The trailer premiere for Damnation left me immediately struck with the possibilities. A fresh storyline, automatic weapons, zip lines, a spaghetti western flair, and scantily clad female co-stars are all prerequisites for a hit shooter. The gritty and intense feel combined with an impressive color palette (more pop than drab, yet more realism than fantasy) looks like a great setting for a clash with a sinister military-industrial complex.

The single-player campaign could be huge; the storyline allows for quite a bit of exploration. It appears to be a bit more involved than a simple “run and gun” also, which is a welcome twist. The AI claims to be highly intelligent and skilled at hunting you and your gunmates down, making it hard to find rest for the weary. I’m looking forward to the challenge and exploration that the wide open playfields bring.

Codemasters claims to be taking multiplayer shooters vertical and that could certainly be a nice change of pace, considering the open layouts they have in store for us to frag in. Acrobatic vehicle combat allows for unique experiences with each collision, explosion, and wrong turn.

I did see a bit of a frame rate studder with the heavy explosions in the trailer, and one can only hope that this is something that gets smoothed out before we get our hands on it. Nothing can kill a shooter like subpar performance.

Damnation is due to arrive on shelves late 2008 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, and looks like an interesting prospect for fall gaming.