E3 2010 games to watch: Bulletstorm preview

E3 is here! Almost. There is a crapload of games both confirmed and rumored to be at the show this year, and if you're looking for a definitive list, wellhere it is.We know for sure Bulletstorm will be there, but you may be asking, what is this game?Have you not heard of it? Does a storm of bullets sound appealing? Let's break this puppy apart (sorry, cute little puppy)...

Above: While killing humans stylishly is the game's bread-and-butter, there are also weird creatures to fight

Why Bulletstorm is one to watch:

• Aside from Gears of War 3, it's Cliff Bleszinski's other favored child. It's being developed by People Can Fly, which did Gears 1 on PC. On the one hand, while it continues the Gears vein of violent and "gritty" it's goingwith a much less dour mood, with bright colors and more fun-for-fun's-sake gameplay.
  
• It's a first-person shooter, except you'll probably be seeing your boot onscreen almost as much as your gun. The game is all about rewarding stylish kills, and headshots are the least stylish way to kill. See, you've got to work in multipliers, so one approach would be to first kick an enemy so hard he flies through the air, and then pull off that headshot.
  
• There are many, many ways to get creative with your kills. You can use the environment to combo with your attacks, like knocking enemies into poison plants or impaling them on spikes.

Above: Each style bonus has a creative name. You can probably guess by the presence of fire what this kill's name is all about

• Over-the-top weapons help increase your murderous creativity and straight-up lethality. Aside from your upgradeable rifle, you have another standard weapon that's a whip made out of energy, which is handy for grabbing enemies and tossing them for combo-kill setups. There's also the flail gun, which fires a projectile that consists of two sticky grenades tethered to each other like some head-exploding bolo weapon.
  
• The points you earn for creative kills aren't just for show. You use them to unlock even crazier tools for even crazier kills. So your creativity is rewarded with in-game, tangible stuff that's designed to make the game even more fun. None of the rewards will just be more armor, damage or speed. Every upgrade will make something you do play differently.
  
• There will be multiplayer, and based off what abilities we've seen, it will probably be hilarious. It will be taking the idea of humiliating your opponent to whole new levels.

Above: The slide can get you to places quickly,while alsocausing some bootsole-oriented world-of-hurt inducing

Will Bulletstorm be able to pull off its "gamey" concept? We're wondering if it will truly let us be creative and not just recycle the same few combo kills over and over. Does it sound like a refreshing twist on the same-old shooter? Let us know in the comments or through our portals on Facebook and Twitter.

Jun12, 2010