Square Enix announces Gun Loco for Xbox 360 @ Gaming Target

Written by Kyle Hilliard on August 23, 2010

News: It sounds pretty crazy.

Gun Loco from Square Enix can really be summed up in one sentence:

"At the far edge of the solar system there is a prison planet where only the craziest criminals are sent."

Did you read what I just read? Only the craziest criminals get sent there. They don't accept just anyone carrying around an "The End is Nigh!" billboard. They only accept the craziest. Which means that every prisoner they accept must be crazier than the previous. There's a reason the word Loco is in the title. Gun Loco sounds pretty insane.

Defined as a third-person, sprint-action shooter, Gun Loco puts you in the shoes of an inmate on a prison planet as you try to stay alive and escape. Gameplay is reminiscent of Mirror's Edge with a greater emphasis on the shooting aspect. The trailer for the game shows the player running, vaulting and sliding over and under obstacles at full speed to avoid gunfire, and quickly get in to place to start shooting other prisoners. It's a far stretch from the thoughtful slow-paced RPG's Square Enix is usually associated with.

The game has a stylized comic book art direction, and all the characters have been designed by Kenny Wong. Wong is a toy designer, and all of the characters were created by hand first as poseable action figures, and then those models were digitally scanned to create the players of Gun Loco. It's an interesting and novel way to conceptualize characters.

Gun Loco will be available exclusively for the Xbox 360 and releases sometime in 2011. The game will also allow up to 12 players to run around, doge stuff and shoot one another online.

Check out the official website, GunLoco.com for the first trailer and a peak at the art style.