Another one of Splosion Man creator Twisted Pixel’s in-development projects has been revealed. IGN has the scoop on the The Gunnstringer, a Kinect-supported Western shooter that stars a skeleton puppet looking for revenge on the dudes who made him a skeleton.
It looks like Gunstringer is taking more than a few cues from Twisted Pixel's last Xbox Live Arcade downloadable Comic Jumper, as it’ll feature 2D side-scrolling action as well as double-fisted, perhaps on-rails shooting sections created in full 3D. And as for the controls, it appears as if you’ll be holding out your hands above the action, acting as if you were controlling a character on strings (which makes sense, strangely).
The game’s development blog has a few more details on the Kinect support in general, soothing some fears out of the gate. Lead designer Dan Teasdale promises that you’ll be able to play the game sitting down. Also, he says that won’t be any motion-controlled shenanigans like mini-games, impromptu photos, or dumb gestures.
The blog post also gets into the look and feel of the game. As you’d expect, Twisted Pixel is going a bit unconventional with the aesthetic. The game will feature handcrafted “actors” and props and even some actual people if that video shoot in Texas last weekend is any indication of what to expect.
“The Gunstringer marries all of this with really fresh and fun gameplay mechanics,” the post reads. “From the start of this project, we’ve focused on getting across the feel of marionetting a puppet’s movement through a 3D world, then mixing that with the fun and mayhem of targeting-focused shooters like Rez."
"One minute you’ll be navigating the Gunstringer over tricky ravines or towards secret paths, the next you’ll be ducking behind cover to take out a half-dozen clockwork alligators with your six shooter.”