It is barely a year ago that the previous Sword Art Online (SAO) title has been released, but it is already time for a new dive in the MMO universe. This time the swords of Alfheim are handed in for the guns of Gun Gale Online. Whether the game hits the target, you can read in the Sword Art Online Fatal Bullet Review.
Sword Art Online is and remains a complex construction for newcomers to understand. The franchise is, as it were, a double dose of massive multiplayer online, where the characters are in a digital MMO world and are also aware of this. With a kind of VR headset these characters log in to play together then. While you as a gamer in this offline single player must "MMO" to empathize as if it were all for the puppets all about multiplayer.
Fatal Bullet responds to the above-mentioned concept, but leaves out the magic of the other SAO worlds. This game focuses on the Phantom Bullet Arc or the Gun Gale Online series, as you might know from the third season of the anime or have read in the manga. As the name of this imaginary VRMMO says, the guns make the law and there is no place for spells. Yet you can not expect a tough story where you lose one player after the other, on the contrary even.
Another way
The single player mode of Fatal Bullet is and plays differently than its predecessors, and frankly that is also welcome. For the change it is not equal panic, murder and crimes, but a typical feel-good story is presented. The main character that you play and a former friend from the "real" world, named Kureha, decide to visit the world of Gun Gale Online and have fun. During the game these characters grow together again, while their club of online friends is getting bigger and bigger.
By the end of the minimum 20-hour story mode you can expect some drama and plot twists, but these do not overshadow the more positive side. Add to this the fact that the storytelling by the moving images during dialogues has more interaction than its predecessor, and you have a relaxed anime story. A lot of side tracks, backgrounds and funny conversations are on the horizon.
What you can also talk about is that once you can tinker your own character and do not play standard Kirito and comrades again. Although these iconic names naturally pass by, they play a lesser role in a storytelling way than the new types. You will be amazed at how well the original anime and the game blend into one another without losing your own misery.
Maximum RPG content
Not only the story is well organized, but there is also plenty of positive in the field of gameplay. Although Gun Gale Online revolves around target bars, the intricacies of the MMO course are revealed. There is plenty to experience and to personalize to keep you for a good number of hours. In addition, the many grinding and upgrading can not be forgotten.
The game has a huge range of different weapons, costumes and skills as you are used to from previous SAO games or loot games in general. More than half of the time you are tweaking your character and scrolling through (shop) menus to put the best equipment together. You have to take into account that you get points to distribute well-known statistics such as agility, vitality and strength, with which you can unlock new skills. The use of guns does not mean that you no longer have special powers!
In Sword Art Online Fatal Bullet you get to deal with eight different types of weapons, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Skills are often class-specific, which keeps us busy with selecting the favorite style of playing. An advantage is that the game continues to invite to save weapons, because within a certain type there are gradations in rarity and strength. Fatal Bullet is a real loot and grind game as you are used to from Borderlands or Diablo 3.
Selective attention to detail
Fatal Bullet looks and plays to some extent so that the comparison with Borderlands is further extended. Graphically, the cell-shaded style of the characters with corresponding details looks slicked out. In fact, it is without doubt the most beautiful Sword Art Online game so far.
Unfortunately, this visual quality is not maintained everywhere. The game consists of a number of post-apocalyptic areas of reasonable size. Although it is clearly chosen for a whimsical style, this does not always work out nicely. Both the capital and mainhub SBC Glocken as well as the other fields and dungeons look a lot less beautiful. You could even say that it is no longer entirely of this time.
The playable main areas feel empty and linear, but dungeons are even worse because literally almost every dungeon is a simple recycle. It is painfully made clear that the game revolves around the combat and the story, because of the environments you become anything but happy. Earlier SAO games were able to earn more atmosphere points in this area.
Mountains to lead
Wherever strong contrast can be seen, it is in the gunplay itself. Here too, the comparison with Borderlands comes up again, because Fatal Bullet has just such a typical run and gun gameplay. You run around large groups of enemies or huge bosses while you pump literal thousands of bullets into them using the coolest weapons and skills. Timeless entertainment!
On the other hand, shooting does not work perfectly. For example, the most hand-held aim assist you have ever seen is used. A huge circle appears on the enemy and if you shoot a bit in the direction of it, you hit the victim with a salvo. Fortunately, the difficulty level is quite high, otherwise the game was ridiculously easy.
Even though you are not tied to the aim-assist, it is always better than shooting without any help. Enemies run around like a chicken without a head, making it impossible to hit with a sniper, for example. Problems like this cause another gigantic hurdle that you often run into enough.
The desert called multiplayer
Sword Art Online Fatal Bullet is an offline MMO, but also has a multiplayer. In the co-op mode you battle with other players against the bosses who own the game. In addition, there is a PvP mode that is divided into two branches. You can compete against each other with your own characters or hold a battle with figures from the game.
The multiplayer could in theory be entertaining, were it not that the servers are as empty as the Sahara. After having searched a match for about 15 times at different times, there has only been an actual lobby. If you want to play Sword Art Online Fatal Bullet for the PvP, you come home from a cold funfair.
Conclusion
In terms of gameplay, Fatal Bullet is the best Sword Art Online game in existence. The gunplay, in combination with the RPG draft, provided a welcome surprise. In addition, there is also a nice story that once does not focus on Kirito. Wonderfully refreshing and unpredictable!
Yet it is not just sunshine that Fatal Bullet radiates. The AI is a cesspool of misery and the environments can also use a lick of paint. The occasional frame drop or audiocut also sometimes throws spanner in the works. If you look through these weaknesses, Fatal Bullet is a pretty good game.
Sword Art Online Fatal Bullet is available for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.
Pros
➕ Positive story with own character
➕ RPG elements executed perfectly
➕ Addictive gunplay
➕ Challenging
Cons
➖ AI is pure dredge
➖ Environments quite monotonous
➖ Few small FPS problems
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