Review: Guns 'n' Stories: Bulletproof VR – PS4/PSVR

Wave shooters are a dime-a-dozen these days on PSVR, but there’s always room for one more, right?
Guns ‘n’ Stories: Bulletproof VR is the latest addition to the PlayStation VR’s growing library of games, but is it any good? Is it really a rootin’, tootin’ good time? Or is it one that needs to be sent to the gallows? Read on and I’ll tell you.
As it’s a PSVR game, yes, you will require a PSVR headset. You’ll also need a couple of PSVR move controllers to hand, too, as the DualShock 4 and PSVR Aim controller are not welcome ’round these here parts.

On the surface, Guns ‘n’ Stories: Bulletproof VR is another wave shooter, that much is clear. But what sets the MiroWin’s creation apart from the crowd is the way in which the action is framed. It’s not just a case of being plonked into a level and having at it until everything that moves is dead. You play the role of a dozy old grandfather telling stories of his time as an Old West gunslinger to his grandson, though they’re pretty tall tales that aren’t always faithful to the truth. It’s not serious in any kind of way, but is instead comedic in delivery and takes cues from another classic Western game, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, and not just because they both feature Old West settings.
The aforementioned Gunslinger has an old man telling stories to his grandkids, embellishing the details to make himself seem more heroic than he perhaps was. If you played this gem on the PS3, you’ll recognise the storytelling style in Bulletproof VR. It’s not a bad thing by any means, and I actually appreciate that the developer tried to take a pretty drab genre and spruce it up with some witty writing that seeps into the gameplay.

At one point you’ll be spraying bullets from your revolver, only for the grandkid to chime in about revolvers not being able to do that, and then the game will swap out your trusty cowboy pistol for a sub-machine gun. Oh, yeah, historical accuracy isn’t a factor here, not when old gramps is having booze poured down his throat by his nosy grandkid who just wants to hear stories of the old west.
It’s funny, charming, and at times, downright silly. And I loved it. The gameplay, however, is not quite as satisfying.
 

I played the game using PS4 Pro, so you’d think I was getting the best possible version of the game. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The gameplay is fine, if a little tedious and repetitive – a staple for the wave shooter genre – but the graphics were unsightly at times. Enemies and objects close by look fairly nice, but anything more than 20 digital feet away looked awful and couldn’t be made out clearly, including enemies. It’s a shame, really, that the game’s presentation couldn’t have been cleaned up a touch for the PSVR; I’ve seen the game running on the HTC Vive and it looks really, really nice. I know the PS4 and the Pro are underpowered, but after coming from games such as Farpoint and Firewall Zero Hour that handle presentation really well, it’s disappointing to see the potential wasted here.
And there really is potential. The story is silly fun, the weapons are outlandish at times, and the gunplay is acceptable, it’s just the presentation that’s a let-down. I’ve seen worse, sure, but that’s no excuse.

Guns 'n' Stories: Bulletproof VR PS4/PSVR Review

• 6.9/10
  Overall - Good - 6.9/10

6.9/10

Summary

Guns ‘n’ Stories: Bulletproof VR does the guns well and the stories superbly. It’s only let down by its poor visual presentation, something that other versions of the game don’t suffer from. If you can look past the issues that’ll be staring you in the face, you’ll get a good laugh out of the game.