Side Bullet is an upcoming, free-to-play battle royale shooter. The major difference? It’s a 2.5D side-scroller.
The genre’s big hitters – PUBG, Fortnite, Apex Legends – may have the battle royale market largely sewn up by this point, but there are still developers bold enough to come up with their own unique takes on the murderous zeitgeist.
Case in point: Side Bullet (marketed as the shoutier SIDE BULLET). It’s an upcoming, free-to-play battle royale shooter where players fight to the death either by themselves or in groups of three. It’ll be funded via the purchase of in-game stuff like cosmetic items and emotes. There are firearms, upgrades known as Perks, and a grappling hook to help you get around more quickly.
Side Bullet’s more eye-catching selling point, though, is that it isn’t 3D, but a side-scroller (hence the title). In our heads, this immediately conjures up visions of the My Friend Pedro online multiplayer bullet fest we never actually got.
“Side Bullet uses a 2D perspective which allows you to see everything around you at a glance,” said Seong-Uk Kim, the game’s director at Korean Studio PressA, in a recent press release. “It’s a game that uses a variety of strategic elements – like smashing props to obstruct enemies’ view, or hiding behind terrain for a surprise attack – to keep you alive. You have to use your brain, rather than just your aiming skills. We really wanted to make a Battle Royale game that’s easy to get into but hard to master.”
There’s a trailer to go with it all (see above), but it’s high on cinematics and low on actual detail – for one thing, it’s only briefly shot from a side-on perspective, so it’s more a summing up of the game’s industrial setting and gritty tone than anything else.
A bunch of screenshots give a better impression of how the finished game will look, though, and we’ve helpfully added some for you to have a look at.
Doesn’t look too bad, does it?
Side Bullet will be coming to PlayStation 5 “later this summer” according to PressA. There’s no word yet as to whether it’ll remain a PS5 exclusive or whether other platforms are planned. We’ll update you as we learn more.
