EA has several big shooters at its booth this year. Developer People Can Fly is working on one of them, a new IP known as Bulletstorm. Honestly, the intro trailer video we were shown before we got a chance to play it hands on was disappointing, and made me think the game was a lot less interesting than it actually is. But once I got to play it for myself and talk to one of the developers, it became clear that the game has more going for it than stylish gore.
So details on Bulletstorm were not exactly given out in spades, but I was told that the story is one of vengeance. Your character is a former space pirate turned killing machine and it appears that much of the campaign will revolve around going into heavy firefight sequences from which you earn points. The points can be used for upgrading various things.
With Bulletstorm, it’s all about over the top violence and using your gear to get the most complicated and stylish kills. Players can carry two weapons at a time. We saw a few of them, including the standard issue PMC, which means something-something-carbine. This is your primary, straight-forward assault
rifle, but it can be upgraded to perform some pretty interesting functions. One such ability is the Heat Wave, in which you shoot 100 rounds at once, literally burning the flesh off of an enemy.
Another weapon we saw was the Flail Gun, which launches two grenades that are tied together by a short cord. These grenades can be wrapped around enemies or various objects, like light posts, and detonated either after a short wait period or immediately by pressing Fire again. Using these timed grenades in combination with other abilities is vital for racking up your points.
You also have several other abilities that aren’t of the typical gun variety. These include being able to kick, slide, and leash opponents. Kicking is just like it sounds — it’s used to knock a foe back, good for making some room or setting up a stylish kill. Players can also slide by double tapping the A or X button. This allows you to slide into opponents to knock them up into the air, and it also puts them temporarily into slow motion, giving you more time to setup a headshot or something. Sliding is also used to get underneath obstacles.
As for the leash, this is meant to help you reach out and touch your foes in a non-lethal way. It’s perfect for setting up aerial kills which nets you more points. Just like the Flail and PMC guns, it can be upgraded too.
The demo lasted about fifteen minutes and let us run through one area, leading up to the appearance of a boss, which was actually a massive venus fly trap. The demo area had a largely organic feel to it, including some explosive shootables that can be used to increase the style of your kills.
Another point to make about Bulletstorm was that the story is going to be told while you are playing, from the first person view. Your character will have conversations with the friendly AI (in the case of a demo, one women) to advance the story and all that goodness, apparently instead of numerous cutscenes.
From a graphical standpoint, and aural for that matter, the game is looking (and sounding) good. Obviously it’s still in development, but People Can Fly have their project looking pretty good at this point. I won’t call it the best looking shooter at the show, but it’s certainly one I will play when it becomes available.
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