Bulletstorm

[GamerMan316]

First Look At Gears Of War & Painkiller Creators' Bloody, Brutal Bulletstorm



What do you get when you combine the shoot 'em up talents of Gears of War maker Epic Games and Painkiller creators People Can Fly? You get Bulletstorm, a futuristic first-person shooter that lets you play as a drunken pirate.

Bulletstorm is that not-so-mysterious game from EA, Epic and People Can Fly, an all-new effort that's coming to the PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360 in 2011. The new issue of Game Informer magazine spills all the gory details on the new shooter, an issue that has started to show up in subscribers' mailboxes and then quickly online.

According to early details from the magazine, Bulletstorm will put players in the shoes of Grayson Hunt, formerly the leader of a black ops team named Dead Echo, now somewhat more pathetic as a drunken space pirate. One interstellar crash landing and run in with an old enemy later, Hunt will be shooting, kicking, sliding and wielding a fancy energy leash in first person action. It promises piles of bodies and a rain of bullets—I mean, just look at that cover!

Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski is set to make an announcement about Gears of War 3 on Monday—an announcement that was slightly spoiled by someone at Xbox HQ—and apparently reveal a second game at the same time. That's likely gonna be Bulletstorm.

So, if you want details before even Cliff is allowed to give them on Monday, read the new Game Informer.

[Failed]

love the cover, reminds me of the doom boxart and the old 80's action movies of the hero ontop of a mound shooting sh*t with a naked 3 booby girl wrapped around his leg.

[GamerMan316]

First gameplay trailer & it looks mental, loving the classic NiN track too 

[Astrex]

wow game looks awesome!! reminds a little of borderlands 

[GamerMan316]

[GamerMan316]

Bulletstorm has a 'serious story'
Duke Nukem comparisons are premature, says People Can Fly

The Epic-owned studio behind new FPS Bulletstorm has told CVG that the game has a "serious story" - something that distances the title from Duke Nukem.

People Can Fly has shown demos of the game running with protagonist Grayson Hunt throwing out machismo-fuelled lines a la Duke. It's also described the title as 'an orgy of mental illness where your condom is a shotgun'.

However, despite the slightly OTT beginning of the game's story - which includes a drunk Grayson flying his tiny vessel into the giant warship of his nemesis - PCF believes the title grows to offer a "serious" plot.

"I've heard the opinion [of the Duke Nukem influence] a couple of times," PCF founder Adrian Chmielarz told CVG.

"I'm still not sure what to say. On the one hand, we didn't have a protagonist that talked in an FPS for a long time. Everyone talks to you in first person shooters, but you don't answer at all. You know: 'Are you fine?' [Shakes hands to indicate first person nod]. 'Okay, let's go.'

"Duke was chatty. Our hero also talks a lot. Do we have fun, crazy gameplay? Yes - and of course Duke was known for that. You can interact with many things in the game world and use them to your advantage that are reminiscent of Duke.

"But there are also a couple of things that I believe are different from the start. Duke was cheesy - and I hope that was on purpose. We're not trying to do the same thing there. We actually have a pretty serious story connected to the main game - which you haven't really seen yet. It has a certain weight to it.

"Also, we've tried to create a believable universe. Duke was insane fun, but you had cops that were pigs. It didn't make any sense at all. From that point of view, that is old school.

"We have proper story integrated with gameplay, there is a proper emotional context to every combat situation. We've used all the modern storytelling design tools for this game. So, partially, yes - we are a bit alternative [like Duke]. People who really want to play Bulletstorm as a rollercoaster-type of FPS can - but it has a number of modern solutions."

Bulletstorm's plot has been written by Rick Remender, best known for his work on Marvel comic books.

Serious story or not, Bulletstorm was one of the most popular games on show at E3 last week.

[DFUSIONITE]

One of the most exciting game trailers i have EVER seen. Cannot wait for this!!

[GamerMan316]

A look at Bulletstorm with Cliff Bleszinski

[Handshakes]

A look at Bulletstorm with Cliff Bleszinski

I like people can fly, and I know they do mindless shooters really well...
But this looks like Epic has its big dumb hands all over it, and thus it just looks really, really generic.

[GamerMan316]

Bulletstorm dev denies Duke Nukem nod

Pulp sci-fi, muscle-bound alpha males, bad language, outrageous violence – on the face of it, it would seem Epic's forthcoming FPS Bulletstorm and the Duke Nukem series have a lot in common. Not so, insists developer People Can Fly.

"It's hard to believe, and I often kick myself for this, but I never really played Duke," the Polish studio's creative director, Adrian Chmielarz, told Eurogamer.

"I mean, I tried a few times, but I somehow always stopped playing after the first chapter or so. It was 1996, and I guess I did not know enough about American pop culture to appreciate Duke properly. So yeah, I never truly played it, so I guess I can honestly say that Bulletstorm was not inspired by Duke.

"I might be wrong," he continued, "but I believe Duke was always more of a parody than a real story, and while our one-liners and over-the-topness are icing on the cake, for Duke it is the cake. I guess people sometimes compare both games just because there's nothing else out there you can compare your game to if it's not a modern conflict type of shooter or just a shooter that's not afraid of humor."

Chmielarz went on to explain how much input Epic's design director and Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski has had on the game.

"Cliff - and a lot of other guys from Epic - have huge influence on the game. They're an integral part of the development process. That's their modus operandi; they worked very long and very hard to become one of the most respected and successful developers in the world and they'd never attach their name to anything that is not up to their ridiculously high standards.

