Get some American Civil War themes, add steam-punk, blend with acrobatics and good old shoot-'em-up action and ensure that the whole thing comes with rich graphics and fluid motion and you get close to the idea of Damnation from Codemasters.

Damnation rolls across massive landscapes. That's massive in the sense that each unmapped level is billed as providing some three hours of gameplay. The lack of mapping and defined paths means that the player really does have to use wit and skill to f ... more >>

Get some American Civil War themes, add steam-punk, blend with acrobatics and good old shoot-'em-up action and ensure that the whole thing comes with rich graphics and fluid motion and you get close to the idea of Damnation from Codemasters.

Damnation rolls across massive landscapes. That's massive in the sense that each unmapped level is billed as providing some three hours of gameplay. The lack of mapping and defined paths means that the player really does have to use wit and skill to find their way around, or rather 'up'.

Damnation exists in a world where every goal and level end seems to get higher and higher in the air. This is why Codemasters has introduced the term 'vertical shooter' to describe it. The player must ensure that he and his team of heroes - in either single (with AI) or multiplayer (with pals) - can find their way to the best vantage point.

Why? Simple, you have to defeat the worst of all evil entities: an arms dealer who appears to want to sell death-dealing hardware to both Confederate and Union sides in the Civil War before wiping them all out.

While the vertical aspect to the gameplay will appeal to those who love leaping around, clinging, climbing - and who don't mind the occasional plummet - there are also plenty of ground-based activities to get a kick from. Yes, there are vehicles ranging from speedy motorbikes to huge, steampunk tanks. It's not just playing around with cars and climbing though, as the Artificial Intelligence in the enemy forces has been tweaked the extent that you've little or no idea where or how they will spring at you from next. << less