Preview : Bullet Witch

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"Where's Alone In the Dark?" I asked a PR person at the recent Atari Spotlight event in Las Vegas. It was then explained to me that the forthcoming chapter in the long-running mystery/horror series was delayed to mid-2007, and wouldn't be present anywhere on the floor. But my disappointment was soon met with a bit of surprise when the company introduced me to Bullet Witch, a next-gen action game from the folks at Cavia. What we have here looks to be a reimagining on the "sexy woman takes on a demon army" formula, complete with a penetrating new weapon and some moves that would make even Bloodrayne wince.

In the game, you take control of Alicia, the Bullet Witch that the title refers to, who finds herself standing right in the middle of a war-torn New York in 2013. Soldiers are trying to fight off a demon horde with a staggering arsenal, complete with pulsating brains that are throwing cars and other objects without mercy. Alicia makes an uneasy (but strong) alliance with these soldiers and agrees to help eradicate the threat before there's nothing left.

We were only able to play one level of the game in Bullet Witch, but the details are pretty apparent. Cavia has put together a notable facsimile of a torn-apart New York, complete with buildings that loom far into the sky and streets littered with destroyed cars and garbage. The frame rate moves at about 30 frames per second, and the loading time we experienced seems to be pretty steady, getting right to action without taking forever. The character animations also look very good, especially Alicia. She flips through the air like some kind of majestic ballet dancer, and then whips out her Gun-broom like she means business.

The main weapon that Alicia has is the Gun-broom. This is a large, black staff with a broom-like shape at the end that actually wields a large supply of spiritual bullets, which can be refilled as Alicia does away with her enemies. She can flip it around like a bo staff and knock enemies on their asses, or whip it around into gun mode and shoot away. You can shoot on the run at a distance, or click the assigned button and go into a closer, more precise targeting mode, ala Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. It works pretty quickly, but you'll need to keep on your toes. The AI here is pretty sharp, as these demon soldiers are anything but lousy shots. The large brains I talked about earlier also pose a threat. If you don't take them down quickly enough, they'll lob a car at you and knock out your energy.

Along with her attack abilities, Alicia is also able to use summoning to her advantage. She is a witch, after all. The abilities that we found during our demo time are pretty arresting thus far. One allows her to build an "ancient wall", a temporary barrier that she can stand behind as she tries to gain the advantage on a large group of soldiers. Another allows her to call for lightning from above, aiming at a specific target. From there, a huge lighting storm summons, and a bolt fires into that spot, creating a devastating explosion. The final game will also give Alicia other abilities, including flaming power that give her bullets some juice and being able to use telekinesis to put those smart, evil brains in their place. How do you guys like having cars thrown at you? Huh? Oh, that's right, you're a brain. You can't talk! HA!

Along with the gun-broom and the additional spells, Alicia can also get a number of new weapons. Mowing down demons with a gatling gun sounds very promising, and then you have traditional weapons, such as the shotgun and the cannon rods, which promise further devastation. You also have the ability to use items in your environment to take enemies out, like cars and tanker trucks. Destroying them results in massive explosions. This in turn kills enemies on the ground. You'll still want to watch out for snipers and rooftop gunners, though. They're trickier (and harder) to kill. One thing to note, though- we did take one out courtesy of a water tower, watching him collapse to the ground. Loved that.

As you proceed through the game, you'll need to destroy the brains in order to gain new access to areas in the city. The game's events unfold throughout New York, where you'll eventually find the heart of the problem and stop it dead in its tracks. The fight, however, is not easy. Like I said, Cavia is putting a lot of work into the game to make the AI anything but a pushover. We were killed several times during our run-through on the demo. Once was even with a sniper shot we didn't even see coming, even with the laser scope. Fortunately, the restart points are easy to access, so the game never becomes incredibly frustrating.

Bullet Witch looks to be a great work-in-progress thus far. If Cavia can maintain its profoundly violent course and add plenty of replay value, they could give Atari the next-gen hit they need to have a good 2007. Hey, we need something to play while we await Alone In the Dark, right? Look for more coverage on this title soon, as we continually show those evil brains who's boss. Yeah! Who's smart now? Stupid brains.