New information on the shotgun in From Software's Bloodborne has been revealed in the latest edition of Edge magazine.
In its preview of the game, announced at Sony's E3 press conference, Edge notes that at one point the player shoots an emeny immediately before its axe strikes which causes the foe to be stunned. By pressing R1, the player can then perform a two-hit combot animation which deals a significant amount of damage.
Based on this information, it seems that the shotgun in Battleborne will act almost like a parrying shield. From Software has said that they want the game's action to be fast paced so it's unlikely that you'll be able to stun every enemy you encounter – presumably only those invovled in active animations.
Explaining why there are guns in Bloodborne, game director Hidetaka Miyazaki has previously commented that, “We were already thinking of a shift to a combat system where you would enter battle more actively than the sword and shield-based combat of Demon’s [Souls]. So we adopted the idea of guns, but there was a prerequisite that we didn’t want the game to turn into a shooting game, and the Victorian age fit perfectly. It’s an era where the imagery of old guns still remains.”
Bloodborne is exclusive to PlayStation 4 and From Software is targeting a Spring, 2015 launch date.