Blues and Bullets: Episode 2 - Shaking the Hive (PC) Review

Part of the problem with the first episode of Blues and Bullets is its consistency. Not its lack of it, but more that it was consistently slow throughout its entire arc, and it made for a rough introduction to the character of Elliot Ness and the events that set up the first chapter of the series. While the second episode slightly alleviates this problem by having those introductory moments out of the way, it's still not fully presenting a coherent narrative.

Aside from the present day adventures of Elliot, there are occasional cutbacks to his life before his retirement, and that's how this episode starts. It's a bit jarring, going off where the first episode ended, but it's an interesting scene that gives more of look into Elliot's life. Unfortunately, it's really inserted in a weird spot.

Chronologically, the scene takes place before a similar flashback in the previous episode, and it was about the point that fact came to light where the story's structure again gets called into question. While the first one made sense at the time, serving as a way to introduce a major character, the additional frame of reference just serves to add to Elliot's backstory, but in a way that doesn't immediately advance the plot.

This is a frequent and recurring issue that just feels annoying, if nothing else. The scenes aren't bad at all; they're well-crafted, well-acted, and genuinely interesting. The problem is that a lot of these very well done scenes just feel out of order. The tension rises and falls at highly inopportune moments, and every time the story starts to go somewhere, it jumps off to something else. It might be intended to be tantalising, but it honestly comes across as irritating.

Despite that, it's hard to really complain too much when all the pieces are still in place. The scenes are honestly really well acted and engaging, and that's where the frustration sits in. It's hard to want to stop playing, and the desire to have all the information is there, so it's hard to put the controller down when that desire to know more is lingering.

While the pacing issues haven't exactly been fixed, and the slowness issues that plague the game from a systems standpoint are present through the transitions and walk cycles, there's a lot of credit that has to be given to the shooting segments, which definitely feel more fluid and polished than in the first episode. There are still some persisting issues, but there are some noticeable improvements all around, and they really shine through in these segments.