Blues and Bullets Episode 2

If you read our review of Blues and Bullets Episode 1 from last year you will know that we absolutely loved what A Crowd of Monsters has done to create a very unique and exceptional experience. Much of what we said in the first episode holds true to the second, so some things will be repeated here. From our play through of Episode 2, however, we can safely say you can log off and just go buy the damn game now. It is that worth it.

Episode 2 might throw you for a loop early on as you might be unaware of what has happened. A brief “previously on” clip really doesn’t do enough to refresh my memory. Episode 1 was great, but some of the finer details have been lost on me since it did come out so many months ago. However, a quick synopsis read online refreshed my memory. Although Episode 2 doesn’t pick up directly after Episode 1 – you will instead play part of a flashback episode – it doesn’t take too much to get reengaged in the story.

In Episode 2, we get more of a background on Elliot Ness. We examine his background, his betrayal of relationships, and his inability to deal with certain issues. In fact, after the first Act of Episode 2, I liked Ness a lot less, but liked his character arc a lot more. We learn a lot more about Ness, and this just adds to the immersion.

This game is narratively driven, so I won’t even touch that subject. However, Act 2 of Blues and Bullets might be my hands down favorite portion of an episodic game, ever. The detective work is excellent, and the story that gets filled in is shocking and exhilarating, all at the same time. While you continue your quest to find Capone’s missing daughter, so much other stuff is revealed.

From our first Episode review,

The game is definitely in the crime-noir genre, where story telling and visuals push they player along. The dominate two colors – greys and reds – help highlight important areas of interest in each and every scene. Excellent voice acting and a great soundtrack make looking over crime scenes both exhilarating and suspenseful. The developers at Crowd of Monsters have done an excellent job balancing game play with visuals and storytelling, something many games fail to do. They either have an excellent story with bland game play, or vice versa.”

Episode 2 is much better than Episode 1, which was already an excellent experience. If you are a fan of episode titles – think most of what Telltale does – then you will love Blues and Bullets. Reward these developers and pick it up today. I’d easily give this a 9.5/10!