BPM: Bullets Per Minute Reviews
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.
A good idea sadly not executed in the best way.
Imagine sitting down in your finest to watch some ballet, only to have the opening act being your dad in a tutu flailing around like a salmon. Sure the ballet afterward is beautiful, but can you survive the opening act to see it?
I love the core concept of Bullets Per Minute, and I admire the developers for trying to bring it to life. But…it doesn’t quite work as well as it could have, or should have. It’s like they had this awesome idea, and then glued, taped and nailed a rough game around it. It has flashes of brilliance. Moments where it all comes together and your timing is perfect and your foot is tapping. Those moments are rarer than they need to be. Between them you deal with lack of musical variety, the aggressive colouring and the rogue-like structure that doesn’t quite work. It needs more fleshing out. But I think for some people it’s going to really click with them, and for around £15 you’re getting something different and interesting. Maybe that’s enough.
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.
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.
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: Bullets Per Minute is a fun shooter with some interesting ideas but with a difficulty curve more akin to trying to ram yourself through a brick wall. If you're a fan of the roguelike genre and rhythm games, provided you can get past the annoyances, then this could be a fun time killer.
A cool idea gets bogged down by a lack of visual clarity, an unfortunately casualty specific to the Switch
The hard thing about BPM: Bullets Per Minute is that it can be a lot of fun, it just doesn’t have mass appeal. A lot of players will be turned off by the design choices, low-budget look, and steep learning curve.
A bewildering mix of fun and frustrating, BPM’s neat hook belies the fact it’s a hardcore rhythm-FPS-rogue-like sure to infuriate and entertain in near-equal measure.
Where does this leave BPM: Bullets Per Minute? As it stands, BPM is a solid idea that's well executed, but it's wrapped in some mediocre game design that ultimately drags down the experience. This may sound like a harsh deconstruction of the title, but I would still recommend it to the right person. If you're very much into rhythm games or intrigued by the title, give it a shot. Its gameplay is promisingly solid, but the rest of the experience feels either underwhelming or too repetitive to appreciate over time. I would have loved to see some more drastic gameplay variations, skill-based additions, or maybe a change of pace or music to mix things up.
Although BPM is suffering from some issues, its combination of shooter and rhythm-action genres is very innovative and interesting, and despite this idea is not as developed as it should have, it can still be very entertaining for those who are looking for a challenging Roguelike game.
Review in Persian | Read full review
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.
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 is a great concept somewhat fumbled, redeemed when it breaks its own rules.
It’s seriously not as if BPM is a bad game. Since its release, so many other games have come out doing roughly the same thing, but building upon it. It runs well on Switch, but definitely is hindered by the limitations of the system, especially in handheld mode. That definitely doesn’t mean don’t play it, because it is easy to pick up and play for one or two runs, and pick up to play on a daily basis. It’s the perfect style game for the Switch, it just needs a little bit of tweaking in order to be fully enjoyed.
BPM: Bullets Per Minute is practically one of those “love it or leave it” games. Its peculiarities include: charming visuals; good, but demanding gameplay; original mechanics, but needing tweaking and polishing. If the player is agile and skillful enough, and has some luck during runs, then this will be an amazing title. Otherwise, its poorly optimized elements will make the experience punishing and uninteresting.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
BPM: Bullets Per Minute, despite having a few exploitable flaws and little reward for those seeking to replay it other than for fun, is absolutely worth your time. The gameplay is satisfying, the music is superb and Awe Interactive proves its rhythm-based mechanics aren’t just a cheap marketable gimmick like many we see. It’s a fully developed and enjoyable experience with which you’ll have fun throughout the entire time playing it. I sincerely hope the developers address the main issues with this game, so it can really become something worth putting hundreds of hours into.
Despite its shortcomings, we were always drawn to come back for 'one more run'. It nails the roguelite gameplay hook and has a unique gameplay mechanic to support it all. While it at times feels as though the game's fighting against you when everything comes together, there's nothing quite like it. Clearing a room of monsters in time to the guitar shredding soundtrack never gets old and the constant progression of unlocking new characters and skills is an incentive to keep trying. It's not a home run, but those who buy into BPM: Bullet Per Minute's charm will certainly have a good time.