[h1][b] TLDR: While some fun is to be had if you prefer FPS rhythm-based games, there’s too much of a focus on skill-based gameplay with no reward aside from achievements, instead of an enthralling roguelike.[/b] [/h1]
[h1]PROS: [/h1]
➕Custom music option
➕Completely random character (Run) that adds some fun replayability
[h1]NEUTRALS: [/h1]
🔹Can be very difficult, even on Easy
🔹Flys are the most annoying enemy ever
[h1]CONS: [/h1]
➖Weapon range dumb and unfun
➖Art style can make it difficult to see
➖Severe lack of information and description on everything
➖Music can get very repetitive
➖Useless drops for certain characters (health drops on characters with 0 health)
This game is very similar to Metal: Hellsinger (MH), as such, I’ll be making numerous references to it. Here is my review for MH: https://steamcommunity.com/id/Synikx/recommended/1061910?snr=1_5_9__402
[h1] [b] Content (Game world/Narrative) – [3/10] [/b] [/h1]
The game world is generally very boring. It’s just a randomized series of square rooms with a random assortment of: enemies, chests, shop, blacksmith, gambling. I also unfortunately failed to notice any sort of secrets - breakable walls, hidden pathways, ect, which further makes the levels themselves a bit boring and unfun. The repetitive art style does not lend any favors to randomized rooms.
There is no narrative, this is a pure roguelike. This is a shame, because there is clearly some pantheon influence in the characters and zones you visit.
[h1][b] Gameplay (Mechanics/Difficulty) – [5/10] [/b] [/h1]
BPM leans heavily into the roguelike elements, there is very little power that carries over between runs, and most of the characters you unlock come with severe negatives alongside their benefits that the player must work around, further adding to the skill-based mechanics.
Essentially, like most roguelikes, you go through a randomized dungeon, get randomized items to incorporate in your build, and see if you can make it all the way through to the final boss. There are about ~8 dungeons before the final boss, each with their end boss having some unique mechanics like dodging specifically on beat.
The items can be hit or miss. There are a few items (infinite ammo, minigun) that will snowball you into a victory no matter what, which makes me question the balance of other aspects of the game focused on player skill. When a couple items can carry you through an entire run, they should be nerfed and others should be buffed.
Last thing I want to note is the strictness of item obtainability. One of the most powerful items I’ve gotten is the skeleton key. There are a ton of chests that are locked and you are drip-fed keys. You’ll have to make many choices that can make-or-break runs since a select few items are so powerful. I really didn’t like the key/locked chest element because of this. Locked chests seem like a hindrance that blocks the player by saying you can only have x amount of fun where x = keys.
One thing of note, this is a very difficult game. You only get about 4 or 5 hits before you die and some of the unlockable characters are even less, or having 0 health and only armor. Even on easy mode, I found myself dying multiple times in the first dungeon.
[h1] [b] Graphics (Quality/Technical) – [3/10] [/b] [/h1]
Somewhat similar to Mirror’s Edge, the art style in BPM is almost obnoxiously oppressive. Everything is the same shade of orange or green or red. It can be hard to see enemies, or even just stat upgrades against a wall. I’m really not a fan.
Graphically, nothing is very impressive.
Technically, I encountered no bugs or issues.
i9-13900KF | RTX 4090 | 64GB RAM | 1440p @ 240hz | Windows 11 installed on SSD
[h1] [b] Audio – [5/10] [/b] [/h1]
You’d imagine in a music-focused game, that the music would be good. It kinda/sorta is. The song variety is fairly dismal which leads to a lot of repetition. Especially early on with dying a lot and being stuck in the starting stages, it starts to get a bit annoying. Even more unfortunate, unlike Metal: Hellsinger, I never once got the adrenaline rush that comes when a song peaks during intense action sequences.
Thankfully, the devs found a lazy way around this by shifting the onus to the user by allowing you to use custom music.
[h1] [b] Replay Factor (Longevity) – [6/10] [/b] [/h1]
Fairly good, and probably BPMs best aspect is its ability to just jump right into a run and start blasting. I also really like one of the characters (Run), how every part of them is randomized, so you can start off with a completely random character in addition to whatever else you pick up.
Could use some sort of online component though - leaderboards, daily runs, something like that. The only option is Challenges which seem a bit barebones and pointless.
[h1] [b] Final Verdict – [4/10] [/b] [/h1]
BPM: Bullets Per Minute (BPM) is a rhythm-oriented FPS game where you must shoot your weapon to the beats of the music to make it through randomized dungeons in a roguelike experience.
To start with my negatives, the biggest for me is the repetitive music, restrictive player power and lack of any sort of in-game descriptions. When you have a game built around music, the first priority should be an excellent soundtrack, this is something to me that BPM doesn’t succeed on. Yes, you do have the option to use your own custom music, which is great, but I am a firm believer that in musically-oriented games, the onus of a good soundtrack should fall on the developer. I do not get the same adrenaline rush of shooting to the beats like I do with other FPS music games like the excellent Metal: Hellsinger.
As for the player power, I think the game can be somewhat restrictive with player power locked behind keys needed for chests primarily, but the other issue is the guns. For a game that literally has “Bullets Per Minute” in its title, you would find it surprising to find the answer to that question to be quite low. Between pistols, revolvers, and slow-firing launchers, the projectiles per time frame are generally going to be on the lower end unless you find something crazy like a minigun.
Lastly, the lack of in-game descriptions is just absurd and lazy. None of the characters even have ANY of their stats or their abilities displayed, the item pickups often have between 2-5 WORDS of description, and even the stats tells you nothing specific other than a simple point system - what is the difference between damage +1 vs ability +1? Who knows? Actually, the wiki does. Prepare to spend a bunch of time going through the BPM wiki because the game, for whatever reason, is absurdly vague. Learn from Slay the Spire here.
As for my positives, I would say that the replay value of just jumping into a run promotes the skill-based presentation of the game. There are very little powers available to the player that carry over through different runs, combined with the lack of preparation means you can just pick a character, jump into the game, and start shooting. Not having to worry about any sort of deliberate choices can be a positive as there is no fluff to stop from jamming to the beats while shooting things.
Overall, I think that BPM is okay. It’s hard to recommend when Metal: Hellsinger exists AND even has a roguelite mode. I think that everything BPM does, MH does better. I would only recommend BPM if you already played MH and want more rhythm FPS action OR you prefer skill-based roguelikes against a game that is narrative focused with roguelike gameplay being an afterthought. Otherwise, go play MH.
[h1] [b] Recommend? [Y/N] [/b] [/h1]
[h1]No[/h1]
You can find my curator page here: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Synik_GR
