Bullet Rodeo is a simple but repetitive gallery shooter published by RedDeer Games. It has a solid foundation but ultimately seems unfinished.
With gameplay similar to Wild Guns or even lightgun shooters, the goal is to shoot bandits before they shoot you; this is the wild west after all so shoot first and ask questions later. Using one analog stick to move and the other to aim, the player can shoot in five pre-set angles. Both enemies and innocents literally appear out of a puff of smoke so their transition can be a little jarring at times since they just spawn wherever they want. The player is only armed with a revolver so each the six shots will need to be managed since the manual reloading takes time. This reloading gameplay element is this game’s main gimmick.
The problem with Bullet Rodeo is the extreme repetition. There are only a few different enemy types, but they are all basically the same thing except for the guy that throws dynamite instead of shooting a pistol or rifle. Each stage is an act of attrition too, as they linger for far too long. Eventually the action switches to a horse race with poor jumps and hit detection so they aren’t much fun either.
This is a great example of a one-dimensional game. All you do is shoot the same gun at the same enemies until you die, then start all over from the beginning. There are no power-ups. There are no unlockables. There is no replay value. There is no multiplayer. There is no incentive for playing well or playing poorly. The lack of variety and flavor means the repetition will only result in unfortunate boredom.
It is a shame because the colorful, cartoony visuals are pleasant and the overall gameplay foundation is solid, there just isn’t any meat on the bone.
Not As Good As: the latest Wild Guns title
Better Than: trying to connect a NES light zapper to a modern TV
Wait For It: a trip to an arcade with any lightgun game
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz
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RATING
OUR RATING - 4
4
SCORE
Bullet Rodeo is a gallery shooter that falls short due to overly long levels, lack of power-ups, and intense repetition.