Developed by Japanese-based company Cavia and published by Atari, Bullet Witch is a third-person action game that seemingly has the elements to game for some good action, hot chicks shooting and performing a variety of acrobatics, demons, and cool magical effects. Sounds like money in the bank. However, Bullet Witch drops the ball in a pretty bad way, by offering up a bland experience that largely feels incomplete. While the game is a good ten dollars less than most Xbox 360 games out there (costing only $50), that’s still fifty bucks better spent elsewhere.

Bullet Witch takes place a good six years in the future, where billions have since died following a series of disasters and wars. A new threat has risen, as a portal has opened up, releasing hordes of demons across the world. You are Alicia, a serious witch who totes around a huge multipurpose gun (or gunrod), and it’s your job to rid the world of the invaders.

The game is broken into six different levels. You begin in a suburban area and go to different spots like a forest and the city. There’s not really a whole lot of diversity in the environments. On the plus side, the levels are fairly destructible.

The game is mostly based in gunplay, and the games stiff controls make this a pretty rough exercise. Alicia doesn’t handle very smoothly, and transitioning between melee combat and shooting isn’t a fluid motion like it is in other similarly-styled games. Alicia also aims pretty slowly and her jumping is awkward (it actually feels as though the only reason she can jump in the game is to have an excuse to show off her undies).

There are some things that are pretty cool in Bullet Witch, like the spells that you can use. Some of them have pretty devastating effects, and they actually look pretty neat. Unfortunately, rifling through your spells menu to use them can be a pain in the heat of battle.  

However, considering how outright dumb the AI is, the controls become less of a problem. The enemy AI plays out like it was pulled from a game made ten years ago. They’ll stand out in the open shooting at you, or sometimes not do anything at all until you put them down. Your friendly AI is also pretty lousy, as your buddies will walk into your line of fire often or get stuck up on objects in the environment.

All of these problems converge to make Bullet Witch a pretty bland game, and a generally boring experience. The game can be finished in roughly six hours, and the complete lack of extras (aside from some downloadable content in the future) coupled with the weak gameplay will make it something that you won’t likely revisit.

Graphically, the game is not a good looking game. The game has some fairly impressive looking magical effects, especially with some of the stronger spells that you pick up later on. However, the enemy character models are extremely repetitive, and you’ll find yourself fighting the same shirtless-commando-demon with an assault rifle over and over again. Also, the environments are pretty weak as well.

However, the most discouraging element about the graphics engine is the fact that it feels so incomplete. The framerate is extremely boggy, even at times when there is little onscreen action, and there are flickering shadows and clipping issues throughout the game.

The sound doesn’t really fair much better. The voice acting is pretty cheesy, and most of the lines that NPCs say are repeated very often. The music isn’t a terribly standout score, and the rest of the sound effects are pretty average.

Bullet Witch is a buggy and incomplete game. It’s a pretty short-lived experience, clocking in at about six hours or so. Once you’re done with that six-hour span, there’s little reason to pick this one up to play again. So, do one better, and avoid picking it up in the first place.

Gameplay: 5.0
Stiff controls, lousy AI, and generally ho-hum action line this one out.

Graphics: 5.5
While some of the special effects and spells look alright, the environments are bland, the character models are repetitive and the framerate is awful. Not only that, but the aesthetic is rife with bugs and flickering shadows. Generally, not a good looking game.

Sound: 6.0
The game offers standard-grade sound effects, some corny and repetitive voice acting and an average soundtrack.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 5.0
The game tries it’s to channel elements from Devil May Cry and several other great action games, but comes up horribly short.

Overall: 5.0
A bland and lifeless action game with an unfinished graphics engine, Bullet Witch really isn’t worth your time.