OPERATION:

War And Famine And Pestilence - OH MY!

Loosely based on the biblical prophecy about the end of the world as described in the book of Revelations, 3DO's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse places players in the role of the archangel Abaddon. Set just after the events of the Rapture, the time when God will instantly transport all the just and righteous into Heaven, during the seven-year period in which the remaining humans will choose whether they'll embrace God or Satan. As an archangel, it will be your job to search for three humans known as the Chosen, who have the ability to stop the Four Horsemen -- War, Death, Famine and Pestilence (not Arn Anderson, Ric Flair and crew) -- and stop Armageddon. However, the Chosen aren't exactly what you'd expect in a plan conceived by the Almighty himself. Included in this group are Jimmy Ray Flynt, a preacher turned serial killer; Anderson Scott, a corrupt politician; and Jesse Horner, an 18-year-old prostitute. However, while the Chosen have no clue as to their fates, the Horsemen do and are also on a quest to find them.

The game's mature, and rather interesting plot will be complimented by art work from Simon Bisley, who is best known for his work on Heavy Metal 2000 and Lobo, and Dave DeVines, whose artwork has appeared on several X-Men comics. The game will also feature some high-profile voice work from Hollywood talent. Tim Curry, who I doubt has every played a good guy in a movie, will voice Satan; Lance Henriksen, fresh off his work in the games Run Like Hell and Red Faction II will voice Abaddon; and Traci Lords, best known for her roles on 'First Wave' and 'Melrose Place' among other things, will voice Pestilence.

The gameplay in Four Horseman will center around exploration, as well as both weapons-based and hand-to-hand combat. As a bit of fair warning, Four Horsemen will be an extremely graphic game in which you?ll be able to use various guns and swords to dismember and perform fatalities on foes. While it?s unclear just how these mechanics will work in the game, 3DO plans on including some 'wire-based' fight moves in the game, similar to those found in movies like 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. Just like the voice work, 3DO has also turned to Hollywood to help choreograph the game's hand-to-hand combat by enlisting the help of the Smashcut Action Team -- whose work can be seen in films like 'The Matrix' and 'Fight Club'.

It's still unclear when 3DO plans to release the game, but they say that it will be sometime before the real Rapture, which -- if the Nostradamic prophecy I found in my Alpha-bits is true -- means sometime before the end of the year.