Tekken team goes urban

Because there just aren't enough third-person action-adventure games set in a gritty urban environment in development right now, Namco has also decided to knock one out.

According to the latest issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, the game is called Urban Reign and is being worked on by members of the Tekken and Soul Calibur teams.

It's set in the fictional city of Green Harbour, where life is tough gangs roam the streets every day is a struggle just to stay alive etc etc etc. When a member of local gang the Zapps gets taken hostage, Chinatown's criminal overlady Lee Shun Ying becomes the prime suspect.

So, she hires a bodyguard for protection and sets about defending her turf from the Zapps. It all goes off, basically, and Green Harbour becomes the setting for a gangster war to end all gangster wars. Except all the ones in all the other games about gangster wars.

Expect 3D combat, advanced character abilities - like the ability to attack from on high or run up walls - plus more than 30 special moves and 50 ways to attack multiple enemies.

There are more than 60 playable characters, each with their own personal history and unique attack style. Only four have been officially announced so far: Lee Shun Ying, who specialises in kung fu and swordplay, Brad Hawk, her all-rounder bodyguard, Zapps leader and super-fast fighter Dwayne and Glen, leader of local biker gang Hell's Region.

Up to four players can join in at once, and you'll have the ability to order both your mates and NPCs about in the midst of battles.

The game is an estimated 60 per cent complete and is due to launch later this year. No word as to which platforms it's being developed for yet, but we'll keep you posted.