Digital Anvil's starting to look like a house of resurrection. StarLancer looked like a modern Wing Commander, FreeLancer looks to be the rebirth of Privateer, and Loose Cannon will bring yet another old Origin game into the present by recalling the principles of Autoduel. A former Origin developer, Tony Zurovec, of Crusader fame, helms this vehicular action/adventure project. The Crusader games earned acclaim for being solid shoot-em-ups with nice graphics and gameplay, and perhaps Zurovec will bring the same gritty flavor to Loose Cannon.

Accolade's Redline seamlessly integrated vehicular and foot mode action, but dropped the ball on elements like game balance, production values, and level design. Loose Cannon will try to do a better job of blending these different parts while keeping a character that should please Car Wars fans. The game's story uses a crime-ridden United States as a background, where police forces must contract aid from mercenaries to keep up. Playing the role of one such mercenary, players will get to select their missions and vehicles as they progress, and define upgrades and armaments. They'll adventure across the nation and battle in major cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York.

Genre: Action
Developer: Digital Anvil
Publisher: Microsoft
Web: Microsoft Loose Cannon Site
ETA: 2000