Bounty Star Review – Unforgiven

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Certain ideas just naturally fit well together – like a classic Western tale of redemption, but reimagined with giant robots in a world after a disaster? Sign me up! The game Bounty Star proves this kind of story doesn’t need constant thrills. It takes a calmer, more thoughtful path, similar to the game Wanderstop. While Bounty Star does have action, it ultimately feels more somber and melancholic, reflecting the tone suggested by its title.

The story opens with Clementine McKinney, known as Clem, living a comfortable life as part of the guard in the town of Short Spire. Everything changes when the town is suddenly attacked by a band of outlaws led by Samuel Standage. Clem quickly defeats Standage, and surprisingly, shows him mercy, allowing him and his men to leave with a warning not to return. Unfortunately, this act of kindness proves to be a mistake, as Standage later returns and destroys the town and Clem’s entire unit. After burying the dead, Clem earns the somber nickname “Graveyard Clem” and appears to withdraw completely from the world.

You often find yourself waiting for assignments, which range in difficulty and come with their own stories, though these details rarely affect the main goal, even if you choose to capture targets instead of eliminating them.

Several months later, Clem finds work with a shadowy organization called the Syndicate, thanks to an offer from her old friend and fellow officer, Jake Triminy. With few options and a desire to avoid starvation, she takes the job. Unlike many similar stories, Bounty Star doesn’t immediately become about revenge. Clem is emotionally numb, but determined not to simply give up, and she knows she’ll have to start with smaller, safer jobs to prove herself to the Syndicate before she can take on more dangerous assignments.

She’s gradually becoming more outgoing, finding happiness again in customizing and perfecting her Raptors. But she also understands that becoming a pilot means facing more danger, and the chaotic nature of the Expanse is a serious threat.

While Clem’s personal growth, revealed through her journal, is well-developed, the story of Bounty Star often feels slow. A lot of time is spent waiting for new bounty assignments. These bounties vary in danger and have interesting backstories, but they rarely affect the main plot. Completing them does help Clem progress from a trainee to a fully qualified Hunter, earning her a Star, but the criminals she captures are usually forgettable characters.

While characters like Utay have some good moments with Jake, Clem’s personality really drives most of the interesting conversations. However, the writing sometimes feels overly sentimental – for example, when Clem tries to communicate with her Raptor, fails, and then turns to her stuffed dinosaur, Jeremy, for help. Thankfully, there are some funny self-aware lines, like when someone says, “You’ve once again demonstrated your genius by shutting up and letting me be a genius.”

The combat often feels imprecise and unreliable. After attacking with melee, follow-up hits sometimes happen automatically, which is frustrating. Trying to dash back, aim, and shoot often caused the Raptor to perform an unintended trick attack instead of firing.

Beyond its other issues, Bounty Star doesn’t deliver a satisfying gameplay experience. If you’re hoping for an open-world, *Freelancerstyle adventure across the Expanse, you’ll be disappointed. Each bounty takes place in a confined area with invisible walls. While some areas offer a bit more room to maneuver, you’ll mostly be fighting Raptors, soldiers, drones, and the occasional tougher enemy. Combat features a variety of weapons, each effective against different opponents. Enemies also have weaknesses – sometimes getting close with melee weapons is the only way to win, even if you have the right gun.

You can quickly switch between close-combat weapons like swords or hammers and ranged weapons like rifles or shotguns. The game lets you smoothly combine melee attacks with gunplay, even chaining them together with special moves – like firing bullets while spinning or leaping back to launch grenades. However, I found that while the shotgun was effective against tough enemies, it didn’t always flow well with my preferred hammer-based attack combos.

The game also features a heat management system that changes throughout the day. It gets warmer in the afternoons, but you can cool down quickly with a special ability after each dash. You can also use the heat to your benefit – higher temperatures boost your gun speed, while lower temperatures improve melee attacks. However, overheating is usually something you’ll want to avoid.

The combat often feels imprecise and unreliable. After hitting an enemy, follow-up attacks sometimes happen automatically, and attempts to quickly dash and shoot often resulted in an unintended special move. Some actions also feel accidental – for example, jumping and using a special ability, then repeatedly air-dashing around an enemy in a way that feels similar to Armored Core, but less polished.

While enemies offer some variety in how they attack, the missions themselves become repetitive. Most objectives involve either capturing or eliminating a target, destroying something in the environment, escaping without taking damage, completing a task within a time limit, or locating hidden collectibles. These tasks aren’t very interesting, and even in simpler levels, finding the last item to destroy can feel like a frustrating search.

If the fighting had been smoother, the missions more diverse, or even if the story had focused more on Clementine’s growth instead of just supporting it, Bounty Star could have been a truly exceptional game.

Besides the bounty hunting, Bounty Star also features base-building, crafting, and equipping gear. However, these systems are very simplified. While it’s convenient to buy materials directly from a shop without leaving the crafting station, overall, building facilities, growing ingredients, and managing power feels too basic. I wasn’t hoping for a complex survival crafting game, but I’d like the systems to require a bit more effort than just a single button press to complete tasks like watering plants or connecting a battery.

The game does get harder as you progress, but you’ll also unlock new weapons and upgrades for Clem. A helpful feature lets you switch between different weapon setups during missions, which avoids frustrating limitations based on enemy weaknesses while still letting you think strategically.

I really wanted to love Bounty Star, but it’s a bit of a mixed bag. The game tries for a relaxing vibe, but the gameplay itself gets really repetitive, and honestly, it started to feel boring instead of calming. Even the side quests started to feel like the same thing over and over, and it’s frustrating because you can’t even replay them for extra money! If the fighting was smoother, or the missions were a little more different, or even if the story had given Clementine more room to grow as a character, I think Bounty Star could have been something special. As it is, it mostly just feels…slow, and not in a good, thoughtful way.

This game was reviewed on PC.

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2025-10-26 16:14