Bullet Witch review

WHY BULLET WITCH DOESN'T SUCK........ THAT MUCH.

Due to the Xbox 360's less-than-stellar performance over in the Land of the Rising Sun, a lot of the games developed for the system there tend to fall into three categories:

1.) The wacky Japanese game that most people from the US can never possibly understand with the (possible) exception of the Hannah Montana crowd. Case in point: The Idolm@ster. I doubt any self-respecting hardcore gamer could ever get any kind of enjoyment out of a game where the sole purpose is to manage a rising pop star. Oh, and all the downloadable content is different outfits for your pop idol. Joy!

2.) The cross-platform port (otherwise known as the ex-PS3 exclusive). These games are developed by those Japanese companies that realize they can't make back the development costs of their PS3 title by simply selling it as a PS3-exclusive worldwide. They noticed success of some publishers for releasing 360 content in the states, and saw the potential to make up the difference and possibly turn a profit by porting their games to the 360 and releasing them stateside. Famous examples include Devil May Cry 4, Last Remnant, and Virtua Fighter 5. Come on, Square-Enix and Konami, bring the Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid love over to the dark side!!! You know you want to. [Ed. (S-E President Yoichi) Wada was just interviewed... the translation is posted at NeoGAF. He expressed subdued Japanese-businessman resentment for Microsoft and basically said in so many words that there will be more or less no additional 360 support - despite S-E's desire to capture more of the Western market, how ironic given the 360's market penetration in the States... In my opinion they could have had a lot of sales this holiday season from localizing Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix + (PS2) rather than relying solely on portables, but that's an editorial for another day...]

3.) Crazy lower-budget action games, generally survival-horror, that provide some sort of gimmick, whether it's fan-service, buckets of blood, or a unique premise/gameplay mechanic. Some notable examples of this category are Vampire Rain and Oneechanbara X. Bullet Witch belongs squarely in the third category, and isn't ashamed to admit it.

The game launched last year at a 'budget price' of $40, though I picked it up for a measly $16 at Circuit City the week after Xmas. It was worth every penny of that $16, but probably not much more than that.The game has a straightforward premise. Demons have taken over the world. You're a witch with demon powers. Go kill stuff.

And honestly, that's pretty much all you do. It's a straightforward third-person shooter with fairly standard controls, weapons, upgrades, and levels. VERY typically horrendous-but-somehow-hilarious voice acting ("I am...Max Cougar") rounds out the package nicely.

Some common complaints with the game: "for the 360, the graphics are sub-par and in many cases look like higher-resolution PS2" ... "Alicia controls too stiffly and it's difficult to cast magic effectively"... "the game is too short" ...etc, etc, etc. Basically reviewers scored it down for being fairly average in more or less every category. Which is pretty much spot-on.

However, there is one thing developer Cavia did not skimp on: Magic. Specifically, the "Ancient Magic" spells (Lightning Bolt, Tornado, and Meteor). If you cast one of these, you better run for your life, because they can cause mass chaos on the levels as buildings, cars, enemies, and more are blown up, destroyed, swept away, and smashed to pieces before your very eyes. Never in my life have I seen a game with so many destructible objects in the environment, and there's something innately fun about being able to (more or less) completely destroy the levels you're playing around in.With a bit more polish, the magic system could have been refined further from a physics standpoint as well as allowing for a little more graphical "flash".

There are a few things that I've found particularly frustrating with the game. First of all, the storyline. The "twist", given how little we know and care about the protagonists of the game, is neither surprising nor effective. It fails. Miserably. Also, repetitive textures in certain areas make it easy to become lost, and the first, second, and last levels rely on the cheap ("kill this enemy to bring down the barrier") gameplay. This wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that it's next to impossible to tell exactly where those barriers are due to the repetitive texturing... But these flaws could be forgiven more than my last complaint: One hit kills. And lots of them. "Conveniently" placed snipers can pop you in the head before you realize what even happened, and the guardians of those barriers I mentioned earlier can fling cars, trucks, tanks, and debris at you faster than you can say "WTF?". There is a dodge mechanic in place, but it doesn't always work. You'll have to replay sections of the game over and over and over again trying to figure out where the snipers are and how to get potential projectiles away from barrier guardians. This is _never_ fun.But overall, I'm fully convinced that the game does not SUCK. As a matter of fact, I've played and enjoyed more of this game than Assassin's Creed. Hehe, I wonder why...[Ed. Because Assassin's Creed sucks - a lot, I couldn't get into it no matter how hard I tried and I sure don't blame EGM for giving it an honest review]

Thanks, Cavia, for delivering a mildly entertaining Japanese-developed 360 romp that's more impressive than most reviews would have you admit. If you can find it cheap, don't feel ashamed to pick it up.

Rating System: Who needs stars and numbers? I'm all about the otaku emoticons!

*_* = Amazing

^-^ = Good

-_- = Fair

T_T = Poor

Graphics: ^-^

Though a lot of people have said in reviews of the game that its visuals are barely above a PS2 title, I disagree. True, there are some framerate issues and the textures can be bland at times, but for a budget title, it looks pretty good overall. The Ancient Magic spells that can blow up just about every structure in the environment are the game's showpieces, hands-down.

Sound: -_-

The voice acting treads that fine line between terribly hilarious and just plain terrible. Max Cougar, buddy, you single-handedly ruined this game for me. One sound effect I did really like was the echo used when Alicia casts a spell. More Japanese games dubbed into English should use similar effects. As for the music, it's so-so...nothing stands out one way or the other.

Replayability: ^-^

It's over pretty quickly, and there isn't a lot of reason to go back through, except to gain achievements and max your character out. Beating the game on Easy will allow you to carry your upgrades over to higher difficulty levels, and some people may get a kick out of that, especially to unlock more achievements.

Downloadable Content: T_T

There's extra outfits, 'cheats', and 'alternate stages' to download. I'm a little hesitant to pay extra money for a remixed stage when there isn't any explanation as to what exactly will constitute a remixed stage... I'd stay away.

Fun Factor: ^-^

A fun diversion when there's nothing else to play. Wreaking havoc on polygonal environments and watching demons get chewed up and spit out by the elemental chaos you craft will get old eventually...but for a while, it's great fun. Especially at a bargain-bin price.

Overall: ^-^