For more on Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet, check out our full Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet review. Or, for more of the best Playstation 4 games for a 9 year old, why not try our Family Game Finder
What is Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet?
Set in the fictional game world of Gun Gale Online, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet is a Japanese-style role playing game that features plenty of over the top combat, a fair number of eye patches, and a heck of a lot of guns. Starting out as a new player in the virtual world, you soon find yourself coming into possession of an incredibly rare AI companion known as Arfa-sys. By working together, you can unlock its true powers, and become the best player in Gun Gale Online.
How do you play Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet?
Though it may initially seem complex, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet is a lot easier to get into than you might think. Essentially, this is an offline game that styles itself as though it were an online game, complete with (computer controlled) players wandering around, and plenty of terminology like "PvP" and "PvE" making an appearance. However, outside of a small selection of online modes, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet is a single player, offline game.
At the heart of Fatal Bullet are its quests and its combat. Quests see you either fighting your way through a dungeon, like an abandoned facility or a cave, before tackling a boss; or exploring the game's hub areas, searching for lost items, or hunting down a specific enemy or "player". In terms of combat, while there is the option of using a sword, the majority of weapons here are guns, with the game playing out similarly to a third person shooter - only with a handy "assist mode" that takes a lot of stress out of aiming, making combat a doddle.
How easy is Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet to pick up and play?
In terms of accessibility, Sword Art Online is easy to get to grips with, yet it contains several difficulty spikes that may catch less experienced players out.
On the combat front, the game's "assist mode" throws up a large rectangular box on screen - and so long as your enemy's inside this box, the game will automatically handle the aiming for you. It won't be as accurate as if you do it yourself, but it's a really nice touch - and one which lets you focus on avoiding enemy fire.
However, you'll need to be on your toes if you want to stay alive in Fatal Bullet, with boss fights particularly providing a real challenge. In these situations, it's not just how well you can avoid enemy fire that matters, but how much you've levelled your character up. Beating enemies earns you XP, which in turn will let you level up, but your character won't get stronger unless you manually go and spend your character points on strengthening your attributes - and you'll need to distribute them wisely. Similarly, you'll need to regularly change your weapon out for new ones, as with enemies quickly getting much tougher, what was previously an unstoppable weapon soon becomes nothing more than a pea shooter, leaving you having to go and either buy a new one, or take on as many enemies as you can in the hope of one of them dropping a new weapon.
In terms of mature content, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet is mild. On the bad language front, the words "b*stard" and "b*tch" are occasionally used, while in terms of sexual content, a few of the female characters have oversized chests. In terms of violence, though, there's very little to report. Most enemies you face are robots, and even when you go up against humans, there's no blood or gore to speak of.
Age Ratings
Format Reviewed: Playstation 4
