100 Bullets
About 100 Bullets
From the archive
This is the original PS2Home fact sheet for 100 Bullets, preserved from the early-2000s archive. Details reflect the PAL release as catalogued at the time.
Official fact sheet
Part hard-boiled crime story, part paranoid espionage thriller, 100 Bullets follows what happens when people from all walks of life meet Agent Graves, a mysterious figure who offers his “clients” the opportunity of a lifetime: an attach? case containing the proof, the gun, and the carte blanche immunity to exact revenge on a person who’s done them an irrevocable wrong. But who is Agent Graves? An emissary from an unknown government bureau? A rich man getting his kicks from granting people a personal justice where the judicial system has failed? Or is there something more sinister at work, a hidden framework that links his clients’ personal dramas in a twisted game of shadowy conspiracies?
- Original story and script from the creator of the 100 Bullets universe, Brian Azzarello (DC Comics’ lead writer for both Batman and Superman)
- Art direction by Eduardo Risso, the award-winning artist of the 100 Bullets comic series
- Hollywood-esque action and gameplay, including multiple weapons, hostage taking, melee, and fully interactive environments
- Play through the game as two characters, Cole Burns and Snow Falls, intertwining good, bad, and revenge
- Travel from Atlantic City to LA to Paris to the Underworld of NYC
100 Bullets was a planned PlayStation 2 and Xbox adaptation of Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso’s Vertigo crime comic, but it was cancelled before release. Acclaim Entertainment announced the project in June 2003, with development handled by Acclaim Studios Austin and an original story written with Azzarello’s involvement. It was intended to be a violent third-person action game built around revenge, conspiracy and difficult moral choices. There was never a finished retail version, PAL release, UK price or review score.
Story and setting
The game was to use the comic’s central premise: Agent Graves approaches people who have suffered an irrevocable wrong and offers them proof of the crime, an untraceable gun and complete immunity for taking revenge. That setup made 100 Bullets part hard-boiled crime story and part espionage thriller, with Graves’ motives and the wider conspiracy left deliberately uncertain.
The planned campaign featured two playable characters. Cole Burns was an established character from the comic, while Snow Falls was a new character created for the game by Brian Azzarello. Players were expected to alternate between them as the original story progressed. The game was not intended as a direct retelling of a particular comic storyline, although it aimed to preserve the source material’s atmosphere and moral ambiguity.
How it played
Preview builds presented 100 Bullets as a conventional third-person shooter with a strong emphasis on close-quarters gunplay. Reported weapons included dual pistols, a shotgun, a rifle and a grenade launcher. The aiming system was designed around a short lock-on process: firing immediately produced a normal target, while waiting briefly allowed the reticule to identify more vulnerable areas and potentially inflict greater damage.
The game also included hostage mechanics. Enemies could be incapacitated and used as human shields, executed, or driven into walls during close combat. A rage meter filled as enemies were killed. When charged, it could trigger a cinematic attack capable of killing several nearby opponents, while a smaller expenditure could eliminate a single target. Preview coverage also described destructible scenery and environments influenced by Eduardo Risso’s graphic style, including neon-lit urban locations. These were features shown or described during development, not characteristics confirmed for a final release.
Development and cancellation
Acclaim secured interactive rights to 100 Bullets from DC Comics in June 2003 and initially announced a 2004 release across the then-current generation of consoles. By early 2004 the project was being shown in work-in-progress form, and Acclaim included it in its E3 line-up for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. GameSpot previews placed the release in autumn 2004, with October commonly reported as the target month.
The timing proved disastrous. Acclaim’s financial problems culminated in bankruptcy proceedings and the closure of its studios during August and September 2004. 100 Bullets was among the unfinished properties left behind, and neither the PlayStation 2 nor Xbox version reached stores. The title therefore has no genuine UK release date: its status is cancelled, not delayed or awaiting a PAL launch.
Reception
There was no conventional critical reception because no finished game was released. Contemporary coverage consisted of previews and hands-on reports based on incomplete builds. GameSpot found the project promising in January 2004, noting its visual style, third-person action and the attempt to translate Risso’s dense comic-book worlds into 3D. Its E3 hands-on report was more specific about the weapons, targeting, hostage system, rage mechanic and destructible surroundings, while making clear that the game was still unfinished.
No reliable magazine or website review score exists for the cancelled PlayStation 2 version. Any database entry that supplies a normal release date, retail price, PEGI rating or review aggregate is likely presenting planned data or conflating the Acclaim project with the later, separate attempt to make a 100 Bullets game.
Legacy and versions
Today, 100 Bullets is chiefly remembered as one of Acclaim’s more intriguing cancelled PS2 projects, rather than as a playable game. Preview screenshots, video material and prototype footage have preserved an impression of a stylish but uncompleted shooter, yet there is no publicly documented consumer release or complete final build. The exact state of development at cancellation is not clear enough to call it finished, near-final or ready for manufacturing.
In 2006, D3Publisher and Warner Bros. announced a new licensing agreement for 100 Bullets covering consoles, handhelds and PC. That was a separate project rather than a confirmed continuation of Acclaim’s build, and its proposed 2007 release also failed to materialise. As a result, there is no official PlayStation 2 edition, PAL disc or UK retail copy of 100 Bullets to track down.
Screenshots (13 May-2004)
Videos
Frequently asked questions
Was 100 Bullets ever released on PlayStation 2 in the UK?
No. Acclaim’s PlayStation 2 game was cancelled during the company’s financial collapse in 2004, so there was no PAL disc, UK release date or retail price.
Can I buy or play 100 Bullets on a modern PlayStation?
There is no official retail version to buy or download, and no released PS2 disc for modern backwards-compatibility services. Prototype footage and development material are not the same as a finished consumer game.
Is the D3Publisher 100 Bullets game the same as the Acclaim PS2 game?
No. D3Publisher announced a separate licensing project in 2006, planned for several platforms and a proposed 2007 release. That later project also failed to reach release.
Did 100 Bullets have online multiplayer?
No online mode was documented. The planned game was described as a single-player third-person action title.
