I Am Alive gameplay details revealed

The US ratings board has revealed new gameplay details for I Am Alive, Ubisoft's in-development action game.

The PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game contains blood, intense violence, sexual themes and strong language, according to its Mature ESRB rating (spotted by Destructoid).

As always, the ESRB rating summary makes for interesting reading. It is reproduced in full below:

"This is an action game in which players assume the role of a man who must find his family in a post-apocalyptic world. From a third-person perspective, players traverse through city ruins and use a machete to kill human enemies in melee-style combat.

"Battles are accompanied by realistic gunfire, slashing sounds, and cries of pain; characters emit brief splashes of blood when hit. Players have the ability to kill or knock unconscious wounded/vulnerable enemies via finishing moves (e.g., throat slashing, impaling, pistol-whipping); these scenes are highlighted by close-up camera angles and increased player control (e.g., on-screen prompts with button-press sequences).

"During the course of the game, players encounter women who can be saved from nearby enemies; sexual mistreatment is sometimes implied in the dialogue (e.g., 'These guys kept me as their pet, or mascot, or something.'). One sequence depicts the background silhouette of a man fondling and threatening a captured female survivor; the exchange includes phrases such as 'Do you hear me? Don't touch me!' and 'Don't be like that. You know I can make your life a lot easier if you would just cooperate.'

"The words "p*ssy," "f**k," and "sh*t" can be heard in the dialogue."

It now appears the game, which had been thought mired in development hell, is approaching release.

I Am Alive, which sees you attempting to survive in a Chicago laid to ruin by a cataclysmic earthquake, was first announced way back at E3 2008.

We'd heard barely a peep about it since, save for news back in 2009 that original developer Darkworks had handed over the reins to Ubisoft Shanghai, before last month's leak of a trailer, no longer available due to a copyright claim by Ubisoft.

I Am Alive was originally intended as a full retail release, but a report earlier this year stated it had become a download title for PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade.