Bulletstorm

Overview

An early look

Bulletstorm is People Can Fly's first game after their acquisition by Epic Games. The game has an over-the-top tone with gunplay akin to their previous series, Painkiller. The focus is on a "kill with skill" system that encourage players to make creative use of their weaponry. The story follows ex-Dead Echo member, Grayson Hunt and his cyborg partner Ishi Soto, after they crash land on the alien planet named Stygia. They attempt to survive its hostile environment and exact their revenge on Grayson's old commander, General Sarrano who had betrayed him.

The game will feature a 4-player cooperative multiplayer mode called Anarchy. It is essentially a Horde Mode, but in order to progress the team must score a certain amount of points together, with bonus points coming from killing enemies cooperatively. Competitive multiplayer was dropped midway through development after the team couldn't translate the single player experience well onto the standard multiplayer modes like deathmatch.

The art style represents a new direction for Epic Games, as it eschews the gray/brown tone of the Gears of War series for something more colorful, with elements in common with games like Zeno Clash and Brink. The game still has exaggerated gore levels and over-the-top swearing like Epic's previous ventures.

Story

Welcome to Stygia, pastey!

Bulletstorm is set in the distant future on Stygia, a planet built for tourism that has fallen into the hands of mutants. The main character is Grayson Hunt, a charming roughneck space pirate that is out for revenge against his former commanding officer, General Sarrano of the Confederation of Planets.

The game begins with Hunt brutally killing a bounty hunter who was trying to kill him and his crew. The crew is being hunted by the space confederation and have been branded as traitors. Their ship stumbles upon the Ulysses, a giant confederate ship commanded by Sarrano. Drunk and filled with rage, Hunt orders the ship to be attacked, resulting in both ships crash landing on a tourism planet. Hunt blacks out and the game goes to a flashback where him and his crew were still working for Sarrano and had to assassinate a man called Novak. After killing him, the crew discovers that Novak was not the arms dealer he was said to be but really a journalist who had found incriminating data against Sarrano. All this time, Hunt had been killing innocent people without knowing it and his crew decided to desert the army.

The game flashes back to present day where Ishi, a member of Hunt's crew, has been severely injured by the crash. Ishi is thus turned into a an android and the rest of the crew is violently murdered by the savages who now have control over the planet. After escaping the savages, Ishi blames Hunt for his condition and all that has happened to them. Wanting to make things better, Hunt learns about a stranded soldier nearby that could lead to a ticket off planet. The two track the soldier via the leash that Hunt found near one of the Ulysses escape pods. The Ulysses had also crash landed on the planet. They eventually reach her and find that she goes by the name of Trishka. The two manage to convince her to lead them to Sarrano who has crash landed on the tallest building of the city. Trishka doesn't know that Hunt and Ishi want to kill Sarrano and intend to kill her once the dropship arrives.

As the three trek to Sarrano's location, a bond builds between them and Hunt begins to think that maybe what they are doing isn't morally correct. Ishi doesn't care as the A.I. in his body begins to take control. The crew finally make it to Sarrano, who pushes Trishka off the building to her death and strikes a deal with Hunt and Ishi. Sarrano promises to get them safely off world except that first they must disarm a DNA bomb situated inside the crashed Ulysses that is programmed to go off in a matter of hours. As the three head towards the crashed ship, Serano reveals that the mutants originated from the planet's radiation storms. The planet used to have shields preventing such storms but the badly treated convict workers destroyed them. This lead to the mutification of all the tourists on the planet. Furthermore, all of the planet's inmates were being held underground near nuclear waste leading to further mutations. As the three advance, Sarrano and Hunt debate on who is the biggest mass murderer since this whole mess is partly Hunt's fault, and partly Sarrano's.

The three finally make it back to the Ulysses, but when it comes time to deactivate the DNA bomb, Sarrano betrays the two and runs off to the dropship while activating the bomb. When all hope seems lost, Trishka saves the day explaining that she survived by grabbing hold of a power-line. The three manage to make it to the dropship and kill most of Sarrano's elite troops and make it to the man himself. There it is revealed that Sarrano ordered Trishka's father, Novak, killed and that Hunt killed him. Trishka forgives Hunt, but Sarrano takes control of Ishi who is killed and Hunt hangs Sarrano on the wall by throwing him through a spear. However, Sarrano survives and locks both Trishka and Hunt in the holding bay and sends them back onto the planet. There the two sprint for the remaining escape pod inside the Ulysses and make it off planet just as the DNA bomb goes off and kills all the mutants. Hunt feels remorse, as it is his fault that all his friends died. Trishka and Hunt decide to work together to get revenge on Sarrano.

However, in an after-credit cutscene, it is revealed that Ishi did survive, but that Sarrano rebuilt him so that he could be Sarrano's slave by making him become more robot than man.

Gameplay

Example of "Skillshots" from a early build

The game revolves around the idea of Skillshots, where the player is rewarded for dispatching foes in creative ways rather than the standard "shoot until the enemy is dead" tactic. Cliff Bleszinski has talked publicly about his desire to create a system where the player isn't forced to rely purely on headshots. It looks like Bulletstorm is a first step in that direction. The environments are set up with many deadly objects like spikes, open electrical generators, exploding barrels, burning cars etc.

Points accumulated from Skill Shots can then be used to purchases upgrades for all the weapons and the leash. The upgrade system seems to be similar to the one found in the Ratchet and Clank series, where upgrades not only improve base stats but also allow for special abilities unique to each gun.

Weapons

Players can use these weapons in many creative ways to get different kinds of skill shots. In addition to the following arsenal, players can always use the default melee attack (the boot) to kick enemies away.

