Preview: Bulletstorm Hands-On

Picture this: eight grown watching another grown man playing a video game while yelling "Shoot him in the ass! Shoot him in the ASS!" at him in unison as the guy is indeed trying to do just that to some poor virtual gun-toting goon. A few shots later, the guy flies head over heels and as he's spinning, a shot hits him right in the butt as the words "FIRE IN THE HOLE" appear above his rotating corpse. Ouch. Well, it's either some sort of Deliverance meets Dirty Harry-inspired fever dream or you're watching someone play EA's upcoming lead filled blast-fest known as Bulletstorm.

People Can Fly (Painkiller) and Epic Games (you know what, that game and yup, that other one too) are teaming up to give FPS gamers something a wee bit different that the usual yearly franchise-driven shooter. What's coming your way in early 2011 has not only a grand sense of humor about itself, it's also a damn fine bit of programming where stylish shooting scores big points and there's plenty of enemies waiting for you to plug them with flair.

At EA's Hot for the Holidays showcase, Bulletstorm was one of those great-looking high action games that drew constant attention for both its fantastic graphics and very awesome scoring system that allows players to rack up huge points depending on how creatively they can kill. A quick trip through the demo build shows that this isn't a shooter where camping or hiding is part of the plan. Unlike many other shooters, you're turning the tables on the AI by constantly hunting them down in order to keep that scoring streak going.

Additionally, environments are packed with plenty of hazards you can use to gain even more combo points. Man-eating plants, very spiky cacti, well-placed explosives and other elements are all here and waiting for you to use. There's also the risk of these deadly traps being used against you, but having a quick trigger finger will allow you to shoot a thrown bomb out of the air or even whip it back and shoot it so it explodes, taking out the goon that tossed it. Killing with skill earns you points, those points get used to buy better guns and upgrades which yes, allow you to pull off even more hilariously spectacular kills.

You're also armed with some great weapons, a cable whip that can yank enemies toward you and (in a nod to Duke Nukem, I'd imagine), a hefty kick that can send enemies flying into the aforementioned cacti or high into the air, ripe for targeting like human skeet. The demo packed in quite a few laughs and thanks to the many different ways to dispatch the bad guys, no two people who stepped up to the game played it exactly the same way. While the demo build was a tad on the short side, the amount of pure adrenaline gameplay it delivered was more than impressive.

Graphically, BulletStorm looks outstanding so far. Obviously, PCF's experience on the Painkiller games plus Epic's long track record of quality is paying off big time. The environments in the demo and trailer were massive and featured amazing lighting and some rich color usage. It looks as if a few key titles in the FPS class of 2011 are going for more than the usual dark, gritty urban look, that's for sure. It's definitely welcome here, as the wild arcade-style gameplay works quite well with the assorted colorful maps. Our multiplayer questions were left as up in the air as some of the enemies in the demo, but if the modes are half as fun as the single player is looking, the game could be an even bigger hit for shooter fans looking to break out of the same old-same old.

We'll have more updates on Bulletstorm as news comes in - stay tuned.