So I just finished Bulletstorm. I played a few games of multiplayer, tried a few echo missions, beat the campaign on Hard. And after experiencing pretty much everything the game has to offer, I can't help shaking the feeling this game is just one big Gears of War 3 advertisement.
 
First of all, that various characters are straight up Gears of War clones. Greyson is a  little bit more of a heavy drinker, and a little more foul mouthed than Marcus Fenix I'll admit. But his voice and character model instantly and unmistakably call to memory the GOW protagonist, down to the way he hops over cover and holds his gun. Throughout the game you are accompanied by Dom, in the form of Ishi. Admittedly there's no similarity between the actual characters here, except that Ishi is the logical balance to Greysons craziness, much as Dom is to Marcus's. You have  female interest throughout the story, one who happens to wield a gun with ease and is extremely skilled in combat. I haven't played GOW 3 yet, but this sure seems to fit the Anya archetype nicely. Your nemesis through the game is a square jawed, square headed, loud mouthed miliarty commander type very similiar to sarge from GOW, in voice as  well as mannerisms. Overall, the characters all seem to be either direct copies or very similar. 
 
The way you hop over cover is similar to Gears of War. The way characters move, hold their guns, interact with the environment, all of it, it's all similar. The leash has a perfect reload system like the one in Gears of War, the starting rifle looks exactly like the Lancer.  
 
The only multi player options are either Horde mode from GOW, or the GOW multiplayer beta.
 
The list goes on and on. Honestly, this detracted from my experience. Why in the world would People Can Fly bother creating a "new IP" if they were just going to re-skin gears of war? Were they that sure that the bro vibes would help it sell so well they needn't apply any real effort to creating a new idea? Now, I'm not complaining about the host of new mechanics like the boot, leash, skillshots, etc. But I get the feeling I just payed 60 dollars for one big GOW advertisement, and that just bugs me for some reason I can't put my finger on. 
 
Did this annoy anyone else? Or did anyone like this aspect of the game? Honestly, I think it's totally possible Epic came in and said "This game is scheduled to release a couple quarters before Gears of War 3. Make you're game as similar to that as possible so as to keep it fresh in peoples minds." 
 
It's just...disappointing.

Didn't notice it at all. I mean yeah, the movement was similar, but i chalked that up to the fact that at one point both were third person shooters in Unreal engine. The bro-ness seems different from Gears (although better is another story). The horde mode is logical because idk how you'd make bulletstorm work with a competitive mp. And the gears beta is in there because hey, Epic's gotta pimp their own shit.

Bulletstorm made me more excited for Gears of War 3. The technology behind Bulletstorm will undoubtedly be behind Gears 3 and I couldn't be more stoked. That isn't to say Bulletstorm doesn't stand on its own though, because Bulletstorm is fucking awesome.

" So I just finished Bulletstorm. I played a few games of multiplayer, tried a few echo missions, beat the campaign on Hard. And after experiencing pretty much everything the game has to offer, I can't help shaking the feeling this game is just one big Gears of War 3 advertisement. First of all, that various characters are straight up Gears of War clones. Greyson is a  little bit more of a heavy drinker, and a little more foul mouthed than Marcus Fenix I'll admit. But his voice and character model instantly and unmistakably call to memory the GOW protagonist, down to the way he hops over cover and holds his gun. Throughout the game you are accompanied by Dom, in the form of Ishi. Admittedly there's no similarity between the actual characters here, except that Ishi is the logical balance to Greysons craziness, much as Dom is to Marcus's. You have  female interest throughout the story, one who happens to wield a gun with ease and is extremely skilled in combat. I haven't played GOW 3 yet, but this sure seems to fit the Anya archetype nicely. Your nemesis through the game is a square jawed, square headed, loud mouthed miliarty commander type very similiar to sarge from GOW, in voice as  well as mannerisms. Overall, the characters all seem to be either direct copies or very similar.  The way you hop over cover is similar to Gears of War. The way characters move, hold their guns, interact with the environment, all of it, it's all similar. The leash has a perfect reload system like the one in Gears of War, the starting rifle looks exactly like the Lancer.   The only multi player options are either Horde mode from GOW, or the GOW multiplayer beta. The list goes on and on. Honestly, this detracted from my experience. Why in the world would People Can Fly bother creating a "new IP" if they were just going to re-skin gears of war? Were they that sure that the bro vibes would help it sell so well they needn't apply any real effort to creating a new idea? Now, I'm not complaining about the host of new mechanics like the boot, leash, skillshots, etc. But I get the feeling I just payed 60 dollars for one big GOW advertisement, and that just bugs me for some reason I can't put my finger on.  Did this annoy anyone else? Or did anyone like this aspect of the game? Honestly, I think it's totally possible Epic came in and said "This game is scheduled to release a couple quarters before Gears of War 3. Make you're game as similar to that as possible so as to keep it fresh in peoples minds."  It's just...disappointing. "

i think the game stands out on its own merits, definitely some gears-esque moments in there but in saying that bulletstorm definitely has its  moments where it couldnt be further from gears

I don't think so. They marketed the hell out of that game, the Gears 3 beta always seemed like an afterthought.  Wasn't Gears 3 supposed to be released not too long from now? A beta wouldn't have benefited them that much if they had stayed with that date.
 
Though Crackdown was pretty much a Halo 3 ad. I don't recall a single commercial for Crackdown that didn't feature the Halo 3 multiplayer beta code.

No no no no no no no no 

The only multi player options are either Horde mode from GOW, or the GOW multiplayer beta.

I disagree.

" @MaddProdigy said:

The only multi player options are either Horde mode from GOW, or the GOW multiplayer beta.

I am not trying to sound like a douch, but Horde mode has been in every Epic title since the original Unreal Tournament (it is called Invasion in that version). That is kinda Epic's thing when it comes to multiplayer.  "

I really hate it when people just private message me with their answer to my quote.  
 
OP did this to me and pretty much called Bulletstorm a GOW clone.