Gears of War and Unreal are two of the best games of their time, so can Epic do it again with Bulletstorm? EA who is publishing the game when it comes out in 2011 certainly hopes so. 

So what's it all about, is it any good, and should you start saving, some 9 months out? Read on to find out.

Name

Bulletstorm

What platform is it on?

Xbox 360, PS3, and PC

When's it due out?

22 February 2011

What other game is it like?

Gears of War

Does it use any new tech?

Nope, but that doesn't mean it's not fun

The pitch

Bulletstorm is a blood symphony that combines outrageous gunplay with unique kick, slide and leash mechanics. Players learn to "kill with skill" as they slaughter waves of mutated enemies to rack up points and unlock weapons.

The storyline

Set in a futuristic utopia, an elite peacekeeping force thwarts the rumblings of civil war. But deception within the ranks has caused two members of the most feared unit, Dead Echo, to strike out on their own. Now, washed-up mercenaries, Grayson Hunt and Ishi Sato, are stranded on the abandoned paradise planet of Stygia surrounded by hordes of mutants and flesh-eating gangs. They survive on two objectives: get off the planet alive and exact revenge on the man who sent them there.

Video

Shown at the EA press conference at E3 in June, here is official gameplay footage with the big cheese (design director) Cliff Bleszinski himself doing a commentary, walking us through the one level demo he first showed off at the show.

Our first impressions

Created by the same team behind the Gears of War series, this is a chance for PlayStation 3 owners to get some Epic games' love for their console.

As the demo shows, it's looking pretty cracking stuff with some interesting gameplay and weapon options. We weren't able to get a hands on with the game at the show, however we sat through Bleszinski showing us what's what - incidentally the same video as above. Whether those weapon options that see you able to throw your enemy into the air before blasting them into the distance become dull or too slow in real gameplay combat is hard to tell at this stage, but if Epic can produce anything like the experience of Gears of War, and there is no reason why the shouldn't be able to, this is looking likely to be one of the games of 2011. Let's hope the final game can live up to the hype.

Please note

The E3 games convention is a fantastic chance to see the latest games due out over the coming year, as well as, letting us get a glimpse into what is going to be the big titles and the ones to avoid like the plague.

The big problem however is that for most of the titles that glimpse is, well, just that. At the show you'll get to play a level here or a multiplayer map there.

So with that in mind we present you with our Quick Play.

What we've done is broken down the key facts you need to know and then given you our first impressions based on around 15 minutes of gaming. For us that 15 minutes isn't enough to do a First Look review. How can you rate a game that offers over 30 hours of gaming on just 15 minutes of play? However it should hopefully give you an idea, a feeling, a notion, of what to expect come launch day.