Exclusive first look: Deadlands

UK-based Headfirst Productions sent GameSpot the first screenshots from its upcoming role-playing game, Deadlands. The screens show off some of the Old West environments that will appear in the game, which is based on Pinnacle Entertainment's Deadlands tabletop role-playing game.

Deadlands is set in an alternative past in 1877 during the American Civil War. In 1868, a huge earthquake shook California and uncovered a strange superfuel known as ghost rock. Afterwards a group of mysterious supernatural beings begin to terrorize the West. Players will assume the role of one of a variety of different characters, and they must try to stop the evil forces that are spreading through the land. The game is set in an unusual boomtown environment where mad scientists are building crazy new contraptions powered by the new ghost rock fuel. It will include action elements and will be played from both first- and third-person perspectives. The game will use a modified version of the game engine being used in Headfirst's upcoming Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth .

Deadlands is still in the early stages of development, and it is scheduled for release in 2003. For more information, take a look at our 2822080interview with Simon Woodroffe , head of design at Headfirst.