LAPD 2100 Getting Warmer

Electronic Arts' LAPD 2100 goes into alpha next week, but videogames.com got a sneak peek at the game this afternoon.

A few things have changed since the shooter was shown at E3 last month, crowd control first and foremost among them. Your walker will now flash red lights as you enter into a densely populated area of futuristic LA; this means that action is about to shift into close-range battles. Bad guys in bright yellow shirts will attack you from short distances, and you'll use your best short-range weapons - the flamethrower as opposed to missiles - to destroy them. And if you accidentally kill a civilian while you're at it, no worries. The police captain may warn you to cut it out, but you'll suffer no real repercussions.

LAPD 2100 has eight single-player levels - each contains one or two crowd control areas - and five unique multiplayer areas. Multiplayer mode is unusual in that it takes the action mentality of the single-player game and combines it with strategic elements. You and a friend will play head-to-head, but rather than simply shoot each other, you'll hatch plans to break into the other person's base (the plans often involve a great deal of shooting). You must capture turrets, build tanks and aircraft, and plot your way to victory. You'll have an unlimited number of walkers - meaning each time you die, another walker will appear - but each replacement will cost you ten points, a very high cost. You gain points, by the way, by destroying enemy craft and turrets.

Altogether, the game, which was originally conceived as another in the Strike series, promises a good deal of fun. From what we've seen so far, the combination of single-player action and multiplayer strategy looks really good. Watch for it this September.