BPM: Bullets Per Minute

AWE Interactive

PC

First Person Rhythm Based Shooter

I remember seeing the announcement trailer for BPM: Bullets Per Minute. My first thought was “If they can manage to pull off the promise of this trailer, this could be one of the greatest games ever made”. Indeed, Crypt Of The Necrodancer mixed with DOOM sounds like an absolutely bizarre mix on paper, but the trailer promised fast and frenetic rhythm-based gameplay combined with a gorgeous art style. Over the events of the last couple of months, I entirely forgot about the game until I was given a review copy for this review. I thought to myself that I’d sink an hour or so into it then get back to sorting some other affairs. Suddenly, it was three hours later and I was still playing the game.

BPM: Bullets Per Minute is fantastic.

The gameplay feels amazing. The gunplay especially feels extremely responsive, with the guns having a real impact and weight behind their shots. There’s a great variety of guns and powerups too, with everything having different functions that you’ve got to be able to react to. As a roguelike rhythm-based FPS, imagine if Crypt Of The Necrodancer had massive shotguns and the ability to throw fireballs in a randomly generated arena, filled with extremely challenging bosses and enemies throughout. Firing on the beat feels SO good when you do it successfully, as does doing anything else on the beat. Everything just clicks together in such a wonderful way, a scenario that rarely happens in video games. There are shops to be found, items to be collected, enemies to be slain and bosses to die to over and over again.

It’s also visually stunning. While at times it can look too saturated, with the reds being VERY red, the designs of the enemies and of the guns look great.  Every other floor also has a distinctively different visual style and leans into it with the enemy designs. From bats to spiders, demons to worms, there’s a wide variety of enemies for you to shoot your way through to the rhythm of the beat. The bosses too are great, with different attack patterns and bosses for each randomly generated floor. They’re not too difficult, but they do take time to learn the attack patterns and the strategies for each. Once you manage to do this, you’ll feel unmatched in terms of power and skill. The game greatly rewards players for learning the hidden strategies and exploring every room.

You can’t talk about this game without discussing the soundtrack, and by god, is it an absolutely stunning soundtrack.  Guitar riffs from corner to corner, amazing solos, and some insane rhythm, the music serves the gameplay and you’ll find yourself humming it in everyday situations. With the game being tied around using the beats of the music to do basically anything, from firing your gun to reloading to even dodging, it’s essential that the soundtrack actually feels good to listen to, and the wonderful people at AWE interactive have come through with flying colours. In the last couple of days, I’ve hummed the soundtrack repeatedly both subconsciously and consciously, and I don’t see that changing anytime in the near future.

BPM is the game of the year. In a year with several big Triple-A releases (Final Fantasy 7 Remake, DOOM Eternal, Animal Crossing), this small indie title made by a UK developer stands heads and tails above everything that has come before it. This is the type of game that is remembered for years, that blows up and is adored by many for decades to come. It’s the start of a whole new subgenre of games, an evolution. It’s amazing in every regard, incredibly fun to play, and just utterly breathtaking. If you buy any game this year, buy this game.