Blues and Bullets: Episode 1 - The End of Peace (PC) Review

If nothing else, Blues and Bullets feels more like a detective game than just about anything else out there. The first minutes set up an absolutely chilling premise, and it really conveys a sense of sheer terror that sets the pace for the story’s main villain. While there’s a lot of those themes in modern adventure games, none (aside from possibly L.A. Noire) really capture the essence of detective work, and that’s what this title is all about.

The story opens to a slow journey down to a creepy underground dungeon filled with children, and right from the off, it does a great job of conveying a sense of hopelessness, as the dimly lit cavern and ominous sounds fill the room. A lot of the basic mechanics are introduced in the section, and while the setting and events serve as a good way to grab attention, they really don’t pair up well with the introduction of the main protagonist, Elliot Ness.

Elliot is based upon the real life Elliot Ness, a law enforcement agent with the US Treasury department who was notable for his role in bringing down notorious crime boss, Al Capone. The names, and a lot of the struggles of both men in fiction and in reality, bridge an elaborate “what if” retelling of the later years of Elliot Ness. As opposed to the gradual decline he suffered in real life, his fictional counterpart runs a diner, appropriately named “Blues and Bullets.” Called from retirement, Elliot begins a journey to uncover the disappearance of children gone missing.

Elliot’s introduction is where the first couple of issues crop up. These early expository moments are painfully slow, and they continue to occur throughout the act. There are a lot of sections where there’s so much random information being bombarded at Elliot, and none of it really has any impact aside from flavour. The setting is interesting and unique, certainly, but the slow pace, combined with Elliot’s agonising walking speed, just make the early moments a chore.

Speed is actually a consistent issue with Blues and Bullets, and it’s one that undermines a lot of the game’s exceptional strengths. The voice acting is top notch, but there are odd breaks that sometimes clash with the delivery of the lines, and there’s still just a lot of superfluous information that comes across through the acted sequences. The quality is good, but it does detract a bit from the overall narrative.

Interestingly, there are also a few segments in a third-person shooter style, and they actually make a good fit into the otherwise slow pace. They do a good job at delivering narrative and building up the world and the story, all while breaking up the otherwise slow segments of investigation. The segments aren’t technically astounding, but well done enough to break up the game flow in an appealing way.