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Malice finally ships?

After four years in development, Argonaut Games' platformer has apparently arrived in stores.

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At CES in January 2001, then-Xbox cocreator and technical director Seamus Blackley unveiled a series of launch titles for the then-unreleased console. One of those titles was Malice, a darkly comic platformer from UK-based Argonaut games.

Cut to June 2004. Blackley has long since flown the Microsoft coop, having relocated to Hollywood talent agency CAA. However, Malice still hadn't arrived onto American Xboxes--until today, apparently.

With little warning, publisher Mud Duck--which agreed to distribute the game in January, following its abandonment by VU Games--has shipped Malice to stores. It is currently listed on EBGames.com and GameStop.com as a "new release" for the Xbox and PS2, and it will ship within 24 hours. The game is rated "T" for Teen and retails for $49.99.

For those unfamiliar with Malice--or too young to remember the fanfare surrounding its initial announcement--the platformer puts gamers in the shoes of the cartoonish heroine Alice. While Alice is technically dead, her spirit remains lively. Toting an oversized hammer, she must negotiate 22 levels, defeat strange creatures, and escape the temporal loops that trap her in various elemental dimensions.

For more on Malice's storied history, check out GameSpot's extensive previous coverage of the game.

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