Bombshell

49%
Game Brain Score Based on 213 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • music
Bombshell Game Cover
Bombshell sports impressive shooting and a stylish presentation, but the game's takes on exploration and narrative ultimately drag down the experience.
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"Bombshell is a single-player Science Fiction Shooter game with fantastic mechanics and compelling visuals. As mercenary Shelly "Bombshell" Harrison, you'll save the president across 4 planets, combating out-of-this-world enemies with a unique arsenal. Despite phenomenal music and comedic elements, the game is plagued by bugs."

  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

49%
Audience ScoreBased on 213 reviews
story20 positive mentions
stability30 negative mentions
  • The game features a strong female protagonist, Shelly 'Bombshell' Harrison, who is well-designed and voiced.
  • The soundtrack is engaging, with a mix of heavy metal and ambient scores that enhance the gameplay experience.
  • The graphics are visually appealing, showcasing well-designed environments and character models.
  • The game is plagued by numerous bugs, including game-breaking glitches and performance issues that hinder gameplay.
  • Level design can be confusing and repetitive, leading to tedious backtracking and a lack of variety in environments.
  • The writing and voice acting for minor characters are often poor, detracting from the overall narrative experience.
  • story122 mentions

    The story in "Bombshell" is widely regarded as a cheesy, B-movie experience reminiscent of 90s action films, featuring a paper-thin plot filled with one-liners and pop culture references. While some players appreciate its over-the-top humor and entertaining cutscenes, many criticize the lack of depth and coherence, making it difficult to become invested in the narrative. Overall, the story is seen as a forgettable backdrop to the gameplay, with a mix of enjoyment for its absurdity and frustration over its execution.

    • “Story is exactly what you would expect, 90s b-movie cheese and I have no problems with that.”
    • “The story feels like something out of a b-movie of course.”
    • “Great artwork and visual style, good soundtrack that is strangely underused, cheesy story (which I'm okay with), some good puns and that's about it.”
    • “The story is paper thin.”
    • “The main problem with the story is that it's not really written well enough to draw you into it and expects a little too much from the player to be invested in it.”
    • “The story feels more like exposition that doesn't offer much to the overall plot, and the writing is filled with obnoxious one-liners.”
  • gameplay83 mentions

    The gameplay in Bombshell is a mixed bag, featuring fun combat mechanics and a variety of weapons, but marred by significant bugs, clunky controls, and repetitive level design. While some players enjoyed the initial hours and the character's unique abilities, many noted issues with balance, AI problems, and a lack of polish that detracted from the overall experience. Despite its potential, the game suffers from performance issues and a lack of engaging quests, leading to a recommendation primarily for those willing to overlook its flaws.

    • “However, it does have some positive things; the gameplay is decently fun in the first hours, with huge maps, side quests, a big arsenal of weapons, a likable main character and antagonist, a cool soundtrack, and different environments.”
    • “It's pretty fun, and you can easily keep track of everything on the screen. It takes a while to get used to some game mechanics, but after that, you feel like you are in total control.”
    • “Despite the performance issues I've been having, the gameplay is really enjoyable.”
    • “Bombshell would be a decent game if it wasn't an infestation of bugs. I was running into issues every 10 minutes while playing, including not gaining XP, getting stuck on terrain and being forced to reset, enemies spawning into walls and outside of map bounds, and buggy achievements that unlock by themselves when they feel like it. It also suffers from repetitive gameplay, which becomes kind of stale when hitting episode 2, but it didn't stop me from finishing it.”
    • “Not so good, the gameplay is somewhat clunky. You get stuck on the scenario pretty often, and there are still a few bugs like floating stuck enemies that you cannot reach. Some strange decisions on the execution animations break the action completely, resulting in an overall noticeably unpolished game.”
    • “Gameplay-wise, it boils down to keep moving and shooting with tedious backtracking and buggy exploration.”
  • music68 mentions

    The music in the game, composed by Andrew Hulshult, is widely praised for its heavy metal and synth elements, with many reviewers calling it "badass" and "amazing." While some critics feel that the soundtrack could benefit from stronger themes and more prominent use, the overall consensus is that it complements the game's visuals and enhances the gameplay experience. Despite some mixed opinions on the game's other aspects, the soundtrack remains a standout feature that many players enjoy.

    • “The music is excellent, and while the NPC voice actors were really phoning it in, Shelly's own voice acting is pretty good.”
    • “Great game, old school style, with a fabulous soundtrack and level design, good controls, and a bunch of weapons.”
    • “Yes, it does indeed, all 42 or so tracks are well made, well composed, and sound good from a guy who has worked on recordings in a studio and knows what he's talking about when it comes to music.”
    • “I feel with a stronger story that took itself less seriously, and with better voice acting and stronger music, the game could be a real blast.”
    • “Some stronger themes would really have helped the soundtrack come a long way as I couldn't really get into it.”
    • “I just couldn't really get behind the voice acting or music.”
  • graphics58 mentions

    The graphics of the game have received generally positive feedback, with many praising the impressive visuals and animations, especially considering its age and the use of Unreal Engine 3. While some users noted unresolved graphical and engine bugs, the overall aesthetic and level design were highlighted as strong points, contributing to a visually appealing experience. However, performance issues were reported by some players, affecting their enjoyment of the graphics.

