Bullet Witch [360]

[JohnMcL7]

Always been intrigued by this game but was waiting for the price to come down a bit - picked up a copy and played through the game once, going back through now to get upgrades. Am I the only one who finds it annoying when a game effectively penalises you for not starting on easy?

I'm perhaps a little more forgiving on games like this as I used to test fairly mediocre games but I quite enjoyed playing through it - my biggest frustration is that the game could have been so much more with not too much work. I think the developer was on the right track, with some more polish in the artwork and animation, a bit more content and tigthened up the controls a bit the game would have been a lot better. However, it's not to be.

John

[Welrain]

I really like this game and I'm really not sure why. Maybe its the magic or the huge guns, I just don't know!

[JohnMcL7]

I was initially really enjoying it but I have to admit it's gone steadly downhill now...I am getting really sick of the ropey physics and really dodgy one hit kills. I am on the final boss right now (third time through the game) and I'd just reached the end of casting a spell when he killed me in one shot while I was vulnerable, despite the fact I had full health. After over half an hour of shooting the damn thing I was close to taking the disc out and shredding it.

->Open Spoiler<-

Anyone got any tips for the final boss? As far as I can tell I'm supposed to shoot his back when the shield is down to knock out the shield. He then flies up into the air, after hosing him down for a bit he comes back down. I shoot him in the back a bit more and then he turns to using the snakes to breathe fire - it seems to take absolutely ages to kill the snakes though, even with the main gun fully upgraded and elemental shot it just seems to take forever. After being killed for the third time in a row by a mega cheap one hit kill, I really can't be bothered spending ages shooting him, I can't seem to do it any faster. Also, any thoughts on killing those stupid ghost things any faster? I've tried various guns but they just swing out of the way and land on top of me taking a neat chunk of health out and allowing all their mates to do the same...it also means no spell casting

John

[anephric]

Just use your magic, dude (it'll still take ages, mind, especially in the harder difficulties as he just eats up damage). You can get away with using Meteor when he flies off right down the end of the street and pummels you with his own ranged attacks, but up close just go for Lightning again and again. I took down the ghosts he releases with the gatling. Just spray at them and they drop easily enough. The only problem with that is using the gatling makes you slow and you can suffer the odd insta-death from some crappy piece of debris flying about.

[skyghene]

Nice and addicting game! I didn't bother getting that final achievement though
Too bad you have to pay for those "extra missions", they're not that special if you ask me (no new environments). Really weird, especially when the costumes (which are nice!) are free.

[JohnMcL7]

I had hoped there was a faster way to kill him but there dosen't seem to be much strategy in it...just keep pounding him.

I thought the mode above hard was the one pointer which I wasn't going to bother with but I see it's the one above that. The lure of 250 points is tempting but I found Alicia's strength even fully powered up wasn't much use against the enemies on hard, I dread to think what that means for very hard.

The remix levels being a paid download is a joke, I don't mind paying for content when I feel the original game is complete but Bullet Witch is a short game and to be honest I think some of the remix levels sound as if they're worth a go. No way I'm paying for them though.

John

[anephric]

Very Hard wasn't too bad until near the end (Level 5 and such). You just HAVE to constantly enchant your ammunition and snipe enemies a lot (which, if you've played through the previous difficulties, will be easy as their positions will be BURNED INTO YOUR MIND).

Beating the last boss is a pain in V. Hard, though, just because it takes so long to whittle down his energy and you can randomly die, cos the game's good like that. And then you have to spend another 45 mins on a retry.

I started on a Hell playthrough, and got hugely bored because it takes so much ammo, even when Enchanted, to kill enemies.

I bought all the remix levels, as I'm a sucker, and only a couple are any fun. Some of them are just plain grind. They're considerably harder, even in Normal difficulty, than the game "proper" too.

[vanpeebles]

Those enemies in the train tunnel are proper unsettling, the ones that run about with inflated heads and stuff shreaking. Played a good few scary games since then and they are still in the back of my mind.

[kendra]

For Very Hard I found myself just running through most of the later levels and not bother with fighting (well mainly the last level with the tanks and the big guy). As for the final boss, there is a strategy.... shoot his back, then he runs off, then when the dragons fire, shoot their heads, they explode, then keep shooting his back/weak spot... then when he goes down, lightning him... doesn't take that long.. (Switch to the gatling cannon when he releases the souls though).

Level 5 the spear was a god send though that got it...

(I region whored this game.... :/ - if only because I played through the Japanese version for >15 hours easily and yet didn't get the achievement, it only counted the time between checkpoints, so was stuck on 900/1000... 999/1000 on the UK version though).

[anephric]

Iirc (I haven't played it in a while) you can shoot the last boss from the front (at his shoulder/arm) as well as from behind (in his spine). It still takes ages, mind. In the end I didn't bother even shooting the heads of his snakes, because when you Lightning him pretty much one goes every time anyway.

[JohnMcL7]

Same here, I didn't seem to be getting anywhere fast shooting the snakeheads - lightning seemed to do the job far faster. Still trying to build up the patience to do the game on very hard...

John

[mr_woo]

Bit of a bump, got this on xmas day as a present from my sis (she knows i've fancied playing it for a while so wasn't a wild guess) and so far I'm really enjoying it. On the last level now and enjoying it more and more, I certainly feel the controls are pretty sturdy with my major complaint being one death kills, load of rubbish that.

I really hope that they do a sequel though I'm not sure how well it has sold, with more magic/weapons/addons and more levels and better design they could make a cracking sequel.

[cavalcade]

though I'm not sure how well it has sold

I think you and I both know in our hearts how well it sold.

I started off Bullet Witch not so long ago with the good intentions of playing it through. It certainly gave me a little enjoyment to begin with, but slowly, as time began to slip by, my brain began to wander and I thought about all the other rewarding things I could be doing with my time. Washing the dishes. Playing with the dog. Flipping through the female underwear section of the Freemans catalogue . Etc. I think I lasted 2 or 3 hours tops, before giving up (on the game, not the catalogue).

The fundamental problem with Bullet Witch is it does not one thing well. Not one thing. Everything it does, it does to an average standard. Ruthlessly average. Mean. Median. Average. It sort of manages to absolve itself from criticism. it's almost impossible to review. Graphics, sound and gameplay are all so forgettable it defies critical analysis. Nothing is tangibly bad about it, yet thinking back only fleeting memories come into my brain - I remember a petrol station, floating brains, strange flickering shadows, a sunset, a bridge.... But nothing more.

It's as if I've had mind altering drugs, which I can assure the moderators of ntsc-uk I haven't taken (don't do drugs kids).

I'd like to go back to it, as there is a certain kitch entertainment value to it, but as time goes on, it looks less and less likely.

[ItsThere]

Well I have been through this on easy and normal and I don't think I can stomach hard and above.

I started the first level on hard and even though I was powered up died in about 10 shots. Which was nice.

Overall I didn't think it was as bad as everyone makes out, the premise was interesting its just the execution that was a little bland, the lack of direction and pacing (and checkpoint placement) seemed a bit summer temp and with the increased ease of death on the higher difficulty levels I don't think I can justify more time on it.

I gave it a go and I have come away thinking, an average romp.

[jimmbob]

It is very average, made a whole lot better by the *ahem* costumes available.
The enemies are very funny sometimes too. Especially the singing walnut heads.