The idea of upgradeable weapons and skills isn't all that new or different, but Bulletstorm provides a welcome dose of functionality and suspension of disbelief to its combo system. The Leash AI takes all of Bulletstorm's unique and genre-defying mechanical elements and makes sense of them within its own particular reality. It's... smart. Who'd have thought, particularly given the throwback nature of Bulletstorm's first person shooting? There's no cover, enemies aren't especially smart, and levels are a straight shot from A to B, but Bullestorm still impresses. In tandem with shooting that feels responsive and meaty, with powerful, interesting weapons, the combo system makes Bulletstorm's combat a success.

Echoes is a score-attack offering that feels like the true heart of the game, breaking the story levels down into a series of high-action nuggets shorn of cut-scenes and other distractions. The pace of the action slowly moves from a carnival of experimentation to a kind of scientific hunt for the perfect racing line as geography, enemy placement and weapons pull you towards an optimum route. With the clock ticking, you're encouraged to inflict maximum carnage as quickly as possible, and it's fascinating to discover that certain rooms – which initially took a quarter-hour of mad attrition to clear – can be smartly short-circuited in seconds.

Bulletstorm is an FPS that offers the kind of personality and tone which propelled genre icons such as Duke Nukem and Serious Sam into stardom - and one which carries this with an originality and freshness that will bring much cheer to those who have become tired of stale, earnest military shooters.
,br> It's a bright, good-looking game with a very smart combat mechanic, one which sadly only fully thrives in multiplayer. Sometimes it seems as though PCF and Epic have ignored modern genre conventions where they would have been welcomed, but in nearly all cases, their striving for innovation (or, at least, a reckless nod to the past) pays dividends.