Nokia announces Ashen

Nokia has excitedly issued a press release announcing a new self-published first-person shooter called Ashen. The gothic-horror styled title - developed by Melbourne-based Torus Games - naturally features plenty of "impressive gameplay and unique features", and will take place in the fictional Seven River City, pitting you against eight enemy types as you attempt to rescue the city's citizens.

The game's main unique feature will be its ghost vision mode which allows players to see and combat otherwise invisible enemies with one of the game's eight weapons, which include dual-pistols, Gattling gun, sniper rifle and some kind of alien assault rifle. Nokia are boasting that Ashen will feature a rich 3D world, sending players through ruined cityscapes, cathedrals and city streets riddled with aliens, but whether the engine will be able to rival the surprisingly impressive graphical might offered by the recently reviewed Red Faction's 3D engine remains to be seen.

Ashen comprises eight single player maps in total, with an additional two for the game's four-player Bluetooth deathmatch mode. Players will also be able to upload high scores to the rankings on N-Gage Arena. We can expect the N-Gage exclusive title to arrive sometime in the first half of 2004.