Gaming is filled with a host of iconic weaponry, whether they’re huge tools of destruction or something that challenges you to rethink your environment. Well, we’re celebrating all of the best weapons in gaming, and today we’re revisiting the criminally underrated Bulletstorm to talk about the game’s sniper rifle: the Head Hunter.
People Can Fly really stacked the deck against themselves when they decided to name their 2011 FPS Bulletstorm. You can’t have a name like that and not feature some absolutely cracking weapons, and Bulletstorm definitely doesn’t disappoint in that regard. In fact, most of the weapons that feature in Bulletstorm could be featured as part of this little series of ours, so narrowing it down to just one is tough.
In terms of the ridiculous, you’ve got The Penetrator, which shoots rocket-powered drills at your enemies, pinning them to any surface, while the Boneduster is a four-barrelled shotgun capable of melting the flesh off of any mutant dumb enough to stand two feet in front of you. Even the regular assault rifle, the Peacemaker Carbine, still possesses some spice, as it’s capable of firing 100 bullets at once in a concentrated bullet of death.
In all the bombast and ridiculousness of Bulletstorm though, it’s actually the most subtle and precise weapon in the game that ends up being the highlight: the Head Hunter. What looks on the surface to be a fairly bog standard sniper rifle is actually a highly enjoyable highlight in your arsenal, taking all the best features of a sniper while ensuring that everyone can enjoy the benefits.
You see, the Head Hunter is almost like a My First Sniper Rifle, requiring players to lock on to a target before firing. That might sound counter intuitive, but the real genius then comes once you’ve fired and the bullet almost reaches your target. Players can control the bullet remotely in slow motion, targeting whether they want to hit the enemy in the balls, the head or more. For enemies hidden around cover, or those that are just a bit too fast to hit normally, the Head Hunter felt great to use.
Like all weapons in Bulletstorm though, the Head Hunter came with upgrades and new features too, with players able to use a Charged Shot instead, amplifying the abilities of the Head Hunter. In this mode, once you’ve hit the enemy, you would then be able to control them remotely for a few seconds as they fly through the air, before you detonate an explosive device you embedded into their body at high velocity.
It’s this additional feature that turns the Head Hunter from an already brilliant weapon into something that’s worthy of being added to the video game weapon Hall of Fame. Much like the Head Hunter itself, Bulletstorm on the surface looks like a silly, brainless shooter, but the combos and Skillshots prove that there’s some strategy and depth there. The Head Hunter embodies that mantra wholly, allowing players to take a breath in this fast-paced carnage filled shooter, and plan a truly devastating kill.
Despite being over 12 years old, and receiving some remasters and ports over the years, Bulletstorm still feels like a relatively niche game. Even adding Duke Nukem to the ports didn’t seem to raise the game’s profile too much, but weapons like the Head Hunter and others prove there was a massive well of creativity during the development of Bulletstorm, and it would have been amazing to have seen that pushed to the next level in a sequel.
Heck, it’d still be amazing. Just saying, lads.
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