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==Controversy==
==Controversy==
On February 20, 2011, the game came under scrutiny by [[Fox News Channel|Fox News]]. The game was targeted because of its profanity, crude behavior (examples of which including the game's skill-shot system, which has a move that rewards players for shooting at an enemy's genitals), and sexual innuendo. Alongside the panel of Fox News anchors was a psychologist by the name of [[Carole Lieberman]], who remarked: "Video games have increasingly, and more brazenly, connected sex and violence in images, actions and words. This has the psychological impact of doubling the excitement, stimulation and incitement to copycat acts. The increase in rapes can be attributed, in large part, to the playing out of such scenes in video games.” Other claims include that the game could reach audiences as young as nine years old, and that the gore and profanity could seriously traumatize a child of that age group. Another argument was offered by a [[University of Maryland]] professor, Melanie Killen, who claimed that the gameplay videos were targeted towards "young adolescents and children."
On February 20, 2011, the game came under scrutiny by [[Fox News Channel|Fox News]]. The game was targeted because of its profanity, crude behavior (examples of which including the game's skill-shot system, which has a move that rewards players for shooting at an enemy's genitals), and sexual innuendo. Alongside the panel of Fox News anchors was a psychologist by the name of bitch boy mcgee, who remarked: "Video games have increasingly, and more brazenly, connected sex and violence in images, actions and words. This has the psychological impact of doubling the excitement, stimulation and incitement to copycat acts. The increase in rapes can be attributed, in large part, to the playing out of such scenes in video games.” Other claims include that the game could reach audiences as young as nine years old, and that the gore and profanity could seriously traumatize a child of that age group. Another argument was offered by a [[University of Maryland]] professor, Melanie Killen, who claimed that the gameplay videos were targeted towards "young adolescents and children."


EA responded to this argument:<ref name = "Fox News Fiasco">{{cite web | url=http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/02/08/ea-responds-to-foxnews-39-bulletstorm-slam.aspx| title = EA Responds To FoxNews' Bulletstorm Slam}}</ref><ref>http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/02/08/bulletstorm-worst-game-kids/#ixzz1Dbn2pBVZ</ref> "As you know, Bulletstorm is a work of entertainment fiction...The game and its marketing adhere to all guidelines set forth by the ESRB; both designed for people 17+...Much like Tarantino's [[Kill Bill]] or Rodriguez's [[Sin City (film)|Sin City]], this game is an expression of creative entertainment for adults."<ref name = "Fox News Fiasco" />
EA responded to this argument:<ref name = "Fox News Fiasco">{{cite web | url=http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/02/08/ea-responds-to-foxnews-39-bulletstorm-slam.aspx| title = EA Responds To FoxNews' Bulletstorm Slam}}</ref><ref>http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/02/08/bulletstorm-worst-game-kids/#ixzz1Dbn2pBVZ</ref> "As you know, Bulletstorm is a work of entertainment fiction...The game and its marketing adhere to all guidelines set forth by the ESRB; both designed for people 17+...Much like Tarantino's [[Kill Bill]] or Rodriguez's [[Sin City (film)|Sin City]], this game is an expression of creative entertainment for adults."<ref name = "Fox News Fiasco" />

Revision as of 05:16, 23 February 2011

Bulletstorm
European box art
Developer(s)People Can Fly
Epic Games[1]
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Producer(s)Adrian Chmielarz
Cliff Bleszinski
Tanya Jessen
Designer(s)Adrian Chmielarz
Writer(s)Rick Remender
Composer(s)Krzysztof Wierzynkiewicz, Michał Cielecki
EngineUnreal Engine 3.5[1]
Platform(s)PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
Release
  • US: February 22, 2011
  • UK: February 25, 2011
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Bulletstorm is a 2011 first-person shooter video game developed by People Can Fly and Epic Games,[1] and is published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. The game was released on February 22, 2011 in the US and will be released on February 25, 2011 in the UK.[3]

