Phantom Dust unveiled
Out of the Dragoon and into the Phantom.
Nope. Not an X03 announcement. (We're anticipating those sometime after 9pm this evening as the press conference comes to a close in Nice.) Instead, here are some details on Phantom Dust, one of the Xbox games we didn't know about until recently when we heard that it was due out in June. Along with a whole load of other things.
In development at MS Game Studios in Japan, Phantom Dust is a third-person action title set in a post-apocalyptic futuristic environment. Players will harness powerful attacks for use in real-time combat against the AI and other players online over Xbox Live. And it looks like instead of simply learning copious amounts of button combinations, players will be able to build up a custom arsenal of attacks and then take them online.
Perhaps most interesting though is news that the Phantom Dust team is led by Yukio Futatsugi, whose previous credits include Panzer Dragoon and Xbox-only Panzer Dragoon Orta - one of the most beautiful and underappreciated games on the system. Given the emphasis on Japan though, MS will be hoping Phantom Dust does a better job of capturing the public's attention. You can see whether it gets off to a good start with these screenshots.
Oh, and we'll be letting you know what comes of the big X03 conference as soon as we do. Look for updates in the next couple of hours...