Previews// Wet

As Rubi approaches a ladder we're treated to the sight of her wrapping her legs around it in order to descend down while facing outward, back to the wall. There's a reason for this – can you guess? There's stuff to be shot! Rubi, we're informed, can shoot from almost any position. As you're probably gathering, A2M is doing its utmost to keep the action flowing. From what I've seen, it's doing a good job.

Jump forward a bit and Rubi finds herself in what I'm told is a battle arena. In other words, a basketball court swarming with enemies. About 15 minutes later I'll remember what it reminds me of – the first time Neo fights a horde of Mr Smiths in The Matrix. This gives you the chance to really cut loose, and we're introduced to other moves such as the human wall run (go on, use your imagination) and we see a bit of swordplay.

We're also introduced to A2M's concept of finding lines. Basically, it has treated the arenas like skateparks of death. Not only are you trying to kill everyone in sight (there are multipliers to be had, and points mean prizes!), you're trying to hit certain points in the environment such as doorways where you can stop the baddies from re-spawning.

Once that's all been dealt with, there's more haring through corridors to be done. Here, we're shown rage mode. Rubi gets a spot of blood on her face (entirely her own fault, she just shot someone in the brain) and seems to hate it. The music changes and the colour shifts into a melange of red, white and black. Your mandate is to go mental. You're 20% faster, you're dishing out more damage and you're regenerating faster, while points are now being dished out for your number of kills rather than style.

This isn't player-activated, it's scripted. There are seven or eight instances of rage mode, each with its own quirks.

Things progress. The case has now disappeared into a car. Where you might expect a GTA-alike car chase, however, what you get is a car-hopping section. Basically, it's a string of bursts of on-rails shooting cut with interactive sequences in which you have to get your timing right and make Rubi leap from vehicle roof to vehicle roof. She really wants that case. It looks, I'm happy to report, like fun.

This sequence, we're told, serves as a boss encounter. That's not to say, however, that there aren't more traditional bosses to be eviscerated – expect heavier armour, melee attacks, pipe bombs - that sort of thing.

There are a couple of features that were given mention but not on show. 'Rubi Vision' – essentially the same as you get in Mirror's Edge – elements of the environment that you can use can be highlighted. Plus, two gameplay modes to extend the 8-10 hours provided by the single-player game: Rubi's home – Rubi lives in an aeroplane graveyard, in which challenges to push your acrobatic skills and suchlike will be set. Replay mode – re-do the game for more points!

The bad news is that these won't be complemented by a multiplayer mode. If you're crying out 'What the f**king f**k?!?'... well, I posed a more polite version of that question to the game's lead designer, Ashraf Ishmail. At the risk of being a big old tease, you can find his answer here.

To round things out, I thought we'd end on a beautifully optimistic (or horrendously deceitful) note from Pete Hines, VP of marketing and PR for Bethesda. “We don't view this as a tits and ass game”, he said. “It shouldn't really matter if Rubi is a guy or a girl... We're against using her sexuality.”