Plot

Bulletstorm takes place in the 26th century, where the Confederation of Planets are protected by a secret black-ops army called Dead Echo. The story follows space pirate Grayson Hunt, voiced by Steve Blum, and his cyborg partner Ishi Sato, who were both dishonorably discharged from Dead Echo after they were betrayed by their commanding officer, General Sarrano. 10 years later, after a spontaneous and liquor-induced attempt to take revenge on the General and his forces, Hunt's and Sato's ship crash-landed on the planet Stygia, a former resort planet now overrun with meat-eating plants, feral mutant tribes, criminals, and Godzilla-sized monsters. Hunt and Sato search for a way off the planet, all while doing battle with the General's forces, who also crashed on Stygia after Hunt's attack. Along the way, they're joined by Trishka Novak, a foul-mouthed woman with a dark past who also knows her way around a gun. One of the locations they travel to on Stygia is the city of Elysium, formerly a Vegas-like adult paradise.

Gameplay

Players utilize a sizable arsenal consisting of over-the-top combat moves and large weapons. Bulletstorm also has a variety of "skillshots". The skillshot gameplay system rewards the player for creating and inciting mayhem in the most creative and destructive ways possible, from killing an enemy in midair to pushing an enemy into a carnivorous plant to executing an enemy after shooting him in the testicles. The more unusual the skillshot, the more points players acquire to upgrade their character and unlock weapons, which allow the player to perform even more creative moves and exaggerated skillshots. If these creative moves are repeated, the player character can "max out", meaning the character will gain more skillshots and one shot kills.

The weapons range from a pistol to an assault rifle to a cannon that shoots two bombs connected by chain that wrap around an enemy or piece of environment before detonating. Each weapon has an "alternate fire" mode, which are limited but can be refilled by performing skillshots; for example, the assault rifle's alternate fire is a single blast of energy that instantly reduces the struck enemies into skeletons.A device the player carries for most of the game is the "energy leash", a rope of energy projected from a device on his left hand. The leash allows him to pull enemies towards him, activate certain devices and traps, and slam down a ball of energy that launches all nearby enemies into the air. The player can also kick enemies and run and slide into them. Usually, when an enemy is launched into the air by the player, their descent is slowed down by the leash's energy.

Development

Actual development begun in June 2007.[4] In 2008, Electronic Arts announced that it would be publishing a new IP from independent game developer Epic Games.[5] A trademark for the name "Bulletstorm" was revealed when game developer People Can Fly filed a trademark for the name in December 2009.[6] Epic Games designer Cliff Bleszinski was originally scheduled to announce the game alongside Gears of War 3 during an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2010. However his appearance was delayed to April 12, 2010 after his slot was taken by pop singer Justin Bieber.[7] Soon after Bleszinski announced on social networking website Twitter that he would be announcing two games on the show on April 12, 2010.[8] However, the game was revealed before the scheduled appearance when gaming magazine, Game Informer, released its May 2010 issue cover which revealed the game.[3]

On December 17, 2010, two months prior to its release, Epic Games announced that there will be a limited edition for Bulletstorm exclusively for Xbox 360 known as the Epic Edition. The Epic Edition includes bonus in-game content for Bulletstorm when playing online, including 25,000 experience points, visual upgrades for the leash, Peace Maker Carbine, boots and armor as well as access to multiplayer beta of Gears of War 3.

On January 14, 2011, Electronic Arts announced that a demo of the game would be available on January 25, 2011 for the Xbox 360 and on January 26, 2011 for the PlayStation 3.[9] No demo is planned for the PC, which was described as odd by some reviewers, especially for an unproven video game franchise.[10] It was remarked that Mark Rein, president of Epic Games, previously described Bulletstorm as "a full-blown, oh-my-god amazing PC game."[11][12] However, a PC demo is being worked on, as stated by the developer's blog on the homepage.

Following this announcement, Cliff Bleszinski, producer for the game, wrote a tweet on January 14, 2011 about how the demo was only for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which was considered by game reviewers as a way of making fun of PC players.[13][14][15][16]

On January 30, 2011, Destructoid discovered that the Electronic Arts disclosure page for the game announced that a permanent internet connection was required to play.[17] Adrian Chmielarz, a designer at People Can Fly, denied it on his twitter page.[18]

Controversy

On February 20, 2011, the game came under scrutiny by Fox News. The game was targeted because of its profanity, crude behavior (examples of which including the game's skill-shot system, which has a move that rewards players for shooting at an enemy's genitals), and sexual innuendo. Alongside the panel of Fox News anchors was a psychologist by the name of bitch boy mcgee, who remarked: "Video games have increasingly, and more brazenly, connected sex and violence in images, actions and words. This has the psychological impact of doubling the excitement, stimulation and incitement to copycat acts. The increase in rapes can be attributed, in large part, to the playing out of such scenes in video games.” Other claims include that the game could reach audiences as young as nine years old, and that the gore and profanity could seriously traumatize a child of that age group. Another argument was offered by a University of Maryland professor, Melanie Killen, who claimed that the gameplay videos were targeted towards "young adolescents and children."

