Bulletstorm sequel would have been ‘a big risk’

Former People Can Fly boss talks Bulletstorm and Gears

Speaking to Eurogamer, People Can Fly founder Adrian Chmielarz has expressed the Bulletstorm sequel that could have been, and why the studio moved on to Gears of War: Judgment instead of seeing the project through to completion.

“The thing is, we did want to make Bulletstorm 2, and actually there was a concept and, I think, it would be an amazing game,” he said. “We analyzed what we could for the sequel, what we have control over, and it would be an amazing game. But it was also very risky, because you don’t have that many examples of games where the first part was doing so-so — it wasn’t a failure but it was very so-so — and then the sequel suddenly kaboomed. So it was a big risk.”

As for working on Judgment, there’s been speculation about how the arrangement came to be. “[Epic Games] asked us would you want to do Gears? They did not impose the game on us,” explained Chmielarz. “We wanted to do it. I don’t know if the entire team wanted to do it because it still wasn’t our game, but me personally, I was ecstatic, because I loved Gears.”

Despite actually liking the new Gears myself, it’s a real shame to hear this. Bulletstorm is one of my favorite shooters in recent memory for its satisfying scoring system and weaponry, over-the-top action sequences, and willingness to take a light-hearted tone that isn’t frequently represented in the genre these days. I would have been there on day one.

Adrian Chmielarz on Bulletstorm 2 ideas, Gears of War: Judgment changes and why he left People Can Fly [Eurogamer]