We’d forgive you if you said you wanted a break from the Xbox 360’s seemingly unending wave of melodramatic, darkly serious first-person shooters. As much as we love the genre, it sure would be nice to just cut loose and have mindless fun for a change and not have to worry about nuclear war with Russia or an invasion by North Korea.

For that reason — and others — Bulletstorm is a refreshing change of pace. Fast, crass, and over-the-top, it casts you as space pirate Grayson Hunt (who, given the game’s juvenile sense of humor, was probably almost named Mike). Your goal: revenge on corrupt former commanding officer General Serrano, who used you and your crew as hitmen against innocent civilians. Don’t focus too much on the story, though; just revel in the crazy new shooter mechanics that Bulletstorm delivers.

To that end, it’s critical that you not play the game as a traditional FPS. Bulletstorm does a great job of driving this point home by coaching you through all of its unique mechanics one-by-one, and introducing you to the benefits of its myriad “skillshots.” Whether you rope foes into the air with your electronic leash, boot them skyward with your foot, or set them up for a skeet shoot by sliding into them and launching them toward the clouds, time briefly slows down and lets you get creative with your kills. Leash them toward you and then shoot them in the backside for a “Rear Entry” commendation. Kick someone into one of the planet’s giant cacti for a “Pricked.” The list goes on, as does the enjoyment. Each skillshot earns you points you can cash in for ammo and/or Charge weapon upgrades, the latter of which, in turn, unlock additional skillshot challenges.

And the first six or so hours of exploring those skillshots is simply glorious. Playing with an ultra-sadistic remote-controlled “toy,” circling a 12-story beast in an attack helicopter, experimenting with the newest clever weapon — yup, Bulletstorm is a thrill ride loaded with gorgeous set pieces.

Until the mutants show up…

You might dig Bulletstorm more if you simply stop playing the campaign once the clichéd guys-who-can-be-killed-only-by-shooting-their-glowing-orange-tumors enter the picture. These beasts are not only boring to fight, but also counter-intuitive to the game’s entire credo, as it’s far easier and more efficient to simply spray them with your default machinegun than it is to line up a tricky skillshot.

Compounding the problem is that the campaign simply drags on far too long. Well before the end, you’ve already nailed all of the skillshots you’re likely to achieve and have had enough of the game’s bromantic dialogue. (Serrano simply grates, while Hunt calling every woman in sight a “broad” is blatantly offensive.) The ending, when you do finally reach it, is eye-rollingly awful. If Bulletstorm had concluded after its first six terrific hours, we’d probably complain about the campaign being short, but at least we’d be praising how fun, exciting, and fresh the experience was all the way through and how it left us wanting more. Instead, it’s like a completely hammered, high-fiving frat boy who doesn’t realize that the party ended hours ago.

Fortunately, the two extra game modes serve as a welcome after-party. In Anarchy, a new take on Gears of War’s Horde mode, you must coordinate on team skillshots to earn maximum points for killing each round’s finite number of foes. Teamwork is absolutely required to reach the point threshold necessary to qualify for the next round, and while this cooperative play is fun for a while, once you’ve rolled through each of the six maps and done all of the team skillshots a few hundred times, you’ll probably go back to Halo or Call of Duty.

Echo, on the other hand, is perhaps the purest Bulletstorm experience. Eschewing the fluff of the single-player game (i.e., dialogue and story), this mode gives you slices of campaign maps and challenges you to top your friends on the leaderboards by compiling the highest score possible. Replaying these five-minute chunks to get that one better skillshot for a higher overall score is an easy way to lose an hour.

Though it’s not as tight a package as we’d hoped, Bulletstorm at least makes a genuine effort to be different — and largely succeeds. It’s easy to both appreciate and enjoy, and hopefully the sequel will be more consistently great across the board.

On Xbox 360

+ A legitimately fresh and fun take on the well-worn, highly competitive first-person-shooter genre.

+ Both ancillary modes are well worth your time.

- Campaign grossly overstays its welcome; game-design pillars crumble in latter third of game.

? Will anyone buy it just for the early access to the Gears of War 3 beta?

8.0