Bulletstorm-Soundtrack [/*] [/list] Right, with that cleared up: [h1]Game Review[/h1] [b]In Summary:[/b] You have crash-landed on an abandoned Resort Planet infested with Mutants & Psychopaths. You have a wrist-mounted Energy Leash, a gloriously strong kick & an small assortment of weapons seemingly forged by Gods of Extremely Cruel & Highly Unusual Punishment, each vastly unique from each other (Which in addition to your standardly equipped Carbine, two can be carried in Singleplayer). The environments are littered with lethal hazards such as Exposed Wiring, High-Altitude Drops, Deadly Vegetation, and many more. I can never tell you this more literally; GET CREATIVE. Just don't expect to be able to find anyone in Co-op Multiplayer via Matchmaking. I haven't yet (Not big surprise). But on the bright side, it can be played alone without significant difficulty, and if you're lucky enough to have a friend to bring, it's quite the Horde-like fun (Only it's much less surviving and so much more score-earning, so be sure to Kill with Skill!) [b]In Detail:[/b] Bulletstorm is unmistakably a console port, but all things considered, a pretty damn good one. With your mouse & keyboard and fully rebindable keys (Which can be given secondary bindings also), you can Kill with Skill with beautiful control! And with the fixes I mentioned above, you can have a glorious shooter experience with this game almost akin to that of the classics who threw realism out the window for sheer mayhem! The more modern mechanics like Rechargeable Health & ADS do often work in the game's favour, as the lack of concern of health is helpful in allowing you the utmost creative freedom in killing and extra zoom to land those headshots & hard-to-hit crotchshots. But although Sprint gives you exceptional speed (With Sliding even greater, especially on slippery-looking & sloped surfaces), it serves more as a quick exit mechanic than anything else, with enemies eagerly coming to you or standing still to suffer at your hand. And be warned about difficulties above Normal, as you can find yourself the odd occasions where you will find the need to cower behind a chest high wall to wash away the red cowardice from your screen. But otherwise, the game's main challenge relies on you being creative as possible & racking up your Skillpoints/Murdercash to resupply & upgrade newly found weapons, whose costs vary upon difficulty. It's also worth noting that there's no shortage of Quick Time Events in the more cinematic moments of the game. However, People Can Fly differentiates them by rewarding Skillpoints based on your response time to their prompts, which if left unpressed sometimes proceed with a 0 Skillpoint reward depending on the event, or if do cause a reset-to-checkpoint failstate, don't require sharp-timing or anything beyond single-button prompts to avoid. So in my experience, their presence was not uncomplimentary at all. As for story, well, while the humour most often relies upon the foul mouths & one-liners of it's characters which can certainly get more than a chuckle or two for those not above genital jokes & 80s action, it does also provide a violent revenge tale which has the capacity to be taken seriously if it proves your thing. Don't expect a lot, but it might just keep you going till the end. Unfortunately, the replay value isn't high at all. The linear design of the singleplayer often leads you to find the most Skillpoint-rewarding techniques, which can make repeat playthroughs seem like obeying an unwritten routine whilst not strict, is often practical. The Echo Missions (Singleplayer segments seperated for Competitive Leaderboards) are even more this as you find a means to find your best skill routine to earn your Stars and rank up the Score Leaderboard (Which could be your thing if you're looking for a challenge). As for Multiplayer; Think Horde with Bulletstorm's Kill with Skill, with an emphasis on racking up points instead of surviving ridiculous odds (But you might need to give downed team-mates literally a good & quick kick every-so-often as the waves progress). I haven't found anything via Matchmaking, and whilst it can be played on your own very adequately, the only appeal in doing so is ranking up to unlock new cosmetics such as Armour Camos & Gun Skins (Additional Leash Colours were bonuses for Special Editions or Pre-orders only if I recall correctly, although you have a choice of Blue & Quiksilver by default). [b]Verdict:[/b] If you're looking for a fantastic shooter experience which harkens back to the old days of shooters of gratuitous violence, extreme attitude & action-packed fun, whilst embracing a fair few of the modern mechanics, this is one of them! (Although Wolfenstein: The New Order might be a more substancial offering & successful blend of classic-with-modern in comparison, but 9GB & Unreal 3 reliable performance vs. 50GB & id Tech 5 technical quirks which some have encountered on occasions are a big difference).