Bulletstorm Didn't Start Out As A FPS

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People Can Fly are working on a downright insane title called Bulletstorm, which ought to feature some of the fastest, most over-the-top FPS gameplay you've ever seen.

The game allows you to use more than just your weapons; you can utilize an energy whip to yank foes back towards you, and you can even kick 'em in the air and unload on their defenseless asses. But did you realize that it started out as a third-person shooter...? Perhaps it won't come as any surprise, considering Epic Games is involved in the production and they're responsible for Gears of War. But when the developer began down this path, Epic stopped them and said it sounded too much like Gears "in space." Here's what Epic boss Cliff Bleszinski said in a recent Gamereactor interview:

"If you look at games like Gears and Bulletstorm, a lot has to do with having a real environment you can touch. In Gears it comes to getting into cover and cutting down the enemy with your Lancer. Bulletstorm uses a similar method where you toy with your enemy, the way a cat does with a mouse. It’s all about being able to see the effect of what you are doing in the world around, instead of just shooting a guy and watching him fall. It’s about nuances.

Bulletstorm was originally planned to be a third person shooter, but we thought 'hey, it would just be Gears in space,' so we kept it in first person, and created other ways to create chaos and fun in the game. You decide yourself what you want to do with your game."

He added that it typically "stinks" to use a cover mechanic in a FPS, although Guerrilla Games would probably beg to differ. But the question is, did they make the right decision? Personally, I think Bulletstorm looks crazy enough and that such a setting best suits the FPS genre. And besides, if it had stayed third-person, it would've ultimately been compared to Gears and Uncharted...and I don't envy the original IP that tries to scale that mountain.

Related Game(s): Bulletstorm

5/28/2010 8:51:11 PM John Shepard

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