Bulletstorm
Genres
Summary
Bulletstorm injects fresh intensity into first-person shooter action with its signature "kill with skill" gameplay. The game follows the story of a futuristic confederation safeguarded by a top-tier group of mercenaries known as Dead Echo. When Dead Echo operatives Grayson Hunt and Ishi Sato discover they've been serving the wrong side, they're double-crossed by their commander and banished to the outer edges of the galaxy. In Bulletstorm, Grayson and Ishi find themselves trapped in a deserted paradise overrun by hordes of mutants and bloodthirsty gangs. Their mission is clear: survive the planet and take down the man who betrayed them. Players take control of Grayson Hunt, armed with a collection of over-the-top combat techniques and absurdly powerful weapons. Bulletstorm's unique 'skillshot' system delivers a new level of chaotic action and exhilarating satisfaction. The system rewards players for causing destruction in the most inventive ways possible. The wilder the skillshot, the more points players earn to enhance their abilities and unlock new weapons, enabling them to perform even more elaborate and exaggerated attacks.
Storyline
Bulletstorm is set in the 26th century, where the Confederation of Planets is safeguarded by a covert black-ops force known as Dead Echo, led by General Sarrano. A Dead Echo unit, commanded by Grayson Hunt (Steven Blum), follows Sarrano’s orders to eliminate individuals they believe to be drug dealers and mass murderers. They kill a man named Bryce Novak, only to later discover he was a civilian journalist who had been documenting the deaths of other civilians caused by Dead Echo. Realizing they've been deceived by Sarrano, Grayson and his team desert, becoming fugitives and adopting the name Final Echo. Ten years later, Grayson’s crew attempts to escape from Sarrano’s warship, the Ulysses, near the planet Stygia. As their ship’s systems begin to fail, Grayson, in a state of inebriation, orders a reckless ramming maneuver against the Ulysses in a bid for vengeance against Sarrano. The collision causes both ships to crash onto Stygia’s surface. One of Grayson’s team members, Ishi Sato (Andrew Kishino), is severely injured in the crash, forcing Grayson to search for an energy cell to power the ship’s medical equipment. Once on the planet, a former tropical resort now overrun by feral tribes and predatory flora, Grayson battles his way to one of the Ulysses’ escape pods, where a Final Echo soldier is killed by a wave of mutants. After fending them off, Grayson retrieves the energy cell and an "instinct leash," a device that, when worn, gives him strange sensory feedback, rewarding him with points for each enemy he defeats. Grayson returns with the cell, but during Ishi’s surgery, the mutants attack their ship. The operation is interrupted by an explosion, leaving Ishi a disfigured cyborg. With only Grayson and Ishi surviving, they decide to work together to escape the planet, despite Ishi’s disapproval of Grayson’s vengeful mindset. The instinct leash leads Grayson to another escape pod, where they find Trishka (Jennifer Hale), another Final Echo soldier who agrees to join them—on the condition that they rescue Sarrano. As they fight through the ruined city, Trishka reveals that Stygia was used by Final Echo as a training ground, with the instinct leashes serving as a way to rank soldiers based on their kills, as only those who scored could access supplies. When Grayson learns that Trishka is Novak’s daughter, he tells her Sarrano is responsible for her father’s death, though he claims not to know who actually pulled the trigger. The trio reaches the top of a skyscraper where Sarrano’s escape pod has landed. Trishka confronts Sarrano about her father’s death, but he shoves her off the building. Sarrano then warns Grayson and Ishi that a DNA bomb aboard the Ulysses will destroy all life on Stygia, and that they must disarm it before his rescue ship arrives. Sarrano guides them through the city’s underground, where they encounter radioactive waste and a massive prison. He explains that the protective shields once used to block the planet’s deadly electrical storms caused the waste, which in turn led to the rapid mutation of the surface population. Most of the innocent civilians couldn’t be evacuated in time, and the feral mutants Grayson has been fighting were once ordinary people. Though furious, Grayson continues to assist Sarrano in reaching the wreckage of the Ulysses. Aboard the ship, Sarrano deceives them again, having them arm the DNA bomb while his rescue ship will arrive in time to save him. As fires erupt on the fallen vessel, Grayson and Ishi are rescued by Trishka, who survived her fall by grabbing a power line. The three race to where Sarrano’s rescue ship is landing and manage to board it. They fight through Sarrano’s elite soldiers and eventually confront him alone. Trishka demands to know who killed her father, and Sarrano accuses Grayson. In the chaos, Sarrano takes control of Ishi’s systems, forcing him to turn on his allies. Grayson breaks Sarrano’s hold on Ishi, who then sacrifices himself to stop Sarrano from killing Grayson. Grayson impales Sarrano on the ship’s wall. As Grayson and Trishka regroup, Sarrano makes one last move, ejecting Grayson, Trishka, and several of his men back onto the planet. With the DNA bomb about to detonate, Grayson and Trishka rush back to the Ulysses, where one escape pod remains. They board it just in time and escape into low orbit, surviving the bomb’s explosion.
