Rag Doll Kung Fu announced

Lionhead Studios has recently posted the first information on the previously unannounced Rag Doll Kung Fu on its Lionhead Times Web site. The game, which is being developed by Lionhead artist Mark Healey in his spare time, is described as "a kung fu fight with string puppets in which you don't have to worry about getting the strings tangled up or even having a kung fu fight at all if you don't feel like it."

Healey, who currently spends his time at Lionhead working on Fable, has devised an innovative control method for the game whereby the characters have no prescripted animations and are manipulated using a mouse. To walk across the screen, for example, players will literally have to pick up one foot and place it in front of the other. Players will create their own unique fighting styles as they battle each other, and Healey already has a version of the game up and running that supports up to eight players.

"If all goes well and I get the online stuff working properly, then you can act out various silly situations with people all over the world--like dancing competitions, chatting, fighting, that kind of thing," said Healey. "I already have multiplayer working on a single machine. You can plug in up to eight mice with a USB hub to simulate all types of strange behavior."

Healey hopes to finish Rag Doll Kung Fu so that he can release it online this summer. We'll bring you more information on the game as soon as it becomes available.