• Energy Leash - This versatile whip-like energy rope is always available on Grayson's left arm. Players can use it to pull enemies towards themselves, causing the targets to float in slow motion for a limited amount of time. The leash can also be used to interact with most objects in the environment.
• Thumper - The leash can be charged and slammed on the ground, causing all nearby targets to be thrown up in the air.
• Peace Maker Carbine (PMC) - A basic assault rifle can be modified with attachments. The PMC also be charged in order to fire a single burst of 100 rounds which will leave little more than a glowing skeleton behind. The gun also has an ironsight mode, similar to red-dot scopes in most modern military shooters.
• Screamer - A powerful revolver capable of one-hit kills. The charged shot is a firework that sets nearby enemies on fire.
• Minigun - A standard gatling gun with a high rate of fire. Carrying the gun slows down player movement.
• Boneduster - Four-barrel shotgun that shoots high-impact air and pushes enemies away at great speed. The charged shot incinerates the target with super-heated air.
• Flail Gun - The flail fun fires two grenades tied together by a chain. The grenade explosion is delayed by default. The charged fire superheats the chain, causing it to burn and instantly cut through enemies.
• Bouncer - A portable cannonball launcher. The plasma grenade can be charged up to bounce around before a delayed detonation.
• Headhunter - Bulletstorm's stock sniper-rifle. It fires slow-mo bullets that can be manually directed, the charge fire will allow the user to pick up and carry an enemy with the bullet before being manually detonated.
• Penetrator - A gun which fires rocket propelled drills, once imbedded into an enemy they are thrown across the room and impaled on surfaces. The charge shot is able to designate a second target for the drill after it has hit one enemy, also once the shot is charged, running into an enemy causes them to explode.

Skill Shots

Every weapon in the game has its own set of Skillshots, with additional melee skill shots for the leash and kicks. There are also team and multiplayer skill shots. Some boss fights also feature their own unique set of skill shots. According to producer Tanya Jessen, the total number of skill shots is currently running in the hundreds.

All Skillshots scale with the number of enemies simultaneously killed by it. Most of the skill-shots can be combo'd together to earn more points per kill.

A list of the Skillshots can be found here.

Voice Talents

• Steve Blum ... Grayson Hunt
• Anthony De Longis ... General Sarrano
• Jennifer Hale ... Trishka Novak
• Andrew Kashino ... Ishi Sato
• Julie Nathanson ... Newsbot / Computer
• Chris Cox ... Rell

Pre-release and Marketing

E3 2010

Dick scaring events

During the EA press conference, Cliff Blezinski and an employee of People Can Fly demoed the game. Cliff described the experience as "Letting a fat kid play with cake." The demo starts with Ishi having to recharge his battery. Hunt leads the way by killing every psycho in his path, mostly by kicking them into power generators. Ishi recharges, scaring Hunt who says " You scared the dick off me." The demo continues as Hunt gets a weapon that fires explosive rounds. They make it to a train and as the base they were walking on explodes, a giant spiked wheel starts rolling after them, as well as enemies. The demo ends with enemies exploding, sending an enemy flying towards Hunt. Cliff then revealed the game's release date, which is scheduled for February 22, 2011.

In addition to the standard booth, Epic and People Can Fly decided to set up a Hamburger truck outside the west hall. Here, attendees could receive free hamburgers and Bulletstorm T-shirts. "Burgerstorm," as they called it, had a variety of different hamburgers, all of which were named after combos from the game itself.

Gears of War 3 Beta Access

Anyone who buys the Epic Edition ( Xbox 360 only) will get access to the public beta for Gears of War 3. The beta is scheduled to start in April 2011. The EA "Online Pass" is required for Beta access. It is unclear at this time if you will be able to purchase the Online Pass and still have access to the beta. The Bulletstorm Epic Edition Game Disc will be required for access to the Gears of War 3 Beta.

Xbox and Playstation 3 Demo

Bullets are Storming

A demo for Bulletstorm was released on Wednesday, January 26, 2011 for Xbox 360 and PS3. The demo had only one mode, entitled "Echo". In this single player mode, the player plays a fragment of a cutscene-less Campaign level. Your Skill Shots are cleared for the purpose of the mode (which means the player gains a large bonus for the first time they commit a Skill Shot). You have access to only 3 guns (while in the full game they have access to a wider variety of guns). You are also timed. A score bonus is given for finishing the Echo under par time. If connected to the system's online service, your high score will be posted on to friend and global leaderboards. In-game unlockables are rewarded the first time you finish the demo.

Duty Calls

As a promotion for the game, a free game entitled Duty Calls was published to the internet. The game is a parody of the Call of Duty series that takes the series' tropes to their most simplistic, absurd extremes. In particular, the game lampoons Call of Duty's reliance on scripted gameplay events and cutscenes.

Soundtrack

PC System Requirements

Minimum

Main

• Operating System: Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista (SP2), or Windows 7
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD Athlon X2, or equivalent, running at 1.6 GHz or greater
• RAM Memory: 1.5 GB
• HDD Space: 9 GB available
• Video Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible, 256 MB of VRAM; NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS, ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro 256 MB, or greater
• Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible, 16-bit

Others

• Disc Drive 16X CD/DVD Drive
• Network Internet (TCP/IP) connection

Recommended

Main

• Operating System: Windows Vista (SP2), or Windows 7
• Processor: QuadCore 2.0 GHz
• RAM Memory: 2 GB
• HDD Space: 9 GB available
• Video Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible, 512MB of VRAM; NVIDIA GeForce GTX260, or ATI Radeon 4870
• Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible, 16-bit

Others

• Disc Drive 16X CD/DVD Drive
• Network Broadband Inter (TCP/IP) connection

Xbox 360 Game Installation

When installed on the Xbox 360 Hard Drive, the game takes up 5.0GB of space. There are minimal performance gains to be had when installed.