BPM: Bullets Per Minute

I like BPM, but I want to like it a whole lot more than I do. It’s got an incredible gameplay core – the beat-matching mechanic and roguelike structure of Crypt of the NecroDancer married to a Quake-style throwback FPS – and an uncommonly pure aesthetic vision. The metal soundtrack is basic but enjoyable, and I love how the rhythmic systems are so thoroughly integrated that even reloading becomes a satisfying contribution of percussion. But it also makes one enormously inappropriate design choice that frustrates in a number of ways: health is (mostly) subtracted in large, discrete chunks, regardless of damage source. This setup works fine for the top-down bullet hell roguelikes that mostly use it, but it’s extremely punishing of the many small mistakes enabled by a supersonic first-person perspective and visual design that prioritizes catching the eye and setting the tone over any kind of functional discipline. If you can avoid these pitfalls, you’ll find the RNG generally works in your favour, and you may be able to have the intended amount of fun with it. For my part, I can’t comfortably recommend a game I spent so much time being angry at.