What do you get when you mix the developers behind Painkiller with the masterminds working on the conclusion to the Gears of War franchise?  An over-the-top shooter that rewards players for “killing with style.”  If you are the type of gamer who finds it generally boring to hop into every shooting game and rinse and repeat the same mechanic of cover and fire, than Bulletstorm might be right up your alley.  Bulletstorm is a game about brutal violence, originality and most importantly creativity.

The Bulletstorm demo at E3 left people talking and with over 200 games being showcased at the enormous event, that’s an incredible feat.  Of course being grouped together with Epic Games doesn’t hurt but there are plenty of reasons to understand why People Can Fly’s new game is gaining a lot of attention.  Bulletstorm forces players to be creative with how they play and more importantly how they kill and in a market that is saturated with similar-like shooters, this might be the breath of fresh air we all need.

The demo showed off an abandoned mine on the level of Stygia in which case two foul-mouthed soldiers arrived to shut down a generator.  Right off the bat these two heroes are spurting off obscenities and shouting edgy remarks such as “You scared the d— off of me!”  Surely with that type of dark humor you can only expect the same from the gameplay.  Bulletstorm features your basic shooter mechanics, such as basic cover and fire, but as we mentioned before that’s not what makes Bulletstorm just another shooter.

Bulletstorm allows players to “kill with style” so naturally your character will be equipped with various skills and abilities to use to obliterate those enemies.   The game gives players a substantial amount of health, almost to the point where they want players to get up close and personal with the enemies to deliver some truly brutal kills.  Your character can perform a simple kick to the gut that sends enemies flying to the ground as well as a slide kick that can be used to knock them down or gain ground on someone far away.  But the real coup de grace comes with the energy lasso your character holds, a sort of whip that slows down time when it strikes an enemy, allowing you to perform stylish, tantalizingly devastating kills in slow motion.

One moment we saw players lasso an enemy, watch him fly in midair and then blow away his face from point black range while another time we saw them use the lasso to send two enemies flying and then used a boomerang type slicer thing to rip apart body parts while the enemies were in midair.  You don’t always have to use your lasso either, as players can kick enemies into obstacles (such as electric generators) to watch them fry or simply knock them off high ledges.  The best kills come from using the lasso since time slows down and you can truly utilize the extra time to think of something more appealing to you, but almost anything on you or around can be used as your own personal killing creation.

As the Bulletstorm developers best put it, “Kill s— to earn better s— to kill even more s—.”  In a sense that’s true as the more creative kills you perform earn you upgraded skills and better weapons.  While the game lets you know of some of the impressive ways you can kill, such as headshots and kicking them off a ledge, thinking of new ways to kill someone, like throwing someone into a carnivorous plant is all up to how well your mind is working.  The more creative, the developers state, and the more glorious your reward will be.

Perhaps we are quite cynical for liking this gruesome game, but whenever a game takes a chance at a new idea, and makes it work, we are always paying attention and right now Bulletstorm looks incredibly fun and delightfully sickening at the same time.  Although February 22, 2011 looks pretty far away, fans can use that time to think up their own creative ways to kill enemies when the time comes around.

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About This Author: Josh Schwartzman

Been into gaming for as long as I can remember and have enjoyed every minute of it. I enjoy playing with everyone and anyone online and I am an avid PS3 and Xbox 360 player.

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