Bullet League review – Like a 2D Fortnite platformer

Getting started with Bullet League

Funday Factory made getting into the game pretty easy. It will initially introduce players to the basics of the main screen and then proceed to give them a short tutorial as they enter their first match. The instructions can be viewed in the screenshot below and the controls are simple enough to be detected immediately.

Even after the initial loading screen tutorial, the game won’t immediately pit you against experienced players. There will be a bot match to gather the basics of the game’s mechanics, which are familiar to anyone who knows what a battle royale is.

You find yourself in an increasingly smaller arena that initially hosts a group of players and the last one standing is the winner. However, there are some twists. The game can cause a player to fall into an already started match which may not be suitable for everyone and sometimes there will be only 10 competitors at the same time.

Gameplay

Bullet League is a free battle royale game for iOS and Android. Funday Factory has made the game simple on the surface since it can be described as a 2D Fortnite platformer for short, but it also has enough depth to keep players around for a while.

Controls include a jump button, directional controls on the left virtual stick, and the shoot button along with the direction of fire on the right stick. It’s fairly simple and easy to get into, but those who delve into Bullet League mechanics can successfully dodge enemy fire as it riddles them with bullets.

Also, you can use the recoil of automatic weapons to keep yourself in the air, no rocket launches required. These will be needed eventually, along with the blocks you can build in mid-air as many map crossings and shooting players include jumping between platforms.

When it comes to shooting real opponents, it is satisfying to execute the shots correctly as it is really different when shooting with a shotgun and an assault rifle.

As for why players might get a Fortnite vibe, it’s the cartoon art style paired with some building elements. However, there are no different materials and objects to build – you mine the same crystalline material all the time and build blocks with it. These creations can range from single block cover to proper traps for your enemies.

Unlike Fortnite or any other traditional battle royale, Bullet League aims to finish each of its matches in about five minutes. The safe zone shrinks every minute and gathers players into a very small area pretty fast. It is for this reason that the game is so paced as everyone jumps into the action quickly and it is possible to jump into a game or two even during short breaks from work or whatever.

Progression

Bullet League offers both experience progression and leaderboards. The rankings are self-explanatory. Players earn trophies at the end of a match based on their performance, and the more points they accumulate, the higher their final placement will be. As you progress through the ranks, there are milestones that will be associated with rewards, making it even more fun.

Experience progression determines your character’s power as higher levels grant greater health and shield reserve. It’s related to the level of weapons in your gear – as you level up your weapons, your base experience will also increase.

All eight weapons in the game, consisting of seven firearms and one type of hand grenade, have their own experience progression. Their “experience” can be boosted by blueprints that drop from loot but when the gauge fills up, a coin payment is required to advance to the next level.

Monetization

There are two types of currencies in Bullet League: coins and gems. Coins are regularly awarded from loot while gems are rarely found.

Coins are then used to level up weapons or purchase more loot boxes, although they tend to be of lower quality than those bought from gems.

As you may already suspect, gems are the premium currency that can be purchased for real money. They can be converted into coins or used to purchase various loot that may contain weapon blueprints, coins, or customization items.

Weapon blueprints and experience eventually overtake coin generation, which will prompt players to enter the microtransaction zone or watch advertisements which in turn provide chests or coins. Those who brutalize their wallets can maximize their weapons without much sweat, but others will end up grinding.

Performance

I tested Bullet League on a Huawei P8 Lite which is a 3 year old smartphone and it worked almost perfectly. Even the few hitches I encountered weren’t hardware related, so the game is really well optimized. In case you have an older phone, it appears that Bullet League will work on Android devices running version 5.0 (Lollipop) or later while Apple enthusiasts will need iOS 10.0 or later.

The less-than-stellar part came with the network problems. There have been several games where lag has hit hard and the game became unplayable for a few moments. In some cases, it was enough to get me killed. However, the lag isn’t always persistent and Bullet League remains mostly pleasant on that front.

Verdict

Considering the review is from someone who normally plays on PC, the microtransactions and ads are a sore point for me. However, from what I could see while working on this review, monetization is less aggressive than standard in mobile games.

Even so, there’s no denying that Bullet League is a blast to play and absolutely worth your time, whether you’re willing to dive into microtransactions or not. Plus, the five-minute format makes it a perfect little package of fun during short breaks, earning extra points.

AltChar Score: 8/10