- Developer: Bandai Namco
- Publisher: Bandai Namco
- Genre: RPG
- Release Date: 23/2/18
- Platforms: xbox one, ps4 and pc
- Reviewed on: xbox one x
- Game Supplied by: microsoft
SAO (Sword Art Online) Fatal bullet plunges you into the world of GGO (Gun Gale Online) a VR MMO seen in the anime Sword art online 2. Obviously you will not require a Nerve gear as it is not actually in virtual reality but the game plays as if you were logging in and out of a VR MMO with NPCs playing the part of other online players, it all adds to the fiction of the universe.
The story takes a very typical starting point with you being a complete beginner and coming across a extremely rare item called a ARFA-sys (a intelligent humanoid ai companion) shortly after that you will meet some familiar faces from the anime and quickly become friends with Kirito and the rest of the gang from Sword Art Online,Alfheim Online and Gun Gale Online
It does not take long for the games biggest flaw to become apparent, There are serious issues with the pacing of the game. It does try to ease you in with a tutorial level in the form of a room by room dungeon leading to your discovery of the ARFA-sys, but straight after that you are made to slog through long character intros and almost pointless text before you can get your guns back out. Even after the intro segments and boring tour of the world bit the story is in no rush, with more and more long winded cut scenes that you can’t skip if you want any hope of understanding a drop of what is going on. The only thing they have given you to entice you to carry on is the mystery surrounding your new AI companion, and this just leads you on a load of barely connected disinteresting quests with no real long term goal.
Now it doesn’t take long for you to complete the main story line, if you focus only on the main quest line you could clear the story in around 20 hours. There are side quest to beef out the play time doing things like taking down large powerful enemies or wiping out a npc red player but there is not much substance to the side quests.
You could participate in some online modes that pit you with or against other players in a challenge to take down a big boss monster, but again there doesn’t seem to be any real draw to doing so unless you have some friends to play with.
This does add a new element to the game where if you chose to play against players you have to deal damage to the boss and score the highest whilst avoiding being snubbed out by other players.
If you want to play with friends they will in short replace the AI team that you would normally play with.
It does not tie in with your story missions nor help to progress, it is just an optional mode.
When it comes to combat, fatal bullet has actually hit the mark pretty well it neither forces you or discourages you to try new weapons and different styles of game play, all the weapons seem to feel equal in some way. Be that due to the mag size, the fire rate or the damage output. I doesn’t seem to put you at any disadvantage no matter the weapon you use, and the general mechanics of combat are pretty simple to use and quite user friendly even for people who have no experience in 3rd person shooters.
Onto the subject of characters, the customisation is pretty good considering, it gave me enough of a diverse choice that i felt my character was truly unique.
As for progression with said character, the basics are the same as always as you level up you will unlock perks, in this they are called gear, they will buff stats such as strength vitality ect. This will allow you to equip more powerful weapons and to make your character more powerful over all.
As for sound the game is neither good or bad, The sound is simply ok.
The guns sound like they should and all effects are there its just missing a little something, but it works and does not take away from the experience.
Last but not least, the look of the game, this may well be one of fatal bullets redeeming qualities. It looks great for an anime based game, it’s not quite on the same level as titles such as DBZ fighterz but at the same time this is a completely different game. None the less i think it has captured the animes charm quite well.
SUMMARY
I personally like Fatal bullet but it doesn’t have that little something to keep me wanting more. It’s nice to finally be able to play in the world of GGO surrounded by some of your favourites from the anime, but overall i feel like it could have done with some more polish. That’s not to say it is a bad game just its not everything that i hoped for.
I feel that if you are a big fan of the anime series, the GGO arc in particular this could very well be worth picking up.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!