Bulletstorm is heading to the greedy hands of video game enthusiasts on February 22nd (February 24th in the UK) but not without a wave of controversy, something video game publishers tend to love for marketing purposes. The game, which will be appearing on PC, Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 platforms, is considered to push the already-strained boundaries of good taste in gaming. The FPS market in general is fairly loose when it comes to violence and language, so does Bulletstorm have that much over its controversial and historical predecessors, such as Postal?

The plot is fairly typical. You’re on a planet with a team of space mercenaries. Stop me if you've heard this before. You’re betrayed, left for dead, and you fight the mutants and attackers to get off the planet, and seek revenge on the betrayer. The two main characters in the game are voiced by professional vocal actors Steven Blum (Tank in Call of Duty, Spike in Cowboy Bebop) and Jennifer Hale (Samus in Metroid Prime, Emma in Metal Gear Solid). The gameplay is very FPS, and includes a semi-unique “Skill Shot” point system for creative kills that unlocks more over-the-top weapons and multiple ways to use them, which is one of the area critics are focused on. For example, if you kill a bunch of bad guys, that’s a “gang bang” etc. The commentary and banter between characters is relatively funny and full of curse words, and from my experience, doesn’t overwhelm the player.

The multiplayer details, while they don’t offer a direct co-op, do keep things enjoyable with friends with different modes. Anarchy Mode is where up to four users can battle together against enemies, utilizing a “Team Skill Shot” that will keep you at your map until you’ve performed them. Another multiplayer mode, Echo, is simply sections of the game without the story. I.e. running amok, no cutscenes.

The framework of Bulletstorm has been in progress since 2008, as People Can Fly (Polish-based developer, most known for the underrated Painkiller) has worked with publisher Electronic Arts to get the game released. The demo has been available for free since January, and tongue-in-cheek marketing for Bulletstorm included a video parody of the Halo 3 diorama “Believe.”

The engine behind the gore is the Unreal Engine, version 3.5. Sadly, 4.0 isn’t used by Bulletstorm or any game that I could find, even though its been in development since 2003 (according to Mark Rein, VP of Epic). Version 3.5 has of course been used in over a dozen games before Bulletstorm, from Unreal Tournament to Gears of War, and has even been ported over to the iPod Touch. For historical purposes, the first version, 1.3, was utilized specifically in the Unreal and Unreal Tournament games, and its first sequel, 2.0, used in Unreal 2003 and Unreal Championship. So basically, if you've played these titles, you'll know how to move around in Bulletstorm. Since Bulletstorm is flatly developed over all platforms, you won’t see a huge difference in graphics comparing the PC to its console siblings, as opposed to a title like Battlefield 3.

Overall, FPS gamers looking for a fun experience, especially with a Painkiller-type feel, will enjoy blasting through the Bulletstorm universe while they kill time for bigger titles later in 2011 and 2012.