Frame City Killer caught on 360

Today, Namco Hometek joined the ranks of those publishing and developing games for the recently announced Xbox 360 from Microsoft. Frame City Killer is scheduled to be released on the next-gen console this holiday season. Although the 360 also has the opaque "holiday season" release date, it is unclear whether or not Frame City Killer will be available for the 360's launch.

In the game, players will play as Crow, an assassin sent out to uncover and "take care of" Khan, a terrorist and head of a drug ring. In a story set in the future, Crow will prowl the streets of an East Asian metropolis, identifying and following targets before determining the perfect time to whack 'em.

Namco hasn't announced a definitive genre for the game, leaving gamers to wonder whether the "action title" will be more stealth-oriented or guns blazing. However, there will be open-ended play and multiple paths to achieve goals and make hits, as well as "thrilling car chases."

The game will be powered with Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 and will be the first game from a Japanese developer to use the high-tech engine. According to a statement from Namco, the technology will allow "players to experience the most realistic visuals and physics in an interactive environment including bombs shattering windows and bullets destroying cars." Namco joins Microsoft Game Studios, Midway, BioWare, and Silicon Knights as developers who have chosen to use the engine for next-gen games.

GameSpot will have more on Namco Hometek's games from the show floor of E3 next week.