Bulletstorm Controls The How & Why

One thing that many gamers overlook when appreciating a game are the controls.  But developers invest many hours into getting this correct.  Melding functionality with practicality, fluid responsive controls really go a long way in making a game great.   People Can Fly, the developers behind the upcoming first person shooter, Bulletstorm, explained the how & why of Bulletstorm’s control setup.

“Figuring out the control layout for a game is difficult.  You can’t really know how well it’ll work before you try it out.”  And try it out they did, moving the controls into numerous places before settling on the finalized setup that you can test for yourself in the recently released Bulletstorm demo which is available on the Xbox 360 & PS3.  Many of the controls for a first person shooter are “obvious”  aiming, moving, shooting, but Bulletstorm has many gameplay elements that aren’t in more traditional shooters.  The charge shots, kicks, and leash moves needed careful consideration to produce a fluid and more importantly, fun feel to them.

But as a game gets tested, things become apparent like a gamers ability to forget that a feature exists due to button placement.  Or in some cases a poorly conceived layout will lead to players activating specific moves when not intended.  But through careful planning and multiple iterations the developers believe that the best configuration of the game’s controls will be shipping with the title later this month.

Source: People Can Fly