It feels strange to be celebrating an eight year old release on Switch, but this port of Bulletstorm feels like the game just came out yesterday.
As you’d hope, it plays solidly and stably, whether docked or portable, still holding up remarkably well both in terms of content and overall quality. In fact, it makes the pains of us not yet having a full-blown sequel which takes advantage of modern technology much tougher to bear.
There’s no real content changes here from the ‘Full Clip’ update that launched a few years back. Except for one key omission, there’s no multiplayer mode on Switch.
Other consoles offered an Anarchy, team-based multiplayer mode, but that’s been completely scrapped here. And sadly, the original game never got splitscreen modes, despite desire for it.
In that regard, quite a few corners have been cut if you also factor in the lack of 4K visuals. So while that’s a bit gutting, you will get the full single player experience, including the Duke Nukem add-on which basically lets you listen to John St John recite the lines of the game’s main protagonist, Grayson Hunt.
Of course, he does them with that vintage Duke flare, and even throws in a few Dukeisms to keep things a bit fresh, like chucking in a few of his best-known lines to raise a smirk or two.
But essentially, it follows the same beats that the PC, PS4 and XO versions of Bulletstorm had in 2017, with remastered visuals, updated sounds, and a generally smoother, more pleasant play experience.
And unlike some recent ports, Bulletstorm really does play sublimely on Switch. It’s obviously not like for like with other ports but what you have here is slick and satisfying.
The key takeaway, though, is that from a first-person point of view, Bulletstorm is still one of the most enjoyable shooters of the last few generations.
Basically, it encourages you to get creative with the way you attack your enemies. Using the game’s creative Skillshot system, you’ll earn skill points for the way you throw yourself about in Stygia, whether you lasso an enemy towards you only to shoot them in the air, or boot them off a cliff edge.
You might feel like shooting them in the ass, impaling them on a cactus, or latching a mini minefield on them to blow up surrounding enemies. Your imagination is almost the absolute limit.
People Can Fly just seemed to magically understand what makes shooters enjoyable and how people seek out ways to try and make something ‘Replay worthy’. Plus it has a humour unlike anything else we’ve seen before or since.
I mean, who even says ‘I will kill your dicks’ Nobody I know, yet this game goes there.
There’s a fairly hefty sized campaign here and frankly, considering how horrendous Duke Forever ended up being, this is the most respect the yellow haired badass has been shown since his legendary ’96 outing.
And while it’s disappointing content has been cut, Switch’s lack of multiplayer doesn’t actually matter too much as the single player is the main reason to play anyway.
If you somehow never got around to this one and fancy some fast-paced, frivolous action, this is as good as anything else on Switch right now and it’s pretty reasonably priced at £24.99.
Plus unlike other games close to a decade old, this one has aged like a fine wine. Although it’s also one that cusses far more than it should and probably encourages way too much violence.
It’s a busy week and this seemed to come out of nowhere, but don’t sleep on Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch. It’s an absolute cracker on the handheld’s ever-growing library.
Bulletstorm Duke of Switch is out now for Switch
Review code kindly provided by PR Agency
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