Shadow Hearts: Covenant coming to America

Amongst the lackluster financial numbers in its Q1 2004 earnings report, Midway released some more upbeat news. The company finally set an American release date for the sequel to Shadow Hearts, its uniqure 2001 PlayStation 2 role-playing adventure. According to Midway, the follow-up should ship out this Fall, and it will again be a PS2 exclusive.

Entitled Shadow Hearts: Covenant, the new game follows the further adventures of the first game's hero, Yuri (called Urm in the Japanese original). After his powers to transform into monsters is weakened by a curse, Yuri wonders through European countries ravaged by an alternate-history First World War looking for a cure.

For an in-depth look at the Japanese version of the game, which was released last month, check out Tokyo correspondent Hirohiko Niizumi's preview.