DeVuego ES_COR

The second episode of Blues and Bullets falls short in enough ways to make it easy to recommend staying away from it at this point until all five episodes are out in the wild. First and foremost, not enough consideration was given to the fact that it’s tough to dive back into a narrative-heavy episodic title after eight months, even with the sequence at the beginning of the episode depicting some of the major story beats. There is simply far too much assumed knowledge necessary to dive back into Blues and Bullets and feel totally at ease with the proceedings, which is sad considering that a line of explanatory dialogue here or there would have completely solved this issue. Add in the fact that the shooting sequences are far too long and mundane for their own good, and Shaking the Hive feels more like a slog than the thrilling entry it clearly had the potential to be. On top of all of this, several unnecessary scenes and a general feeling of sterility from some of the most potentially powerful moments make Shaking the Hive a missed opportunity. With that said, Blues and Bullets still boasts an interesting premise and the potential to right the ship after its weakest entry to date, but the current path its on doesn’t necessarily bode well for the future.

Though its first episode is a bit of a letdown, especially when you consider that A Crowd of Monsters was billing this as one of the most anticipated titles of 2015 (whether or not this is true is another story entirely), there is a chance that Blues and Bullets might wind up being something special. It’s art direction and its mood are definitely things to behold, but a great deal of pacing issues and occasional technical problems prevent its first episode from being something that can be wholeheartedly recommended. Still, this is the type of mediocre beginning that might wind up being a bump in the road rather than a sign of things to come, but that’s something that only time will tell. One thing is for certain, though: if the next four episodes are of this quality, Blues and Bullets will absolutely not be in the same ballpark as games like The Walking Dead and Life is Strange.