Killer 7 director Gouichi Suda at work on new PS2 title

TOKYO--Gouichi Suda, president of dev studio Grasshopper Company and director of Capcom's upcoming Killer 7 is working on a new title for the PlayStation 2 according to media reports in Japan. Suda and Grasshopper Company are reportedly developing a new horror and suspense game, currently titled "Michigan."

The game takes place in Chicago, Illinois and opens with a dense fog enveloping the city and the government orders an evacuation of all citizens. Finding the fog and civic leaders' reaction to be suspicious, a TV station investigates and finds the city to be infested with zombies.

Players take the role of a cameraman who is paired with charming female reporter and an audio crew. The objective of the game is to film and file as many "scoops" as possible before their camera's video tape runs out. The tape length is each game's stage's time limit and players must meet a certain objective to advance to the next level.

With both hands affixed to the video camera, players can't do anything to directly intervene, like opening doors or helping someone in need. Instead, they can try to alert the reporter about something in the hope that she will act. In one example, players can alert the reporter to a key and hopefully get the reporter to crouch down and find it. In a none-to-surprising move, the player can also film the reporter from a low angle while she is, say, bending down to grab the key, in order to secure some additional points. It is up to the player whether to to help rescue an NPC in trouble or film their death and receive points for a scoop.

Michigan is currently 50 percent complete and scheduled for a Spring 2004 release in Japan.