E3 2010: Bulletstorm (Hands On)
posted:
6/23/2010 6:00:00 PM
More On:
E3 2010
Bulletstorm
The first things I noticed about Bulletstorm was the vibrant colors and bright, well lit world. It’s a drastic departure from the dull brown and gray worlds of the Gears of War games and much a much cheerier place than the purgatory of Painkiller. It’s against this world that People Can Fly and Epic are setting their new FPS game Bulletstorm. The game is a bit different that most other FPS games in that the the gamer is being given a beautiful canvas to work with and a set of tools to create your own painting of death, destruction, and gibbage.
Before playing Bulletstorm I had no doubt that the game would be a lot of fun but I was curious to see how easy it would be to pull off the spectacular kills that have been shown off in all the trailers. It turns out that pulling off the spectacular kills was easier than I thought. If you’ve seen the previous trailers for the game you’re already aware of the electric whip and boot melee attack you’ll have at your disposal but what’s not evident from the trailer is how easy it is to use them. All it takes is one quick tap of the left bumper to throw out your whip and bring an enemy closer and then it’s a quick tap of the B button to send them flying away. After that you can either kill them with a quick shot from your carbine or if you’re talented enough rope them back in with the whip and then re-send them into the one of the environmental hazards in the area.
Killing with style grants you points, accumulate enough points and you can upgrade your weapons, which allows for more combos and even bigger kills. I managed to level up the whip which allowed me to pick things up and then slam them into the ground (hold down the left bumper). This creates a nice floating shooting gallery of things which racks up even more points. Given the personalities behind the game I can't wait to see what other weapons end up in the Bulletstorm armory.
The great thing about the game is that it really encourages you to try new things to kill enemies as the game feels like a veritable sandbox of death and destruction with explosive trashcans, spiked plants, and other things just lying around waiting for you to figure out how to use them.
I do wonder if that kind of fun can last over an eight to ten hour game (my estimate, nothing official) as it might get old quickly, especially if you’re trying to finish the game. I’m also interested to see how this works in multiplayer as it seems like upper level players could easily dominate lower players who lack the high powered weapons. I could see co-op being a ton of fun though and some kind of horde mode where you and your friends juggle enemies with weapons seems like ten pounds of fun in a five pound bag. We’ll have to wait until February, 2011 when the Bulletstorm hits for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3
Before playing Bulletstorm I had no doubt that the game would be a lot of fun but I was curious to see how easy it would be to pull off the spectacular kills that have been shown off in all the trailers. It turns out that pulling off the spectacular kills was easier than I thought. If you’ve seen the previous trailers for the game you’re already aware of the electric whip and boot melee attack you’ll have at your disposal but what’s not evident from the trailer is how easy it is to use them. All it takes is one quick tap of the left bumper to throw out your whip and bring an enemy closer and then it’s a quick tap of the B button to send them flying away. After that you can either kill them with a quick shot from your carbine or if you’re talented enough rope them back in with the whip and then re-send them into the one of the environmental hazards in the area.
Killing with style grants you points, accumulate enough points and you can upgrade your weapons, which allows for more combos and even bigger kills. I managed to level up the whip which allowed me to pick things up and then slam them into the ground (hold down the left bumper). This creates a nice floating shooting gallery of things which racks up even more points. Given the personalities behind the game I can't wait to see what other weapons end up in the Bulletstorm armory.
The great thing about the game is that it really encourages you to try new things to kill enemies as the game feels like a veritable sandbox of death and destruction with explosive trashcans, spiked plants, and other things just lying around waiting for you to figure out how to use them.
I do wonder if that kind of fun can last over an eight to ten hour game (my estimate, nothing official) as it might get old quickly, especially if you’re trying to finish the game. I’m also interested to see how this works in multiplayer as it seems like upper level players could easily dominate lower players who lack the high powered weapons. I could see co-op being a ton of fun though and some kind of horde mode where you and your friends juggle enemies with weapons seems like ten pounds of fun in a five pound bag. We’ll have to wait until February, 2011 when the Bulletstorm hits for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3
