Review for Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch Edition. Game for Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 03/09/2019 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 30/09/2019
There are so many reasons to choose to live as a space mercenary, surely among them are alcohol and bullets. Ruthless violence, rivers of blood and gunshots as if it were raining are just some of the ingredients of one of the most satisfying first person shooters that the "new" born of the Japanese house has ever seen.
After the announcement on the occasion of PAX East 2019 by Gearbox Software in collaboration with People Can Fly, lands on Nintendo Switch the expected Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch Edition, a complete and improved transposition for the Nintendo laptop of theFPS futuristic Bulletstorm.
Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch Edition tells the story of Gray, a former mercenary in the pay of the commander of the Dead Echo Sarrano who, once discovered that he has been deceived, becomes a space pirate with the sole objective of killing his former boss, between one drink and the other of course. On the other hand, you cannot live peacefully with the thought of having killed innocent people just because you trusted the wrong person, and alcohol and killing while alleviating pain are not enough. It is absolutely necessary to eliminate Sarrano from the universe and we might as well, once met his flagship, crash into it and make it capitulate on the first available planet.
That doesn't sound right, but we know that when you are drunk you make rash and dubious decisions.
After the loss of most of the crew and after saving the only surviving friend at the high cost of a half transformation into a cyborg, we find ourselves on Stygia, a hostile planet, without being able to escape; but not all evil comes to harm, even our hated Sarrano has been forced to our same unfortunate fate: an excellent opportunity to eliminate him, perhaps by mowing down along the way whatever comes in front of us. Thus opens the way for the adventure that will guide us in incredibly different environments and the annihilation of every enemy encountered.
Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch Edition is a FPS that recalls the Borderlands saga for settings and MadWorld for free violence. It is spectacularly satisfying in practice with these splatter kills and with these sudden and cinematic scene changes that keep the adrenalin rate high throughout the adventure.
Thanks to the gimmick of implementing the kick and the whip in the set of weapons - both able to activate a phase of slow motion that involves everything but us - the action becomes a splendid ballet of blood aimed at trying to take out the enemy in ways more original and trucid as possible. The sensation of pleasure in pulling an enemy out of hiding with the whip and then hitting him with a kick sending him to be embedded in a series of sharp spikes is undeniable.
Also priceless is the design of environments and characters that can boast killer plants, poisonous pods that make you unable to distinguish friends and enemies, bottles of alcohol to get drunk with and even dinosaur robots to command at will and hordes of tribal murderers. Walking overhanging a skyscraper, running away on monorails and throwing yourself into the void hanging from a rope are just a mere example of what the protagonist of Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch Edition will encounter along the way.
The Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch Edition arsenal then consists of eight rifles, bazookas and pistols, all upgradeable and with a loaded shot that amplifies and completes the effects. The submachine gun, for example, has as a loaded shot option a typical shotgun blast capable of instantly disintegrating any nearby target, except for the strongest of course; the gun, on the other hand, which is effective on both short and long distances, has a loaded rocket as a power up capable of projecting an enemy into the air and making it explode into a thousand pieces. These small precautions combined with the whip, the kick, the slow motion and the interaction with the surrounding environment, make the experience truly satisfying, also thanks to the remastering with the Unreal Engine 4.
Furthermore, it is said in some dark caverns populated by hardened programmers, that the scoring system that accompanies the entire game experience was a ploy to calibrate the effects of hits and combos and create the lists of trophies, but that in practice it was so effective that it remained and was developed with care in order to offer replayability to the finished product. Each kill will be assigned a score that will vary according to violence and originality, rewarding splatter and gratuitous cruelty: try to kick the first mini boss in the butt and then shoot him in the butt and you will understand what we are talking about. The points obtained by indulging our bloody soul can be used for the expansion, modification and upgrade of weapons and the whip.
Finally, it is necessary to say a few words on the Switch port. The remastering work of the original 2011 version released by Gearbox in collaboration with People Can Fly in 2017 had improved resolution textures and additional content: an Overkill mode and six new Echo maps. It also included Duke Nukem's Bulletstorm Tour, a mode that replaces the original protagonist with Duke Nukem also affecting the protagonist's lines (admittedly, he was perfectly in tune). The transposition on the Nintendo Switch is masterfully transplanted, and in fact it loses very little or nothing by acquiring - in exchange for minimal sacrifices - portability.
It is also possible to choose one of the two color palettes available, given that in some settings too much color or too little can be disturbing and this, combined with a good level of customization of the controls and splatter effects, makes the experience customizable and enjoyable. . The doubt remains, given that the whole adventure takes place with a partner at the side, if it were not the case to offer cooperative multiplayer, but given that basically it is a simple adaptation it is understandable that no new features are implemented. The eight abundant hours of play, the Overkill mode and the ability to repeat the adventure in Duke mode offer a replay value all in all sufficient even in the face of the thirst for blood that awakens in an attempt to get better scores and splatter deaths.
Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch Edition is the FPS that was missing on the Switch to date. Packed with action, adrenaline, blood, twists and turns, seasoned with low-grade humor and unfair enough, this title turns out to be satisfying and fun in an exquisitely narrow way. Thanks to gravitational boots, killer plants and robot dinosaurs, the guys at Gearbox Software in collaboration with People Can Fly bring to Nintendo Switch a product that was missing, which offers hours of fun at an honest price. Good job.
► Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch Edition is an Adventure-Action-Shooter type game developed by Gearbox Software People Can Fly and published by Gearbox Software People Can Fly for Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 03/09/2019 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 30/09/2019
