BPM: Bullets Per Minute Reviews

BPM: Bullets Per Minute was originally releases on Steam a bit over two years ago. Around its one-year anniversary, the game saw its first release on consoles, namely Xbox and Playstation. Our own Jordan Hawes tackled this port last year, which you can read here. As what we can only assume is part of a celebration of the original game’s second anniversary, a shocking Nintendo Switch version is finally out, with owners of the handheld now being able to see how many demon bats, spiders, and e...

If you like insane difficulty, oddness, and prog rock, this game is for you.

BPM: Bullets Per Minute is one of the most exhilarating shooter experiences I’ve had recently, thanks to fast gameplay, varied gunfights, and a high skill ceiling to aim for via the many runs the players will inevitably go through. Ironically enough, the rhythm-based shooting is perhaps the title’s least fun key mechanic, but it can almost entirely be turned off, which shockingly made the game better. As with other roguelites, luck plays a big part, as certain dungeons and item generations are almost impossible to beat, with others being almost too easy to blast through. But that’s part of the magic: it’s worth suffering through even a dozen unfavourable situations for that one run where every piece of the puzzle falls into place because when it does, BPM: Bullets Per Minute offers stellar gameplay that I intend to come back to for quite some time.

BPM: Bullets Per Minute demands its pound of flesh in terms of initial difficulty, and many will find this off-putting. But persist and you'll be rewarded with a unique roguelike rhythm-based FPS with a metal soundtrack that slaps harder than the hand of God.

Needless to say, if first-person shooters, roguelikes or rhythm games are your thing, you might want to check BPM: Bullets Per Minute out. Especially if you also like heavy metal music. And if you like all of those things, well, BPM: Bullets Per Minute might well just be your dream game. With addictive gameplay, bucket-loads of content and numerous settings to make it a little more forgiving if you need it to be, this is one of the most unique and rewarding games available right now.

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.

It’s murder on the dancefloor.

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, coming right from the FTL: Faster Than Light naming-school, is a game that brings to mind the great poem "The German Guns". There's a hell of a lot of "BOOM" and each of them follows on in a specific beat. Why? I assume it's because the Norse gods have gotten into heavy metal recently and are determined to make you match to the beat.

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.

AWE Interactives fires at a wildly fast tempo with the release of BPM: Bullets Per Minute. It’s a mixture of the roguelike elements of Binding of Isaac, the rhythm-based combat of Crypt of the Necrodancer, and the aggression of classic first-person shooters like Doom. With an arsenal of weapons, a slew of enemies, a Norse culture setting, and a hard rock soundtrack: is this the Guitar Hero of shooters or merely a half-beat attempt?

BPM: Bullets Per Minute is a challenging rhythm shooter that’s difficult to master but highly satisfying.