"But it's important to remember that PCF is not an indie developer that Epic funds or something. We are Epic. It's just that Epic brass allowed us to keep the name, but other than this, we're just Epic, so it's not surprising that Cliff and the gang are heavily involved with the development of Bulletstorm."

People Can Fly started out as an independent developer but was snapped up by Epic following its bonkers, Marmite 2004 shooter, Painkiller. Has much changed since Cliff and the gang stepped in?

"There were 15 of us in 2002, and now there are over 70 of us supported by numerous companies from all around the globe, so the total number of people working on the game is in the hundreds.

"But you know what? I don't know how, but we managed to retain the spirit and the madness that was PCF in 2002, so despite the fact that now we have to be, like, serious and professional and stuff, we're still the guys who work hard so you can be rewarded for shooting other people in the ass."

You can take Chmielarz up on that offer when Bulletstorm launches on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in February 2011.

Gearbox Software's Duke Nukem Forever, also for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, shouldn't be too far behind it.

[GamerMan316]

Got a dildo? Strap it on, demands Bulletstorm trailer
"Son of a dick!"

People Can Fly has shown off the best indication yet of Bulletstorm's arrestingly puerile nature - with a new trailer that contains verbal "dildos", "dicks" and "bitches"... alongside plenty of ass whuppin'.

Needless to say, if you like your video games cerebral and philosophically challenging, this probably isn't for you.

Bulletstorm is due for release from EA on PS3, 360 and PC in February 2011.

[GamerMan316]

Bulletstorm to include Gears of War 3 beta
But only if you buy the Epic Edition pack...

Mental shooter Bulletstorm is set to include access to the Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta - but you're going to have to buy the premium box to get it.

Epic's announced that purchasers of Epic Edition copies of Bulletstorm - which is set to cost $59.99 in the States - are guaranteed "early access" to the Gears 3 beta, which suggests there'll be a chance for everyone else to get on the trial at a later date.

In addition, the Epic Edition offers bonus in-game Bulletstorm content when playing online, including 25,000 experience points, visual upgrades for the leash, Peace Maker Carbine, boots and armour.

Epic previously said the Gears 3 beta's due to kick off in early 2011.

"Epic is poised to break new ground in 2011 with Gears of War 3 and Bulletstorm," said Dr. Michael Capps, president of Epic Games of the news.

"With these two highly anticipated triple-A experiences comes a unique opportunity to do something to really excite players, and that's what we intend to accomplish with the support of Microsoft Game Studios and EA. This is for the shooter fans."

It's out on Feb 25 in Europe and Feb 22 in North America.

[Handshakes]

I really hope this doesn't suck.

[GamerMan316]

Bulletstorm started life as a third-person shooter
With cover-based combat

Tanya Jessen, Producer on Bulletstorm  at People Can Fly, informed us in an interview that the game started life as a third-person shooter, rather than the first-person perspective it uses today.

Not only that, but the game drew further inspiration from contributor Cliff Bleszinski's Gears of War by featuring a cover mechanic, too.

"We always knew from the beginning we wanted lots of environmental stuff. We knew we wanted an over the top pulp sci-fi feeling and we knew we wanted it to have a very distinct attitude and tone. But the gameplay was completely different than it is now at the beginning.

"It was cover based. So it went from a third person shooter to a cover based first-person shooter to a non-cover based first-person shooter."

It was also revealed that the reason for the switch to a first-person perspective and the removal of the cover system was down to the weapon design.

"We actually went through lots of iterations of how cover could work really well in a first-person shooter space but when it came down to it, once we started to see how great some of the weapons were coming along we felt the core of Bulletstorm is the face of the enemy and the player figuring out what to do so in that case cover based combat didn't really work so well."

[GamerMan316]

EA marketing the f*** out of Bulletstorm

Polish developer People Can Fly is bullish when it comes to the potential success of bombastic FPS Bulletstorm. Why? Because publisher EA will "market the f***" out of it.

"We are pretty ballsy," outspoken studio founder Adrian Chmielarz told Eurogamer in a Bulletstorm interview published today. "We definitely want a couple of million units sold.

"The first magic number is a million units. Surprisingly, not a lot of games are able to reach that. I'm hoping it's going to be huge, but I don't want to jinx it."

In September EA Partners boss David DeMartini told Eurogamer Bulletstorm could sell as many copies as Epic Games' Gears of War because it's a multiplatform game.

While Bulletstorm shares much with the chainsaw-em-up series – the game is built on Unreal Engine 3 and People Can Fly is owned by Epic – Chmielarz reckons sales comparisons with the Xbox 360 exclusive are probably pushing it.

"It's [Bulletstorm] multiplatform and there are more consoles out there at this point, but look what we're competing against: Gears 1 is six million units. That is crazy. We will see."

While day one sales may not match up to those enjoyed by Gears of War, Chmielarz hopes strong word of mouth will ensure Bulletstorm will continue to sell months after release.

"I'm not entirely sure about the initial sales. They're going to be strong because EA is dedicated to the title and they will market the f*** out of this title. They're going to be strong.

"But we're one of these few games that has a very long shelf life because the reaction we've seen, that once someone gets in contact with Bulletstorm comes out converted, that is an equivalent of the world of mouth that will happen. Once people start playing Bulletstorm, they'll go to their friend, 'Dude, you won't believe what happened in Bulletstorm.'

"Again, it's not me being coy. I'm not famous enough to be modest yet."