This article originally ran under a different banner/website in November of 2020 and is now being here re-uploaded for purposes of convenience and consolidation. Please enjoy.
HEAR YE!!! HEAR YE!!! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE LEND ME YOUR EARS. Just as I, the Video Game Doomsayer, think the roguelike tidal wave is over, I turn around to see a crop of new roguelikes popping up like weeds. To be fair, I don’t see roguelikes as harmful as weeds; I see them as massive trees that are impossible to chop down. I know many love bashing their heads against the brick walls of roguelikes, but I prefer making visible progress in a game. However, I am not above trying genres I typically don’t get along with, especially if there is a musical theme behind it. As a result, I put some hours in BPM: Bullets per Minutes.
Some of my loyal followers will know I usually open my review with a summary of the game’s story. However, BPM: Bullets Per Minutes doesn’t seem to have a story. You do get to pick a character known as a Valkyries, named after some of the lesser-known Norse Gods such as Freyr and Odr. You are then dropped into areas such as Asgard and Vanaheim and must battle your way to the end. However, these Valkyries fight with guns rather than traditional Norse weaponry. The bosses you fight are characters from Norse mythology who traditionally opposed the Norse gods, but other than that there doesn’t seem to be any hint of a story within BPM: Bullets Per Minute. I am not asking for a The Last of Us level of story, but some context would be nice. I would like to know how the giant chicken became a shopkeeper. Other roguelikes like Enter the Gungeon and Crypt of the Necrodancer have a small semblance of a story that usually helps me press forward.
Speaking of Crypt of the Necrodancer, the gameplay of BPM: Bullets Per Minute could be described as a cross between Doom Eternal and Crypt of the Necrodancer. You can only shoot, reload, dash, and jump to the beat of the music pumping through your speakers. The music is these heart-pounding rock tracks that are the linchpin for a game like this. These are rock tracks that you can easily be rocking out on your air guitar. The rhythmic shots and reload will hypnotize you into bobbing your head to the music with ease. My one complaint about this mechanic is at the end of the level when you defeat the boss, you get a couple of free shots that have the guitar wailing like a solo in a rock concert. It would have been nice if we get effects like that when you land headshots on enemies or something. It would almost allow you to become an instrument in the band.
Now, yes, the moment-to-moment gameplay is quite solid, but a game of chess is not fun if the opponent has queens instead of pawns. Yes, again, I remember Doom Eternal’s creative director, Hugo Martin saying the enemies in a first-person shooter should be like chess pieces. Unfortunately, the pawns seem to be queens and the queen seems to be a pawn. The world of BPM: Bullets Per Minutes consist of small flies and bats and large rock spiders; enemies not fitting into the Norse theme. However, when I enter a room full of giant rock spiders, I don’t break a sweat, but when I am in a room full of bats or flies, I am full of despair. These small pests are fairly agile and have ranged attacks. Meanwhile, the lumbering spiders will charge at you at a pretty pathetic pace. The bosses also seem to have a similar balance. The first boss has some crazy attack patterns that will stomp you into the ground unless you have the proper upgrades. However, later bosses seem to roll over and die so easily, but that might be a result of the balance.
Like many roguelikes, there are a plethora of unlocks available to you. Along with your standard dash, you can unlock different abilities like a mega beam and gear that gives you bonus effects such as life steal and double damage. You also have various stats such as damage, luck, speed, range, precision, and ability cooldown. As is custom with first-person shooters, you have a variety of guns at your disposal. You can purchase guns and items from stores and gain various stats by giving a coin to an alter. Personally, I was also only able to have success from lucking out on acquiring some strong guns and a key skill or two. My most successful run came when I got a gauss gun along with a life steal ability. That run had me two shooting the first two bosses. However, this is a mere fraction of my runs within BPM: Bullets Per Minutes. Most of my runs end with me trying to chip away at the first boss’s health bar with the starting gun and a handful of worthless stats. I will admit my skills might be lacking, but I feel disheartened to continue after countless runs ending at the first boss. I know there is always a learning curve to roguelikes, but at times this feels like an incline rather than a curve.
At the end of the day, I look at BPM: Bullets Per Minute, the same way I look at a 4/4 time signature that is used in all the music in this game. It is perfectly functional and some may argue that you don’t need to do more than that. AC/DC’s library of songs using nothing else besides the 4/4 time signature. However, I think the audience that would only listen to AD/DC is quite small. Rock fans would like to mix it up with some Tool or Metallica, much like how gamers might want a little something more from BPM: Bullets Per Minutes. A more in-depth story, a better drip-feed of power, and maybe the introduction of an alternative time signature like a 3/4 or 6/8 wouldn’t have gone amidst. With BPM: Bullets Per Minute being their debut game, I can see why Awe Interactive wanted to play it safe. I am hopeful Awe Interactive is like the band Pantera. Their debut is pretty safe and tame, but they begin experimenting on their later albums. I have no doubt a Bullets Per Minute 2 will be on par with The Cowboys from Hell.
