Damnation

Welcome to a world where the American Civil War didn't end in 1865. A world where Confederate and Union forces continued to slaughter each other for the next 36 years. Damnation, a third person shooter from Blue Omega Entertainment and Codemasters, aims to transport players into this alternate history. 40 years of civil war has left America divided and vulnerable. Capitalising on this is a military industrialist named Prescott, who with the help of his private army, is attempting to wipe out both the Union and Confederacy in a bid to end the war himself. Enter Hamilton Rourke, Damnation's protagonist and leader of the rebel group opposing Prescott's proposed genocide.

Assuming the role of Rourke, players will find themselves confronted not only by swarms of Prescott loyalists but by platforming obstacles too. Damnation's style of gameplay is as much third person platformer as it is shooter, with players having multiple ways to navigate through certain levels and areas featuring over-the-top acrobatics and non linear level navigation.

With no cover mechanic and level design that encourages 'run and gun' gameplay, the action in Damnation seems to take place at a faster rate than many other entries into the TPS genre. Using weaponry like the functional Revolver and Golden Eagle guns, to the fictional rail-road spike shooter, players will lay waste to Prescott's forces while traversing levels. In addition to having a serious weapon loadout, things take a turn for the supernatural when Rourke enables his 'spirit vision'. Using Rourke's spirit vision will surround enemies with a red glow while desaturating the environment around them, making them easier to bring down with a well aimed bullet or rail-road spike.

An interesting feature of Damnation is the local and online two player co-op: during his travels Rourke will be tailed by his aforementioned group of rebels, and at any time during the game a second player can jump in and assume control of one of the rebels. While the multiplayer aspect of Damnation isn't strictly limited to co-op, it definitely comes across as the most interesting. Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and King of the Hill all make an appearance, but with maps capped at eight players and everyone having access to spirit vision, it sounds like more of an exercise in frustration than fun.

Powered by the UE3 engine and adding some steampunk flavour to the wild west aesthetic, Damnation is looking gorgeous. No full cutscenes or gameplay sections have been shown yet, however, so take that with a grain of salt. Damnation is set for a simultaneous release on PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 sometime later this year so make sure to stay tuned to NZGamer.com for any information or updates in the future.

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