Bulletstorm VR Review (Xavier: Renegade Angel)
Bulletstorm was always one of my favorites back in the early 2010's, purely on account of how simply violent it was. The script was goofy and the game wasn't interested in doing anything other than slo-mo dismembering bad guys with a skill point system attached. What's not to love? It was a boomer shooter before they were cool (again) but with a lot of slick touches that no game has tried since.
Once I saw the VR port released with so much initial negativity, I thought I'd try again in a few months later and I'm really glad that I did. I can't imagine what corporate stiff thought it was a good idea to censor the game's immediately-apparent lack of taste and removing the swear words but this game is better off having the trash humor restored. Hearing a character refer to themselves as a 'waterhead' hasn't aged particularly well, but to be fair nothing from 2011-2012 has. Except Max Payne 3.
The first 20 minutes of the game won't really convince anyone but that's not the VR port's fault. Once the leash shows up, it really opens up and I'm really impressed at how well that mechanic works in VR. Ripping bad guys face-first into a pile of rebar refuses to get old.
I beat it probably 10x back in the day and am exactly who this port was designed for and I'm happy to say this was the best $ I've spent on a VR game in a long time. They really turned it around from the Mostly Negative start and I wish these guys all the luck since playing a rock solid version of Bulletstorm in VR has been on my to-do list for almost 15 years and they finally nailed it.
And I don't care that a couple of original levels got scrapped in the VR port, I'm just glad this thing exists at all. Its limitations are now fully due to the original game's design and no real problem with the VR developers themselves. Also the fully immersive reload type is a great option, the 2011 version of me would be in heaven right now playing this.
It works flawlessly on a wireless Quest 3 over Virtual Desktop on a 3080, and barely dips below 90 fps even when 9 enemies get spontaneously turned into slow-motion salsa due to a well timed red barrel kick. This game whips.