    • “Graphics for an 8-year-old game is amazing; Unreal Engine 3 has been pushed pretty far here.”
    • “Huge kudos to the art and design team; they have done a really good job on Bombshell's graphics. The game looks absolutely beautiful and badass.”
    • “The graphics look great and it performs admirably; it's clearly a homage to 80's action films with Shelly constantly singing out one-liners when she kills things.”
    • “There are a lot of unresolved graphical and engine bugs.”
    • “However, even dropping the graphics to their lowest setting and lowering the resolution didn't seem to help performance at all.”
    • “The game has a surprisingly robust video options menu for the graphics level that it has, which can be considered sub-par at best.”
  • humor38 mentions

    The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating the witty one-liners and puns, while others find it lacking and not fully integrated into the gameplay. Many references and weapon names aim for comedic effect, but the overall tone is often seen as too serious, making the humor feel out of place. Fans of Duke Nukem-style humor may enjoy it, but others may find the dialogue and character interactions underwhelming.

    • “The protagonist is a sexy female half-cyborg with a quite harsh but funny attitude.”
    • “Most of the humor in Bombshell is derived from stuff like naming a weapon 'Ion Maiden' (because Iron Maiden... get it?) or 'PMS' (which is basically on par with naming a town Morningwood).”
    • “- Cheesy but awesome humor, one-liners, puns, and I think most importantly sarcastic remarks about fetch quests and pushing buttons, which while that is a lot of the gameplay, actually helps keep it entertaining.”
    • “Not funny enough, not crazy enough... remember how there was Duke Nukem Forever?”
    • “The dialogues are not funny, the controls are clunky at best, the animations are bad, etc... the character being a direct copy of Elexis Sinclaire from Sin doesn't really help either.”
  • stability30 mentions

    The stability of Bombshell is heavily criticized, with players reporting frequent bugs, crashes, and glitches that disrupt gameplay, including issues with enemy AI and terrain navigation. While some users found the game enjoyable despite these problems, many noted that the bugs significantly detracted from the overall experience, making it feel poorly optimized and frustrating at times. Overall, the game's stability is a major concern, with numerous players unable to complete it due to technical issues.

    • “Have never been able to finish the game due to crashes, freezes, and lost progress.”
    • “Also, DX11 mode breaks the game completely, even main menu glitches and crashes.”
    • “Its enjoyment factor is reduced by being utterly buggy and broken at the state that it is in.”
  • optimization30 mentions

    The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players reporting smooth performance even on older systems, while others experience significant issues such as frequent glitches, frame rate drops, and unresponsive settings like v-sync. Overall, many users agree that the game suffers from poor optimization, making it challenging to enjoy, especially on less powerful hardware.

    • “I may be wrong, but for me this game was perfectly optimized and I have a pretty old PC (CPU and HDD are really outdated).”
    • “Performance-wise, the only problem I had was I couldn't get V-Sync to work, so I had to play in borderless window.”
    • “Decent performance; it runs really well for me on the extreme settings.”
    • “The game is so poorly optimized it's almost shameful.”
    • “It's a campy action movie in game format, and it's just hampered by the copious glitches and bad optimization.”
    • “I got it while it was on sale for $10 after having my eye on it since release, and I can't believe how many bugs and performance issues still persist in the game.”
  • replayability6 mentions

    Overall, the game offers good replayability due to character abilities, weapon upgrades, and hidden secrets, making it enjoyable for players. However, some users feel it lacks replay value without a map editor, indicating a divide in opinions on this aspect.

    • “Character abilities, weapon upgrades, and secrets mean that this game has good replay value.”
    • “In short: fun game with replay value and a great lead character, but some rough edges.”
    • “No replay value (needs a map editor!)”
    • “No replay value (needs a map editor!)”
  • grinding6 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, characterized by excessive backtracking and buggy exploration, which detracts from the overall experience. However, a recent patch has improved some of these issues, making the gameplay more tolerable, though it still lacks excitement.

    • “Gameplay-wise, it boils down to keep moving and shooting with tedious backtracking and buggy exploration.”
    • “It's boring, tedious, and tries to be Duke Nukem, and failing horribly.”
    • “Edit: recent patch resolved most of the issues I had with the game, so although I still find the game tedious, it's much more tolerable now.”
  • atmosphere2 mentions

    The atmosphere in these games is crucial, as it is intricately tied to storytelling and strong writing, effectively setting the mood and enhancing the overall experience.

    • “Some games heavily rely on atmosphere, storytelling, and good writing to set the mood.”
  • monetization2 mentions

    The monetization of the game has been criticized as exploitative, with users feeling that the $30 price tag does not reflect the quality of the product, leading to perceptions of it being a cash grab.

    • “This game feels like a total cash grab; $30 for this piece of garbage?”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

37% average critic score

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Play time

7hMedian play time
6hAverage play time
4-8hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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