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Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

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First They details emerge

Not so mysterious now.

IMC has finally shed some light on mysterious shooter They, unveiling Metropolis Software as the developer.

It takes part in the near future, after a devastating attack on England leaves nasty robots in control. You and a pilot from your army squadron managed to survive the initial onslaught, and will soon find out that not all is as it seems - the robots aren't thinking for themselves. It appears invisible aliens are doing it all for them, you see, although it will be a while before you'll actually be able to see and attack them.

Key to your adventure will be your gun, which you'll upgrade along the way. Hundreds of items can be swapped in and out of four slots, and you'll be able to adjust and save your weapon settings to the number keys on your keyboard. So, you might like a burst-style attack on key one, or an explosive assault on key two - apparently the possibilities are endless.

You'll even get the chance to change the skin on your gun, decorating it with various pictures of skulls, or sensible camouflage.

They is being powered by its very own engine, and boasts all the usual trimmings like DirectX 10 support and clever enemies that probably know their seven times-table.

Multiplayer will tout the familiar faces of capture the flag, deathmatch, and so on, as well as an entirely new mode based around the customisable gun.

They is in development for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. A release date is yet to be announced.

Pop over to Eurogamer TV for the very first trailer, or into our They gamepage for the first shots.