BPM: Bullets Per Minute is a rather stylish shooter where everything revolves around the beat and rhythm of the music that accompanies you as you roam through a hellish (and very red-tinted) rogue-like dungeon.
Coming from the developers at Awe Interactive as their first title shipped out under the name, which was formed by David Jones who served as the design director for The Turing Test and Battalion 1944.
The developers within the studio have some past titles under their belt already, featuring rhythm games and stylish over-the-top presentation with Guitar Hero, Forza Horizon 4, and Blood & Truth.
What happens when we mash up style and music with a healthy dosing of murder?
Fragging demons, hardcore rock soundtrack that reacts to what’s happening in your run, game-altering abilities, and five different heroes all combine together in a title that is appearing ready to change up how we frag.
The official release date for PC is marked on September 15, 2020. Console players won’t be left out, but they’ll need to exude some patience; the title isn’t scheduled for console release until 2021, which implies that we’ll see next-gen support with the title.
The trailers seen thus far promise a hectic experience punctuated with the deep beats of the soundtrack as you play as a Valkyrie to stop the forces of Hell from invading Asgard. If that doesn’t sound like a metal experience borne from mythology and violence that’s ready to take rhythm-games to the next level, then you’re a hard fan to please.
Yet there is a lot riding on this experience for Awe Interactive; while undeniably composed of veterans of the industry, it’s a sinister first step into the world every time a new studio takes it.
It speaks volumes about the level of trust consumers will place in the company for the foreseeable future, and will directly affect not only the upcoming support for BPM: Bullets Per Minute but also further titles that Awe Interactive haven’t even begun work on.
The primary complaint of BPM thus far is the oversaturation of colors that have been seen in trailers thus far; combined with hectic over-the-top violence where the player must not only pay attention to their surroundings to note enemy positions and traps, but also match their movements with rhythm, it could simply overwhelm players; an aspect that Crypt of the Necrodancer intelligently avoided with an isometric view and more ponderous baseline.
To BPM: Bullets Per Minute a massive success, Awe Interactive is standing ready at the firing line ready to unleash this Nordic-inspired headbanger in two short months. Here’s hoping that they can elevate dungeon crawlers into an entirely new level.