BPM: Bullets Per Minute Reviews
That satisfying flow and well-tuned gameplay make the lack of big-budget polish a negligible issue. The game is also only $20, making it well worth every cent, and further excusing some of the repetition and lack of polish. The biggest complaints with the game are not that the concept and execution aren't good enough, the issue is that the game deserves more content, more attention, and more development of its great ideas.
BPM is a great concept somewhat fumbled, redeemed when it breaks its own rules.
The difficulty without much progression and lack of any kind of guidance can make BPM feel a bit unwelcoming, which is a shame when its mechanics feel so great to learn. It's worth diving into for the core premise alone, but don't expect to have anyone hold your hand through hell.
We really like BPM; it’s a great game, but perhaps it’s one best experienced on another platform — especially if you play in docked mode.
Those seeking a hardcore shooting challenge and something a bit different from the usual will find both in BPM: Bullets Per Minute.
BPM: Bullets Per Minute is an addictive, innovative, and punishingly hard roguelite shooter-slash-rhythm game - and it's great
BPM is a difficult game to recommend because it is just too damn difficult! There isn't so much a difficulty curve as a brick wall, and the resultant over-reliance on RNG can make for a frustrating experience. The core game is brilliantly inventive and it feels fantastic when you get in the flow, but there are just too many obstacles in the way. Hopefully Awe Interactive will patch things to make the game more accessible as there is the basis for an indie gem here.
BPM is an amazing concept, realised wonderfully. It's not the easiest of recommendations due to the game's brutal difficulty level and heavy metal skew, but if you're on board with those things, willing to learn something new (and get your ass handed to you repeatedly in the process), and prepared to overcome the whims of some random elements to bring down Nidhogg, you're in for one hell of a time. Honestly, well executed passages are next-level satisfying, from triple-tap kill combos to the beat to the simple act of reloading some of the fiddlier weapons. Completions beware, though — the list is a bit silly.
Awe Interactive's hellbound original finds the music at the heart of the first-person shooter
BPM: Bullets Per Minute is a fast-paced and intense shooter stripped down to only the very basics, all of which is meant to focus you in on the core mechanic of staying on beat. Fortunately, it works beautifully well and creates a fun and addicting gameplay experience that stands above some minor flaws.
The few times that the RNG in BPM: Bullets Per Minute actually managed to put together a set of weapons and abilities that allowed for significant progress, the game shined, but it's just not worth the hours of suffering failed runs and mistimed shots. To borrow the game's own 90s shooter comparisons, playing BPM is like diving into Doom on Ultra Nightmare before learning how to play an FPS. The fun is still there, but it's buried under so many roadblocks and complications. The frustrating end result is a game with a great idea that bungles just about every part of the execution.
Developers at team Awe Interactive managed to catch rhythm-shooter hype with a real finesse, and showing others how to make games in this new subgenre.
Review in Russian | Read full review
There is no middle ground for BPM: either you love it, or you hate it. Personally, I feel this game crosses the line between challenge and frustration, offering a learning curve that is almost impossible to climb if you are not a true FPS lover. The soundtrack is excellent and the bundle with it is worth your money, but if you're not a very, very patient person with lightning-fast reflexes and an excellent sense of rhythm, you better look somewhere else.
Review in Italian | Read full review
BPM: Bullets Per Minute is an old-school shooter with a twist, adding in roguelike mechanics as well as rhythm-based gameplay. Jump, dash, shoot and reload to the beat to advance through a host of monster-filled levels, collecting keys, coins, equipment, and stats to try and get through the seven stages that constitute each playthrough. The gameplay is fun, fast, and frantic, it looks good and sounds great, with a perfect heavy-metal soundtrack, though there are a few flaws. A lack of enemy variety, particularly bosses, as well as level variety starts to show quickly.
BPM: Bullets for Minute responds to that nostalgia that all lovers of rhythmic games have had for a long time, placing themselves - with an exuberant, but thoughtful combination of solutions - halfway between a first-person shooter and a roguelike. The real stylistic signature of the work naturally lies in the ubiquitous soundtrack and in the cunning way in which the Awe Interactive team has managed to combine its rhythmic progression with the assets of combat, revealing a multifaceted title but with a strong playful identity.
Review in Italian | Read full review
An unrefined rogue-like, but a hell of a rhythm shooter. A killer soundtrack and some striking visuals blend beautifully with frenetic shooting to produce pure adrenaline.
BPM: Bullets Per Minute has nothing new to offer but its rhythm-based combat. Luckily, that combat is immensely satisfying, even when the surrounding structure can feel a touch empty.
Simply put, BPM: Bullets Per Minute does a good job of being more than the sum of its parts, though not enough where it transcends things. It's absolutely a game that will either hook you or break your controller before giving up. I'd suggest trying it out or possibly study a video, as it's fun but also an investment.
The posturised visuals are so extreme to a point of frustration that hinders the otherwise fantastic gameplay. If you can look past the bad art, BPM: Bullets Per Minute is an energizing rhythm-based shooter with addictive play that will have you coming back for more and more.