Your average gamer might be counting down the hours until the full release of Quake 3: Arena, but to be honest, we tried the Q3TEST release and we weren't all that impressed; yes, it's fun, and we're very glad that it's getting released for the Mac (despite earlier statements to the contrary by the game's creator), but the AtAT staff is actually much more wound up about another game slated for release later this year. Oni is the latest project by those happy folks over at Bungie; they were the ones who brought us Pathways Into Darkness, the Marathon series, and both Myths-- some of the most engrossing games ever released for any platform in our opinion. And while id may crank out some nice plot-light first-person shooters that provide maximum killage via network games, we really like an involving story that pulls us in and doesn't let go. Bungie has yet to disappoint us.

Oni means "ghosts" or "demons" in Japanese, as in the demons of the past that torture one's soul. The game is heavily anime-influenced (as evidenced by the protagonist's purple hair) and promises to be as action-packed as it is involving. Imagine Tomb Raider if Lara Croft were more, er, reasonably proportioned. And outfitted for serious battle. Oh, and with a serious penchant for hand-to-hand combat when guns lack that personal touch. Imagine a third-person-perspective game that combines never-before-seen gunplay with fast and fluid martial arts action like that seen in the Tekken-style arcade games. Or, heck, stop imagining and see for yourself...

See, E3 is next week, and given that it's the big electronic entertainment trade show of the year, Bungie's been hard at work getting ready to knock the rest of the gaming world flat on its butt. They've put together a cinematic trailer that shows off some of Oni's best aspects, and Next Generation Online has the exclusive QuickTime version available for download. You either need a fast connection or a whole mess of patience, because the small version is 23 MB, and the large one is 42 MB. But believe us-- it's worth the download. If we had nothing else to live for right now, we'd struggle on just to see Oni get released this winter. Our appetite has been whetted by this taste of Oni's big, sprawling rooms, fighting action that puts Jackie Chan to shame, and a six-pronged rocket launcher that just has to be seen to be believed. (Oh, and by what appears to be a guest appearance by ED-209 of Robocop fame.) Gee, can you tell we're excited?