Anarchy Reigns

We're given a preview of two very different multiplayer modes, starting with Battle Royale: a points-based, winner-takes-all affair with a 10 minute countdown. Closely tied players find themselves in a caged arena to see out their personal differences.

In survival mode, a team of two face off against increasingly deadly waves of enemy forces. Here the cooperation mechanics come into their own as rifle-toting soldiers pick out weaker targets with their laser-sighting and boulder-wielding mutants slowly turn to attack nimbler players.

This focus on multiplayer is something of a new direction for the studio. "Up until now our forte has been single-player games, and what we wanted to do is create an online game and see what could we bring to the table," Inaba explains. "With that we thought we'd create an online multiplayer game that involves close-quarter combat fighting, which is a new genre. We felt this was the greatest input we could bring to online gaming."

To bring the world itself alive and make it an integral part of the chaos, Platinum is hanging its hat on a concept called Action Trigger Events - a dynamic that will feel familiar to anyone who enjoyed last year's well-received, but underselling, Split/Second: Velocity.

In Anarchy Reigns, these take the form of landscape-changing disasters: a giant saw-blade grinds through the streets, clearing as much scenery in its wake as it does flesh; an alert sounds and the action freezes as the camera shifts its focus to a tsunami building on the distant docks; or a suspension bridge collapses, providing a tactical overhaul of the battlefield.

Elsewhere, ominous black holes, rippling with inter-dimensional ferocity, slowly draw players towards them before depositing them in another portion of the map - and into God-only-knows what kind of environmental mischief.

And it's not just a question of playing passive victim to the changing world, either. Ripping up the scenery on his own, Jack is quite content to smash towers down in order to create new shortcuts for bringing the fight to his enemies.

This evolving world will undoubtedly have a huge effect on the gameplay, changing the situation in a heartbeat and ensuring that no two battles are alike. But it may take away as many opportunities for engagements as it gives. Whether this will make for thrills or frustration overall will largely depend on a question of timing, as well as how evenly distributed the events are.

A strictly hands-off demonstration ensures we haven't yet had a firm idea of the feel for controls underpinning the action. A look at the loading screen, however, reveals a full layout of taunts, weapon options and special attacks for players - but can we expect the same depth of combos we were treated to in Bayonetta?

"In Bayonetta, it was more like you were basically pummelling the AI so you could do these huge combos," Inaba says. "Whereas in this it's human versus human, so it doesn't quite work like that. But we'd like to bring that feel to the table. There are many actions and attacks you can perform that will give that sort of feel. Each of the characters is very unique so there will be varied combos in that regard."

So far we've only been given the most maddening tease of an insight into the potential for Anarchy Reigns, a game where Street Fighter takes inspiration from MadWorld, with a taste for the freeform violence of Grand Theft Auto. Scheduled for release later this year, we don't have too long to wait to get our fists bloody.