Rail shooter Blue Estate will use DualShock gyroscope controls, creator says

Blue Estate, the dark, violently comedic, noir-style graphic novel, will be adapted into an on-rails shooter headed to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One sometime soon. The book's creator says the PS4 version will make use of the DualShock 4's gyroscope functions.

"It takes only seconds to get used to and hours to master," promises Viktor Kalvachev, the creator of the graphic novel. "You basically point the controller and squeeze the trigger; you don't ever have to use the joysticks. For all the gestures we're using the touch pad, which gives the opportunity for unique gameplay experiences, depending on how players choose to hold and interact with the controller."

Motion-controlled gaming doesn't have much of a résumé on the PS4 yet and tilt features, introduced with the SixAxis controller on the PS3, never really took off despite its use in indie hits like Journey and Flower. But Kalvachev is optimistic. "It works and it's addictive," he says on the PlayStation Blog.

"Why a rail shooter? The team felt nostalgic to the genre of light gun shooters and the gameplay inspirations came from old titles like Time Crisis, Virtua Cop, and House of the Dead," he added. "With the next-gen technologies of PlayStation, we saw the opportunity to bring back this fun to the players."

Blue Estate is narrated by "a clueless private detective who's being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Procastination," says Kalvachev. It stars two playable characters, Tony and Clarence. Tony is trying to save his club's best dancer from the clutches of a rival gang, and Clarence, an ex-Navy SEAL, is trying to raise $75,000 to save his mother's house from foreclosure. Things go downhill for both from there. Kovalchev has more details here.