Bullet Witch (Xbox 360)

i bought this game on a complete whim, and glad i did, sure its not as good as your normal 3rd person shooter, but it has a certain flare that is undeniable strong. the storyline is almost a side salad at burger king and does feel like its been pinned on just to fix the game together, and the enemies arent particulary hard, nor are the puzzles, so you may be seeing yourself cranking up the difficulty setting before too long.

it hasnt got the same professional finish to it that games like halo3 have and you do sense this game has almost been made on a budget, but it just proves that if you have a good concept good gameplay and good graphics then it'll probably work out ok in the end! but like i said, you may not like the appeal of switching between magic and guns, and the gameplay being as simple as breathing.... and the enemies tending to be a bit on the easy side, that said your health rengenerates making the game even easier. maybe a little too easy

so if your after a fun easy game to waste the odd hour here or there then consider this!

I have to start by saying forget anything you've heard about this game looking like a PS2 game. I have no idea what hallucinogenic drugs these people are taking, but they are bad, bad people who hold the PS2 in much higher regard than it deserves to be held, viewed through the mist of fanboyism.

Ahem.

Bullet Witch made me happy. The 360 is dominated by tactical shooters like Graw, Gears of War, Rainbow Six, and to an extent Halo, so it nearly made me cry tears of nostalgic joy to be given a big gun and told, quite simply, to execute everything that moves with no regard for reason or realism.

Along the lines of Crackdown, this is not a game grounded in creating a realistic world, it just wants to be cool. It fails and succeeds alternately for its 7-ish hours of gameplay, but for the most part this game is great.

The biggest downside is that the levels are set out in an infuriating half-way point between the standard restrictive third person on-rails design and some kind of almost-GTA level of freedom. Because of this, the game gives you maybe 3 or 4 paths through a level, only one of which will actually get you anywhere. This is bad. This is so bad I nearly gave up playing on the second level.

However, I couldn't switch my 360 off. The sheer scale of the buildings fascinated me, and the first fight with a Giga (a giant, quite like the Resident Evil 4 ones, only of a much more terrifying scale, and with godawful AI, another pitfall of Bullet Witch) was great. It was impossible for me to disengage with the game, I needed to go on, driven by an unknown force... The witchcraft deserves mention for being especially over the top, graphically and gameplay wise.

Graphically, I love this game. I see partially where the PS2 comparison comes from, there's an odd squareness to all the level design that makes it feel antiquated, but the draw distance, the horizon, and the scale of everything really sucked me in. And Alicia (the witch in question) has a delightful bum.

Which is largely what this game is about. A pretty lady with a big gun jumping around and killing huge - HUGE - enemies, and engaging in the destruction of buildings willy-nilly. It's utterly brainless, though it has excellent (comparatively with most Japanese conversions) voice acting, and a semi-decent story with gorgeous cutscenes.

You should at least rent this game, if for nothing else because it's almost unique on the 360, and because this sort of thing should be encouraged.

If you are feeling down and want to do some thing stupid try this game, i bet you wont be diappointed. At times it is funny but I really enjoyed it. Normally I play tactical shooters like Rainbow six but this game reminded me the old arcade style gaming but with a 3D twist.
Alicia looks are amazing, some time she is even better then Lara croft. This is the game with some genuinely new concepts like witch magic.
To summarise

Game Concept 9/10
Graphics 6/10
Lead Character 10/10
Game play 8/10
Fun 9/10
Enemies Difficulty 7/10

I really wish there is a sequel on its way with next gen graphics and a bit more organised enemies.