Well the cat is out of the bag bird is out of the backpack and we all must mourn the name Banjo Threeie as Rare has decided to give the next installment in the Banjo-Kazooie series the official title of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. A little sad, yes, but even more shocking is the direction they’ve taken the game. This is not last generation’s Banjo-Kazooie boys and girls. Say goodbye to platforming antics and hello to vehicle creation and free roaming battles.

Banjo and his bird friend Kazooie will once again be battling the evil Gruntilda but this time it will be in arenas set-up by the The Lord of the Games, a mysterious person who claims to have invented all the video games ever, in order to finally settle the dispute between the two. It looks like each level will consist of you designing your own vehicle in order to take on Gruntilda’s henchmen who are attempting to stop you from completing your goals. Needless to say, this is not what I was expecting from the game and I hate to say it, but I’m a little disappointed. I’ve been waiting years to get back into some fantastic Rare platforming and now it looks like I won’t be getting it at all. Plus if the vehicles can fly what’s the point of having Kazooie in your back pack anymore?

Now on the other hand, if this wasn’t a Banjo-Kazooie game, I’d be pretty excited for it. You can design your own ships, take them out and battle and then go back and make better ones. Rare says you won’t be unlocking much power-up wise as you go along, but rather experimenting with what designs work and what don’t. Sounds really interesting and as long as Rare is actually back on its game it should come out to be an exceptionally fun game. The thought of creating my own weapon of destruction and then taking it online to battle friends also sounds like one of the best ideas out there and Rare fully plans to support both online cooperative and battle modes for the game.

Really, if this game was coming out under any other name I would be excited about it. Hell, if it was simply a Banjo-Kazooie spin-off game I’d be ecstatic. However, it seems this is the way the entire series is headed, meaning the fantastic platforming of Banjo-Kazooie is gone for good and since it’s Nuts and Bolts fault I can not and will not be happy with it.

You can check out this stupidly awesome game in action below, and then have a closer look by checking out the screenshots, and we’ll all be experiencing the game by this Christmas.

I also can’t be happy with a game whose video features the decapitation of Mario. There are some things you just don’t do.

[See also: Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts gallery]