EA responded to this argument:[19][20] "As you know, Bulletstorm is a work of entertainment fiction...The game and its marketing adhere to all guidelines set forth by the ESRB; both designed for people 17+...Much like Tarantino's Kill Bill or Rodriguez's Sin City, this game is an expression of creative entertainment for adults."[19]

Hal Levy of the National Youth Rights Association said that the game promotes innovative thinking through dispatching enemies in unique ways, and that "Plenty of emotionally unstable adults will play the game and they’ll be fine.”

No action was taken by the respective developers, producers, distributors, or the ESRB.[19]

Reception

So far, Bulletstorm has recieved positive reviews by scoring 8/10 from IGN,[21] 9/10 from Eurogamer,[22] 9.25/10 from Game Informer,[23] and a perfect 10/10 from GamesRadar.[24]

Game Informer's Tim Turi gave Bulletstorm a 9.25/10, praising the game's degree of character control, which he compared to Mirror's Edge. He also praised the game's darkly humorous storyline, calling it a "goofy sci-fi romp that doesn't deserve to have its cut-scenes skipped," and also liked Bulletstorm's complex Skillshot-based combat and weapons system, praising them as very creative. However, he criticized the game's lack of multiplayer maps and the final hours of the campaign, calling it "stale".[31]

Marketing

In January 2011, a viral video for Bulletstorm was released, parodying the Halo 3 "Believe" diorama.[32]

This was followed up in February with the release of Duty Calls, a free downloadable PC game that parodies the Call of Duty series, as well as general first-person shooter clichés.[33]

