The main difference in 100 Bullets versus its contemporary progenitors is that the main characters, Cole Burns, Agent Graves and Snow Falls (yeah, Azzurello is a fan of the pun) aren't exactly upstanding citizens. Graves, for one, facilitates revenge schemes by offering those in need of vengeance with a way to do it and a way out of the repercussions, that is, immunity. Cole and Snow, on the other hand, are part of a shady group of assassins.
Storyline aside, thus far, 100 Bullets looks to be another potential solid play in the genre. It's being developed simultaneously for Xbox and PS2; Acclaim told us that the game will look more or less the same on both consoles. Our guess is that Xbox offer may inch out the PS2 version, if only marginally. Particle effects, secondary animations and other goodies do need to be finalized, but there's still a decent amount of time for polish. For those interested in nerd-speak, the game run's on the second generation of the same rendering engine used on Vex, Turok and The Red Star.
But we all know that a large draw for games of this type is an involving storyline and gameplay to match. From the early demo we saw, the team has put in a good amount of effort into giving the environment every bit of interactivity. Shoot a street signal and it'll fall down, hopefully, landing squarely on some nasty thug. This is only a touch of what can occur; there are also scripted-events, like not-so-random cars crashing through walls to take you out.
And this has already been done, but grabbing is another available technique. Taking an enemy and using him for cover is so Total Recall yet so totally satisfying. From this position you can toss them towards enemies, hold onto them for shielding purposes or execute them, cold-hard killer style. Some enemies fight to break free more than others; a quick head bash against a nearby wall or structure puts them in check real fast. That was a particularly amusing element that elicited laughter from the entire room.
Other advancements in the way of the genre include something Acclaim's Austin Studios calls Advanced Wall Mode. An already-seen play mechanic gives the player more freedom to not only move from wall to wall, but aim in a certain spot and hold that aim while moving left and right. This last tactic makes it easier to target vital points on the enemies, such as a cop's radio--shoot that and the civil servant will be left without the ability to call for some back-up.
When you're sick of grabbing enemies or pin-pointing specific body parts you can try the Counter system. Basically, if you time your button press to occur when an on-screen indicator appears you'll counter attack melee-range enemies with one of various attacks. Wind Waker on GCN did just this most recently. Future features include the possible implementation of Inverse Kinematics (IK) for enemy and player animations.
Acclaim might also contract some big name Hollywood actors to voice Cole, Graves and Snow. This is still up in the air, but it could work out well. If Acclaim needs suggestions, how about John Leguizamo for Cole; he bears a resemblance to the gunslinger and starred in Empire (2002). Keifer Sutherland for Graves and Gabrielle Union as Snow?
100 Bullets hits Xbox and PS2 this fall, probably October. Obviously, Acclaim is holding onto some key information. "Breakthrough gameplay" mechanics will be announced around E3 time. Thus far the game has promise, with its game-specific character (Snow Falls) and storyline written by Azzurello exclusively for the game.
But so far two characters with over 24 scenes don't sound too shabby. Some interesting gameplay elements are also a welcome addition to the staling genre. Who knows, with a lot of work from the dedicated team and a little luck Acclaim might have a winner on its hands. We'll ask you again, "Would you?"