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Gamecenter has posted a short preview of Take Two Interactive's upcoming third-person shooter Oni, which has been receiving very heavy press coverage as it nears release. Their short preview is based on playing through the first level of the game, and is accompanied by five screen shots, at least four of which seem new.

When we first played Oni in Spring of 1999 (yes, 1.5 years ago) we were pleasantly surprised at how natural and fluid the character and camera movement was. Gamecenter had a very similar reaction to the game:

The first thing we noticed when playing through the training demo was how naturally the camera controlled for a third-person perspective. Unlike many third-person games, the camera was easily manipulated with a standard mouselook, and objects always turned transparent if they were obscuring the view. We ran the main character, Konoko, through the training missions, and the combat system felt natural and was easy to pick up. Players will execute combo attacks by quick successions of punches and kicks, and these also were not difficult to pick up. The firearm aiming system was precise but not too twitchy, making it easy to pick off several targets quickly and in rapid succession.

Oni Preview at Gamecenter

Ten New Oni Screen Shots

Bungie Studios (add to watch list)

Gathering of Developers (add to watch list)

Oni (add to watch list)

Buy Oni

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