Golden Reign

The mean streets are about to get a little bit meaner, as Namco's new brawler, Urban Reign, has gone gold.

Created by the developers of the Tekken series, Urban Reign steps away from the confines of a tournament with rules (albeit lax rules that allow for giant robots and guys with swords), and instead places gamers in the shoes of hired hood Brad Hawk. Working for a powerful gang boss in the city of Green Harbor, Hawk pummels his way through the game's 100 missions alone or with a computer-controlled partner, using every dirty trick and improvised weapon he can get his hands on along the way.

Urban Reign features more than 60 playable characters in the challenge and multiplayer modes, which include head-to-head and team brawls, weapon battle mode, in which the player who holds the key weapon the longest wins, and destruction battle mode, where players race to destroy a specific object in the level.

The penchant for punishment isn't the only thing Urban Reign has in common with its developers' previous efforts, as Tekken stars Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law appear as playable characters in select game modes.

Urban Reign is rated T for Teen and will retail for $49.99. It should ship to retail in mid-September.