Itagaki, the mad genius behind Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive, is proving that there is life after divorce. In advance of E3 proper, Itagaki has announced and revealed his new game, Devil's Third, which is currently in development at his fresh studio, Valhalla Studios. It will be, of course, published by not-Tecmo.
Judging from the footage of the game released recently, Devil's Third appears to be a third-person shooter first and a beat-'em-up second. This would be accurate, according to Itagaki. "If you think of it as a shooting game that includes a level of melee combat and fighting that has never been done in a shooting game before," he told Eurogamer in an advanced conversation, "that's a good way to think of it."
== TEASER ==That seems like an odd combat design direction for the guy behind Ninja Gaiden, a game that featured brain-numbing hack-and-slash combinations. The fact that it is different is the reason Itagaki decided to go guns-first. He told Eurogamer later that he didn't want consumers to confuse it with a Ninja Gaiden- or Devil May Cry-type of experience. Silly consumers.
Devil's Third is set in a post-apocalyptic universe where dudes have a lot more blood in their bodies than we do. The game is clearly over-the-top; air juggles make enemies appear as if they're meat-sprinklers, while the on-the-ground stuff is just as nasty, if not moreso. Big guns of the Gatling variety are confirmed, as well as fast-paced combat, acrobatics, and fluid hand-to-gun fisticuffs. Man. Call me silly, but I think I want this already even though Itagaki has never made my cup of tea.
THQ is set to publish the title on the Xbox 360 and PS3. No release date was announced, but the media have been told not to expect this one within (roughly) the next two years. Bummer!
