Killing with Skill: Trailer and First Look at EA & Epic’s Bulletstorm

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So, who’s the guy pulling off all these Skill Kills anyway? Bulletstorm’s main character is Grayson Hunt, the leader of a band of mercenaries called Dead Echo. Hunt’s team worked with a governing organization called the Confederation of the Galaxy but found out that the leaders had evil plans afoot. Grayson somehow winds up exiling himself and crew in outer reaches of galaxy. They become pirates, drinking and raiding in a shadow of their past glory. When the Confed’s prize cruiser Ulysses enters the orbit of Stygia, a decaying former pleasure planet, Hunt impulsively decides to ram the Ulysses. Both ship go crashing to the surface of Stygia, where the bulk of the action happens. Some kind of disaster killed most of the population there and mutated the surviving flora and fauna.

Based on the in-game dialogue and presentation made by Bleszinski and Jessem, the game’s got a pulpy, semi-satirical vibe that shows a hint of self-awareness. Bleszinski mentioned the influence of Firefly on the game’s development in my interview with him and you can see it. These characters kind of know that what’s happening around them is absurd. The chatter’s very vulgar and at one point, a female character says “The shit I’ve seen down here would turn your asshole purple!” One thing that did cause cheeks to clench was an insane boss battle against some sort of giant plant penis. (It’s in the trailer; tell me I’m wrong.) That fight used Grayson’s slide ability to quickly change position; sliding easier on slick, viscous surfaces, like a floor bathed in plant goo.

(More on Techland: The Techland Interview: Cliff Bleszinski, Part 2)

Bulletstorm’s main selling points right now seem to be heavily modifiable environments that are highly destructible and a system that encourages you to earn points by taking time to kill enemies creatively. There’s a bit of selective time dilation, too, where time slows down only on things you interact with. Everything else continues in real-time. The tech powering the game is the latest version of Epic’s Unreal engine and it sems to be working overtime in BS.

Bulletstorm ships in 2011 and further details about story and multiplayer will be forthcoming. there should be a chance for hands-on time with it at E3. I’m looking forward to trying to improvise a suite of gory, inventive kills at almost at will. We’ll see how my bowels hold up.

More on Techland:

The Techland Interview: Cliff Bleszinski, Part 1

Steam for Mac Launches Today

The Loadout for May 11th, 2010: New Games to Attack Your Week With

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