Bulletstorm dev talks down FPS fatigue

By Fred Dutton Published 30 September, 2010

Talks up bouncing limbs, blood showers.

You can never have too many shooters, insists the developer behind EA's forthcoming FPS Bulletstorm – as long as they're good.

In June, pundits at E3 complained that the market for first-person shooters was looking particularly saturated this year. Heck, there was even a survey to prove it.

Nonsense, reckons Adrian Chmielarz, creative director of People Can Fly, the Polish studio developing Bulletstorm.

"I haven't heard anyone complaining that a book is 'yet another detective novel' or a movie is 'just another action movie' or a porno is 'yet another one with big tits'," he told Eurogamer.

"Look, shooters are fun and they will be made as long as people want to buy them - it's that simple. And by the way, I think that this 'crowded market' thing is a myth anyway. I'd happily play a great shooter every two weeks, but somehow that's not happening. There are times where there's barely one or two released in a quarter.

"I know it looks like there are tons of shooters on the horizon, but that's just it – it's the horizon," he continued. "When you look at what's actually coming out in just the next month or two, it's hard to say you'll get spammed with shooters."

Eurogamer's Kristan Reed sampled Bulletstorm's attention-grabbing cocktail of over the top humour, outrageous violence and filthy language back in May. "A brand of pulp sci-fi that many will find an acquired taste," he reckoned.

So we asked Chmielarz if he'd care to spell out exactly who his target demographic is.

"Let me put it this way: if you have ever, even for one second, wanted to have a wallet that says BAD MOTHERF***ER, you're going to like Bulletstorm," he offered as clarification.

"For us it's about making sure that the gore is so ridiculous that it doesn't feel too real. We want you to laugh at it, not be disgusted and appalled by it. Yes, you kill people for points, but they're very bad people, so it's okay. Right?"

Was there ever a point where a line was crossed and something was scrapped in the name of common decency?

"One thing that springs to mind is a SHOWER Skillshot, where you had to get an enemy high up in the air and then you had to stand right beneath him and gib him so the blood drops splatter against your face and a limb bounces off your head.

"Actually, wait. I want that back. Let me talk to the programmers."

Bulletstorm launches in 2011 on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (29) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • MiniAmin #1 2 years ago

    'yet another one with big tits'

    Just wanted to make sure I read that correctly.

  • JBlokeUK #2 2 years ago

    I had to read that a few times over and over also, just to make sure I was reading it correctly.

    He has a point though?
    Edited by JBlokeUK at 30/09/10 @ 23:58

  • RandomRash #3 2 years ago

    He must watch a lot of pornos!

    I don't mind there being alot of FPS games because I enjoy them and it's nice to be spoilt for choice

  • MiniAmin #4 2 years ago

    @JBlokeUK

    It's a good point but it's a brazen analogy. I'm more concerned with creativity, i'll happily play quality new FPSs but i'd also love to see more unique titles being released: platformers and titles like Heavy Rain are too rare these days.

  • Eraysor #5 2 years ago

    I don't see the problem with a large number of FPS titles, providing they are good. I would be perfectly happy with Battlefield 3, Doom 4 and Half-Life 3 being released in the same week, for example...

    Also, this game sounds excellent. Like Serious Sam with better production values.

  • scottycam #6 2 years ago

    He's right. As long as men like guns and tits shooters (and porn) will sell.

    As many people who feel they have grown out of playing shooters there will be more youngsters coming of age who haven't played any shooters and will get more out of them. They don't even have to be original. If I was 16 and someone gave me a modern day clone of Half-life (having never been old enough to play the original) I'd be pretty happy.

  • metalangel #7 2 years ago

    But can it succeed where UT3 failed? Or will it end up like UT3 and be forgotten in the face of a million 14 year olds playing Call of Fucking Duty?

  • JBlokeUK #8 2 years ago

    @MiniAmin

    Completely agree. There seems to be a new FPS released nearly every week, and they all seem the same in a lot of ways? I love Borderlands though as it combines a FPS with an RPG. Killzone 3 will be interesting though with Move controls, as will MAG when it gets the patch. I'm sure also that Kinect will have a FPS made specifically for it? But how it will work is anyone's guess?

  • darkmorgado #9 2 years ago

    I'm sure also that Kinect will have a FPS made specifically for it? But how it will work is anyone's guess?

    Hybrid control scheme, I guess. pad + Kinect.

  • cristoflanga #10 2 years ago

    "I haven't heard anyone complaining that a book is 'yet another detective novel' or a movie is 'just another action movie' or a porno is 'yet another one with big tits'," he told Eurogamer.


    Nonsense. I complain about this constantly to the point that I don't read any book or watch any film that sells good anymore. And it actually works. I betrayed myself and went to see avatar and almost killed myself.

  • Guildenstern #11 2 years ago

    if you have ever, even for one second, wanted to have a wallet that says BAD MOTHERF****R, you're going to like Bulletstorm
    Well now I know it's not for me.

