Blues and Bullets is unlike many of the games you’ll find in the marketplace today. A Crowd of Monsters have stumbled upon a recipe that presents gamers with a unique and twisted experience.
Blues and Bullets is an episodic adventure in which you take on the role of retired detective Elliot Ness as you attempt to solve a disturbing case of missing children, some of which delves into some occult territory. The game’s noir art style helps push the game to another level and keeps players engaged in the world. There are several sequences during episode one that left me wanting to explore more of the world. The game offers up some items aside from the main case left for curious gamers to discover or interact with. These interactions sometimes reveal some more backstory while others give more life to the world. And let me say, if you play this game, you will get drawn into it.
Story is an aspect in video games that I hold above all else. It’s difficult for me to get through a game if I’m not invested in the story or its characters. Blues and Bullets manages to establish a small cast of characters that are easy to keep track of while you navigate the case and their backstories. Fans of something like True Detective, especially season one, will find investigating the case in Blues and Bullets is right up their alley. With violence and narration added to the mix, Blues and Bullets reminded me of some good times in Max Payne 3.
The shooting mechanics in the game are simple enough that gamers who aren’t familiar to third or first person shooters will be able to get through just fine. The same goes for crime scene investigations. The game makes the investigation difficult enough so that solving certain clues feels like an accomplishment, but is easy enough to prevent gamers from getting too frustrated. Also, if you look hard enough, you’ll see small movie poster easter eggs that foreshadow the game’s plot. However, if you look closely, you’ll see a shout out to the true master detective himself: Batman.
Each decision you make through the story will have repercussions through the story. This is one of the game’s best features. Sure, it increases replayability, but what’s more exciting is the prospect of talking about you decisions with friends who played through it themselves. Don’t worry, you’ll also be able to compare all of your decisions with what the rest of the community picked. Since there’s only one episode out, there aren’t any major repercussions besides the different lines of dialogue and further insight to the character’s backstories.
One of my favorite aspects of the game is the musical score. Often, the music was a big part of my immersion into the story. Coupled with the camera movements, Blues and Bullets feels cinematic throughout episode one.
Overall, Blues and Bullets is a fantastic start to this episodic series that shows a lot of promise. I’m excited to see the direction A Crowd of Monsters take with the story and how much darker it’ll get. With Halloween just around the corner, Blues and Bullets is hitting the marketplace just at the right time.
Blues and Bullets is available now on the Xbox One and Steam!