I played through Bulletstorm over the course of the last two days and some of the things I experienced are worth writing down. Join me as I navigate the labyrinthine passageways of my own thought process!
 
The ad campaign for Bulletstorm was god-awful, I think we can all agree on that. The Epic people tried so incredibly hard to drive home the point that Bulletstorm is totally crazy and fun, and look at how ridiculous it is, that they totally overshot the mark. Yeah, Bulletstorm is pretty ridiculous, but not at all in the teeth-grindingly irritating way that those ads of Cliffy B telling us a shitty joke about his girlfriend's pregnancy are. They should have let the game speak for itself instead of overselling it to the point of almost unselling me on the entire game in the process. 
 

I played through Bulletstorm over the course of the last two days and some of the things I experienced are worth writing down. Join me as I navigate the labyrinthine passageways of my own thought process!
 
The ad campaign for Bulletstorm was god-awful, I think we can all agree on that. The Epic people tried so incredibly hard to drive home the point that Bulletstorm is totally crazy and fun, and look at how ridiculous it is, that they totally overshot the mark. Yeah, Bulletstorm is pretty ridiculous, but not at all in the teeth-grindingly irritating way that those ads of Cliffy B telling us a shitty joke about his girlfriend's pregnancy are. They should have let the game speak for itself instead of overselling it to the point of almost unselling me on the entire game in the process. 
 

I thought ME2 took itself way too seriously for it's own good. But other than that I agree with you, it's refreshing seeing games like these from time to time.

Bulletstorm seems like a mature rated videogame for a bunch of underage teenagers. But I haven't played it and don't intend too, so who am I to judge.

" Bulletstorm seems like a mature rated videogame for a bunch of underage teenagers. But I haven't played it and don't intend too, so who am I to judge. "

I remember seeing a behind-the-scenes look with the guy who wrote the game's story as he told the camera that he actually hunted for places to use swearwords even where they weren't necessary or made sense. I want to buy this game but the marketing department and the writer(s) of this game are doing their damnedest to make me wait until I find it on a shelf for $15 used.

" I thought ME2 took itself way too seriously for it's own good. But other than that I agree with you, it's refreshing seeing games like these from time to time. "

" @TheSeductiveMoose said:

" I thought ME2 took itself way too seriously for it's own good. But other than that I agree with you, it's refreshing seeing games like these from time to time. "

And RDD's cutscenes did not look or sound like a movie. "

I agree with this, I was also completely turned away by the ads and pre-release hype for this game, to the point where I wouldn't even play the demo. I was actually incredibly surprised by the game though, the pacing is great, keeps the game trucking right along so it's never boring and doesn't overstay it's welcome. And yeah, for as stupid and immature as the dialog is, the story is actually pretty good.

I've been wondering, has there ever been another ad campaign that was this unappealing? To the point it put others off the game?

Video-game narratives are often cynical about themselves, which I find refreshing. It works because we're familar with these action-hero archetypes and good vs. evil conflicts and their logic is juvenile, no matter serious or artistic in their presentation.The marketing aspect is kind of crappy though, I agree.

"I've been wondering, has there ever been another ad campaign that was this unappealing? To the point it put others off the game? "

I agree with you completely. The ad campaign for this game completely turned me off and the demo's lack of story didn't do anything to change my mind. I was not going to pick it up. However, fortune favored me and I won a contest for the game. I just finished playing it and damn it was fun. Ignore the marketing. The game is great. The story is no dumber than anything that you've seen in the Call of Duty series (and easier to swallow because it doesn't take itself seriously), the writing is much more fun, and it's actually pretty funny in spots. I don't just mean that in the "hehehe, he said dick tits," way. I hate that, I'm not 14, but there's actually some good stuff in there that made me laugh.
 
It's been awhile since I set out to s-rank a retail game, but I think I will with this because it's so much fun. I already have most of the echo achievements, I really want to see every single skillshot, and it should be pretty easy to get the collectibles as a) they're not terribly difficult to find and b) the chapter selection menu tells you how man you're missing from each.

I'd be willing to bet for every person supposedly turned away by Bulletstorm's ridiculous ad campaign, many more actually paid attention to the game because of it. As silly and dumb as the marketing was, it really did show you that this wasn't just another FPS

It seems to me that everything about Bulletstorm, including the marketing, is satire on today's meathead shooters. I'm still waiting on my copy to arrive, but it seems like it's tearing into Gears etc. for taking themselves too seriously when they're shallow as hell. I mean, did you guys see that trailer making fun of the Halo "Believe" spot? Yeah, it was dumb, but I was also saying that the Halo spot was stupid. I can't say I disagree.

I avoided that game because nothing seems original at all about the same shooting we have now except now you get points for being "creative" by shooting dudes into objects in the environment (oh boy). 
 
how the game is being praised as fresh and original when all it's really doing is drawing one minor detail - the one media criticizes us for too of all things (getting points for shooting people) - from games of old and applying is beyond me. 
 
I'm sure the game isn't terrible or anything, but god damn is it dumb. And unlike brad, I don't think it's a good dumb.

Great blog, dude! I have been looking for an excuse to buy this game so I can get into the Gears 3 beta. What's the multiplayer stuff like? Also, you own this on 360, right?

" Bulletstorm seems like a mature rated videogame for a bunch of underage teenagers. But I haven't played it and don't intend too, so who am I to judge. "

After finishing the game today, couldn't agree more on many points. Once you get past the huge amount of trying too hard to be crass, there is a few gems of character development (not many but there were a couple moments I noticed, was playing the game late at times so might be mistaken just showing how little they payed attention to character over language in the dialogue) & story which I thought were somewhat interesting to rival the fun gameplay. As someone who swears quite a lot at times, even I was turned off by the swearing after a while as whoever writing it just trying way too hard to be edgy only to find themselves still standing in a wading pool in someone's backyard. Where Bayonetta developers brought something crazy & were probably sent home to come up with something more crazy; Bulletstorm seemed to try the same but just remove even more dialogue to insert more swearing. To paraphrase Mark Twain about replacing the word 'very' with 'damn' only to have the editor remove every instance of 'damn' to clean up the flow of the writing would have helped with Bulletstorm in my opinion.

" I've been wondering, has there ever been another ad campaign that was this unappealing? To the point it put others off the game? "

My friends have been using the "made-up swearing" aeons before Bulletstorm existed. Why there's such a fuss about the writing being cooky and weird is beyond me.

It's still extremely fun and innovative with great controls and a refreshing environment and by simply calling it stupid and childish without trying it you're unfairly judging a pretty great product.