References

  1. ^ a b c http://www.epicgames.com/news/epic-games-and-ea-unleash-the-bulletstorm/
  2. ^ http://twitter.com/Bulletstorm/status/23136210264260608
  3. ^ a b McWhertor, Michael (2010-04-09). "First Look At Gears Of War & Painkiller Creators' Bloody, Brutal Bulletstorm". Kotaku. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  4. ^ Smoszna, Krystian (2010-02-08). "Interview with Adrian Chmielarz".
  5. ^ Houghton, Stuart (2008-08-14). "EA To Publish New IP Title From Epic". Kotaku. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  6. ^ McWhertor, Michael (2009-12-29). "Painkiller Developers Predicting A Bulletstorm". Kotaku. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  7. ^ McWhertor, Michael (2010-04-07). "Gears of War Designer's 'Late Night' Game Reveal Bumped, The Bieber Steps In". Kotaku. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  8. ^ Bleszinski, Cliff (2010-04-09). "Newsflash: Two announcements". Twitter. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  9. ^ "Bulletstorm demo confirmed". Eurogamer. 2011-01-14. Retrieved 2011-01-16. A demo of People Can Fly's first-person shooter Bulletstorm will release on 25th January on Xbox Live PSN, EA has announced. No mention was made of a PC demo.
  10. ^ "More of a Drizzle: Bulletstorm Demo Skipping PC". Maximum PC. 2011-01-16. Retrieved 2011-01-16. Still though, seems like a rather unfortunate move on Epic's part. We're hardly businessmen, but putting a tangible piece of your new, unproven IP into as many gamers' hands as possible as quickly as possible seems like a no-brainer. Also – while we definitely don't endorse it – too many PC gamers tend to have a "No demo? Ok then, piracy!" policy. Bulletstorm may have gained a reputation for being goofy and somewhat mindless, but that doesn't mean its pre-release build-up should follow suit.
  11. ^ "Bulletstorm gets a demo! But not on PC!". fragland.net. 2011-01-15. Retrieved 2011-01-16. Joke of the day: although Epic's Mark Rein once described Bulletstorm as "a full-blown, oh-my-god amazing PC game", there are no plans for a PC demo.
  12. ^ "Gears of War Creator Epic Games Still Devoted to PC Development". 1UP.com. 2010-07-02. Retrieved 2011-01-16. Bulletstorm is PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 and you'll see when it comes out, it will be a full-blown, oh-my-god amazing PC game. I think that's a myth that we've abandoned the PC, it's just not true.
  13. ^ Cliff Bleszinski (2011-01-14). "BULLETSTORM DEMO COMING TO 360/PS3 JANUARY 25th". Retrieved 2011-01-16. BULLETSTORM DEMO COMING TO 360/PS3 JANUARY 25th. In other news, PC gamers are grumpy about this.
  14. ^ "Bulletstorm : une légion d'ennemis". NoFrag. 2011-01-17. Retrieved 2011-01-16. Pendant ce temps, CliffyB se moque des joueurs qui se plaignent de l'absence de démo PC pour Bulletstorm. Rappelons qu'Epic Games est l'un des rares membres de la PC Gaming Alliance et est donc censé promouvoir le jeu PC...
  15. ^ "No PC demo for Bulletstorm, PC gamers reported 'grumpy',". Destructoid. 2011-01-17. Retrieved 2011-01-16. Sir Clifford of Bleszinski, who I think is handsome and has great hair, upset a few PC gamers today by making a little jab about the lack of a non-console Bulletstorm demo(...)You'd think PC gamers would've gotten used to being screwed by now, but it doesn't take much to set off the hornet's nest.
  16. ^ "Bulletstorm demo upsets "grumpy" PC gamers". mcvuk.com. 2011-01-17. Retrieved 2011-01-16. PC fans of upcoming shooter Bulletstorm have been described as "grumpy" as disputes emerge over the game's demo. Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski has teased consumers that have already expressed disappointment that only Xbox 360 and PS3 owners will be able to sample the studio's over-the-top FPS.
  17. ^ "Bulletstorm PC requires persistent Internet (update)". Destructoid. 2011-01-30. Retrieved 2011-01-16. Fans of PC DRM have something to celebrate today, with news that Bulletstorm will demand a constant online connection in order to be played. More like Bullshitstorm, right guys?
  18. ^ Adrian Chmielarz (2011-01-30). "Bulletstorm". Retrieved 2011-01-16. Fucking Internets... No, Bulletstorm PC does not require any constant connection, only for install and for online play (duh!).
  19. ^ a b c "EA Responds To FoxNews' Bulletstorm Slam".
  20. ^ http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/02/08/bulletstorm-worst-game-kids/#ixzz1Dbn2pBVZ
  21. ^ http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/115/1151242p2.html
  22. ^ http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-02-22-bulletstorm-review?page=2
  23. ^ http://www.gameinformer.com/games/bulletstorm/b/xbox360/archive/2011/02/22/bulletstorm-review-the-fps-genre-gets-a-billion-shots-in-the-arm.aspx
  24. ^ http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/bulletstorm/review/bulletstorm-review/a-2011021610101452071/g-20100412105850796030/p-3
  25. ^ http://www.1up.com/reviews/bulletstorm-review
  26. ^ http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-02-22-bulletstorm-review?page=2
  27. ^ http://www.gameinformer.com/games/bulletstorm/b/xbox360/archive/2011/02/22/bulletstorm-review-the-fps-genre-gets-a-billion-shots-in-the-arm.aspx
  28. ^ http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/bulletstorm/review/bulletstorm-review/a-2011021610101452071/g-20100412105850796030/p-3
  29. ^ http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/115/1151242p2.html
  30. ^ {{cite web|url=http://www.g4tv.com/games/ps3/63517/bulletstorm/
  31. ^ http://www.gameinformer.com/games/bulletstorm/b/xbox360/archive/2011/02/22/bulletstorm-review-the-fps-genre-gets-a-billion-shots-in-the-arm.aspx
  32. ^ http://www.eurogamer.net/videos/bulletstorm-diorama-trailer-looks-familiar
  33. ^ Fahey, Mike. "Bulletstorm Mocks Call Of Duty With A Free PC Game". Kotaku. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
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