Review: "Bulletstorm"

Make it Rain

review for Bulletstorm, 1-player first-person shooter, out now

Unironically, the game that Bulletstorm most reminded me of, was Vanquish. Not because of any sort of thematic link (though both had some pretty cool androids in it), but rather concept-wise. While Vanquish was "what if you combined Devil May Cry with Gears of War?", the concept of Bulletstorm was a little simpler to execute - "what if you combined Painkiller with Gears of War?" ...why was this simpler to execute? It helps that was created by the people who made Painkiller and Gears of War, for one.

Review: "Mafia II"

The Freakin' Mafia

review for Mafia II, 1 player third-person action/adventure, available now

Not having played it, I heard the original Mafia was kind of a big deal. A compelling open-world, a character-driven story; in the wake of Grand Theft Auto III, Mafia was like The Getaway - bold, gritty, and exciting. Or, that's what I understand, anyway. As good as Mafia supposedly is, I'm afraid that doesn't make Mafia II any less boring.

The game starts off with the main character, some under-characterized Italian immigrant, being drafted into the American Army in the wake of the end of World War II. What follows is the tutorial that other tutorials follow - a mostly on-rails shooting gallery that teaches you the basics of taking cover and opening doors. Certainly not too fancy, but hey, it's an adequate tutorial, even if it is painstakingly arbitrary. After fifteen minutes of shooting, there's about two minutes of confusing exposition before the cleverly titled "Chapter 2" begins. And since Chapter 1 was only about 20 minutes long... this was the moment I knew Mafia II wasn't going to be very good.