With the release of the Playstation 4 widely expected before the end of the year, we'd kind of expected Sony to be scaling all things Playstation 3 back a bit - after all, with a new console on the way, it'd be hard to blame them for wanting to make sure they had the games to launch with a bang. Just look at how dry the 360's line-up is at the moment. But far from letting the PS3 dry up, Sony seem to be going all out at the moment, with a host of new games set to last out the year. And even better - rather than just churning out a few shooters about space marines, we're going to be getting a game about puppets instead.
Set in the mysteriously Punch and Judy like Moon Realm, the Puppeteer tells the story of a young boy called Kutaro, who's summoned before the evil Moon Bear King. Somewhat worryingly for Kutaro, the Moon Bear King has recently developed something of a taste for the souls of children - although he insists on turning them into puppets first. Casting his spell, the Bear King tears Kutaro's head off, and tosses his body away like, well, a toy, before moving on to his next victim.
Yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
But what should have resulted in insta-death quickly becomes an integral part of the game, as Kutaro is rescued by a mysterious witch, and learns to put his headlessness to good use. Over the course of your adventure, you'll come across all sorts of weird and wonderful heads to replace the one you lost, with your new-found bonce-swapping powers being integral to solving the game's puzzles - for example, a hamburger head will turn a bog-standard burger in the environment into a trampoline, letting you reach high up platforms. Your head also becomes your health, as enemies can knock it off, sending it rolling across the stage, and leaving you to chase after it, lest you pop your clogs for good.
But the ability to swap your head isn't the only thing Kutaro has up his sleeve. Before long, you'll happen across a pair of magical scissors, which come in handy in all sorts of situations - from freeing yourself from sticky webs to defeating the game's big bosses, you'll be cutting the stage to shreds. Meanwhile, while the left analogue stick moves Kutaro, the right controls a spirit cat called Ying Yang, who you'll need to use to explore each scene, and find new heads.
'Scenes' and 'stages' are the operative words when it comes to Puppeteer, because it's whole setting is as if each level was part of a much larger stage show. As you play, the scenery around Kutaro constantly evolves, with new environments, enemies and objectives popping up all the time - and there's a crowd watching the entire time too, applauding the fairy tale as it unfolds.
Puppeteer is promised for the 10th of September for America, releasing as both a disc and download for the Playstation 3 - we're imagining it'll hit the UK a few days later, on Friday the 13th, and although nothing has been confirmed yet, we'll keep you updated as and when we hear more.
