Codemasters reveals HEI$T

Codemasters is doing a bit of smash and grab today, announcing HEI$T for PC and next-gen consoles.

It's in development at InXile, the brain behind satirical RPG The Bard's tale, and is a third-person action game that revolves around robbing banks and driving getaway cars.

Codemasters says it won't just be another GTA or Driver, and is planning to carve its own kind of Tarantino cool into the genre, with plenty of 1960s movie-inspired car chases and crime capers.

"Stealing cars is easy. You just yank someone out of the driver's seat, go 'cheers ears' and off you go," a spokesperson for Codemasters told Eurogamer this afternoon. "Robbing a bank, though - that takes planning."

"Getting in, controlling the people in the bank, blowing the safe, and getting out with bags full of cash and all the gold bars you can carry is amazing fun. We're going after that Tarantino or Dog Day Afternoon vibe, realistic but cool as hell with it."

It's set in 1969 around Johnny Sutton, who finds himself released from prison into San Francisco's summer of love. However, he's from a bit of an unsavoury background and soon hooks up with Uncle Sal and pals, who promptly help him return to a life of crime.

Robbing banks is what you'll do best, if you can get around each one's unique security precautions, but you'll also raid bars, restaurants, strip clubs, armoured cars - pretty much anything that yields a profit - as you attempt to become the best bandit ever.

But it's not all going to be that easy. You'll need better tools to hijack bigger targets, plus those laws you break will have a consequence, as the filth will be all over you like a rash after each hit takes place. Here you'll have to prove your driving panache, skidding through alleys to avoid aggressive patrol cars and barricades.

"You can be any kind of crook you like," the spokesperson added. "Get in the bank, woo the tellers with your charm, get them to co-operate, make with the cash. Or you could start waving shotguns around, screaming, and maybe taking out the odd lippy security guard to let everyone know you mean business."

"The setting of 1969 San Francisco adds to the whole 'hip' factor, and if you're going to be having Bullitt style car chases, you need a few hills and 90 degree turns in the mix to keep it spicy."

HEI$T is out in quarter four of this year - that's in time for Christmas in the old money.

Ram raid your way over to our HEI$T gallery to steal a glimpse at the latest screenshots.