Even if you're not interested in Epic Games' upcoming game Bulletstorm, you may still want to pre-order a copy of the "Epic Version" of the game. That is, if you have any desire to get into the coveted Gears of War 3 beta. Anyone who buys the $60 Xbox 360 game will be guaranteed access.
We've seen this so many times now, it hardly comes across as a unique opporunity. Epic isn't the first to incite sales of a lesser-known game by offering exclusive content of an extremely popular AAA title - how many people do you thikn bought Crackdown simply to get the Halo 3 beta? -and it won't be the last.
Nevertheless, we expect at least some die-hard Gears of War fans to plunk down the $60 just to get beta access, without ever playing Bulletstorm. Of course, being that Bulletstorm is also a first-person shooter in a sci-fi setting, that it's from the same developer, and itlooks legitimately kick-ass on its own, most people will probably enjoy both.
So aside from the GoW beta access, what else do you get for the premium price of the Epic Edition? You'll get a whole lot of bonus content, like 25,000 experience points right out of the gate, as well as upgrades and exclusive armor.
Now for the question everyone wants to know - when will this beta get underway? Unfortunately, Epic isn't giving away that information yet. In fact, it's not saying much at all, except some PR speak like this: "With these two highly anticipated triple-A experiences comes a unique opportunity to do something to really excite players, and that's what we intend to accomplish with the support of Microsoft Game Studios and EA. This is for the shooter fans."
Bulletstorm comes out on February 22, so expect the GoW 3 beta to come out well after that. Epic says beta details will be on the Epic Edition packaging, "if and when available."
Dec 17, 2010
