Strident: The Shadow Front Preview

What might tomorrow bring? Most games offer an apocalyptic vision of the future, as if no one wishes to imagine anything better while sitting in front of his PC screen. What happened to the: "The future's so bright I gotta wear shades"? Will Xbox change something here? Still, it is a fact that wellbeing is somehow self-sufficient, and that it therefore doesn't pose as an interesting topic for video-games. And, it is far better to live the dark future in a video game rather than in real life and that they do their worst on virtual opponents, rather than on real people. (Phew... are you done with your mini-editorial? - Ed.)

The Korean-based Phantagram works as hard as it can, and after several noted titles (the most famous of them being Kingdom Under Fire), and titles like Duality which is due to appear by the end of the next year, they decided to make a game that they state should be quite different from anything they made. Strident - The Shadow Front, is primarily intended for the Xbox, but they will most likely develop a PC version as well. The developers described this game as a third-person action game.

The story takes us to the days after the WWIII when mankind, or at least what's left of it, has to live in scared and desolate surroundings, practically bereft of resources, over which they are still fighting. As I said - a dark and gloomy vision of the future. The UN is the only organization that stands for peace in the world. They sent FIST, their special peacekeeping forces to the Middle East, but it has been six months since anyone heard anything from them, so that they have been proclaimed MIA. In the meantime, somewhere in Israel, an unknown gang of mercenaries attacks a research facility dealing with the development of warrior cyborgs, and in the mayhem that arises, the only surviving member of the FIST, a girl which was imprisoned within the facility, gets a chance to break loose and reveal a conspiracy that would shock the entire world.

Of course, the main protagonist of the game is that girl, special operative of the FIST unit that has gone missing. The third-person view has primarily been used so that you have a better view of her acrobatic capabilities and hand-to-hand combat. On the other hand, you will be able switch to first-person-view if you need to snipe someone off.

The story will unravel through about twenty single-player missions, and each of them should take about half an hour of play. Each of the missions will have a characteristic style of play: infiltration, escape, demolition, escort, attack or defense. The protagonist will be able to go into action alone, act as a part of a coop team (with NPCs) or act as a part of a squad.

Before each mission, you will get briefed about the very goals of the mission and other important things about it. Then, you get to choose the weapons and armor you will use, and determine your character's physical properties like strength and speed. If you happen to stumble upon a problem your character is unable to overcome, you will be able to restart the mission and set different stats for your character. The solo missions will give you the greatest freedom of choice of tactics and style of play, and are therefore unlikely to become boring. Team missions will require you to plan the action in advance and closely cooperate with your team-mates, bearing in mind their capabilities and equipment. Team members will always strive to help one another, and the player will be able to assign each of them specific orders; as the game progresses, your comrades will gain new capabilities, weapons and equipment. In the missions where you are a part of a bigger formation, the emphasis will always be on protecting your allies and fulfilling the primary objectives.

Our heroin will go to some missions without any weapons, but you can also expect to see her carrying heavy weaponry. When she moves with no weapons in her hands, she can move easily and swiftly, and is also capable of throwing things at enemies and fighting them hand-to-hand... and even using them as live shields. She can move on the ceiling, climb and jump on and off other characters - Matrix-style. She has far more moves than your everyday FPS character, as she can jump up to 3m, cling to and hang from objects, and all this gives her a chance to easily sneak up to an enemy for a surprise attack.

As for the weapons, we know we can expect a lot of different weaponry, but the developers are still reluctant to mention any names. Your tactics will greatly depend on the currently available weapons. Each time you successfully complete a mission, you will be rewarded by bonus points which can be spent on building up your character like in an RPG.