  • KDR_11k #12 2 years ago

    Yeah, it's not FPS fatigue, it's fatigue of hiding behind cover, shooting samey enemies in the head with awful console controls.

  • Gromit #13 2 years ago

    Hmm if your unsure how to get your point across - use the "bad motherf***er wallet" idea.

    If that fails, there is always the "cheeky chappy" Y-fronts line.

    I think the guy is 100% right though - it seems almost "wise" to complain about the games market being saturated with shooters, but you can count the great ones on one hand, even at this point in the generation.

  • HermitArcader #14 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • ybfelix #15 2 years ago

    The target crowd seems small. But maybe it's just my circle of friends does not have enough BAD M****KERS

  • Tangled #16 2 years ago

    I'm enthusiastic about the game, but somehow, every time Adrian opens his mouth a little bit of the feeling goes away ;) Maybe they could hire a spokesman? I've heard Tony Hayward is free...

  • Widge #17 2 years ago

    A mostly plotless clichéd shootfest would give me FPS fatigue. How is this going to fare?

  • rivuzu #18 2 years ago

    /has that wallet... And Bulletstorm on pre-order... Like, two months ago.

    Go figure?

    And they better bloody well put the SHOWER shot back in. It sounds most lovely!

  • kangarootoo #19 2 years ago

    I don't think the issue is simply that people don't want to play a lot of shooters. The issue is that most people can't buy all the shooters that are coming out.

    Choice is of course good, but the concern is that companies are going to lose money by all bringing relatively similar products to market at the same time. In situations like that, it is only the few top hitters that have well funded marketing campaigns that can be sure of breaking even. The other shooters just get lost in the crush and risk making a loss.

  • FogHeart #20 2 years ago

    The FPS industry still seems to make statements targetted to make their game appeal to 15-year-old Americans, don't they?

    This game looks fine, and no one has to make up anything crass or patronising to sell it. It's on my list as a 'possibility'. I'm just concerned that after you kill a couple of hundred enemies in hilarious, gory, inventive ways, you start to wonder why you bother, just want to move on. Never mind FPS fatigue, I want to know what they're doing to combat combat fatigue, if you get me.

  • arcam #21 2 years ago

    I'm happy to play plenty more shooters than I currently do, but only good ones.

    There are tons of mediocre FPS but I'm not burnt out on them because I don't play them. I've played two FPS this year - BF:BC2 and Stalker. Xbox players had Halo: Reach but seriously, what else has there been that wasn't mediocre?

  • bad09 #22 2 years ago

    "You can never have too many shooters"

    This generation you can. One genre that makes my eyes glaze over is FPS, sure that's a little unfair as I've been playing 'em since Wolfie 3D so probably should be jaded but this gen it's all been shooters. Even the ones I'm getting like MOH and COD can't get me excited TBH.

    I would say though even if I was not jaded on FPS Bulletstorm looks like it's aimed at 12 year olds so I would pass it anyway, sorry EA and Epic.

  • Gromit #23 2 years ago

    Will the spec edition come with a bad motherf***er wallet?

  • Skooch #24 2 years ago

    What an awesome interview! Fun to read on a Friday.

  • smithdown #25 2 years ago

    Never heard the term Jump'n'runs before.
    Come to think of it, whatever happened to the suffix "xxx 'emup" - as in shoot'emup, beat'emup? Now there was an easy way of distilling the essence of a game down to a single word.

    On topic - not sure I give a toss about this game. Looks fine and dandy and all, nothing wrong with it per se, just ain't floating my boat. Maybe it is a question of maturity - not to say you are immature if you enjoy these types of games, but just that as I get older I am finding them less and less appealing. Just like Chris Moyles.

    God I'm old...

  • scottycam #26 2 years ago

    @noface

    Was that aimed at my comment? Don't recall mentioning that growing out of playing shooters meant that you had to start playing a platformers or RPG's. Simple fact is that you can grow out of playing any type of game, especially when you have been playing them for 25+ years.

    No ones making fun of you, but nice rant. Almost sounded like you were offended by the idea that you can grow out of playing shooters. It is possible.

  • scottycam #27 2 years ago

    @noface

    Fair enough, lost in translation. Your English is better than half the native posters on here so I assumed you were a native speaker!

  • Lord_Gremlin #28 2 years ago

    All you need to know is that it's from creators of original Painkiller, the best arcade shooter you'll ever find.

    Shower skillshot? So, if enemy is female, do severed boobs bounce from your head along with limbs? Just wanted to clarify that...

  • Bander #29 2 years ago

    Can't really complain about there being lots of good FPS games to choose from. But they are making the same stupid immersion-breaking mistakes over and over. Like walls, rocks, fences and window ledges you can't climb over, instantaneous steady hands when sniping, regardless of movement and position, being able to move in all directions at equal speed without consideration of inertia...

    Some games occasionally address some of these flaws, like Gears and Mirror's Edge. But for the most part everything still plays like Duke Nukem 3D but with better visuals and a different array of weapons. The improved graphics of today's games highlights just how unnaturally characters move around, like they're from some other dimension with different rules of physics.