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Daily Radar has posted a very short preview of Human Head's upcoming Viking adventure game Rune. While no new information is presented, this preview does provide a good synopsis of what makes this game of melee combat unique. Included with the article are four high-resolution screen shots of the game. You may have seen one or two before, but probably not at 1024x768, which makes them slow downloads, but worth every second. Anyone who says the Unreal engine has fallen behind in the visuals department simply hasn't seen Rune.

Here's a clip from the preview with details on this game:

Rune is a third-person action game, which helps connect you with the identity of your mighty Viking warrior. You'll probably also notice that the screen shots look damn nice -- chalk that up to our old friend, the Unreal engine. Even two years later, the Unreal engine still looks mighty fine (mostly because computers are finally arriving that can run it without slowing down), but Human Head has also opted to include a few additions of its own to the codebase. A full skeletal system has been integrated into the models -- allowing the developers to animate separate joints on a model independently -- as well as a continuous level of detail system, projected shadows and a new particle system that should keep the blood flowing like water.

The use of the cross-platform Unreal engine is also the reason Westlake Interactive's port of this title to the Mac OS is close behind the PC version. We expect a near-simultaneous release, and a splendid port as well. We are really looking forward to seeing the final product later this Fall, and we'll keep you posted as this game moves towards completion.

Rune Preview at Daily Radar

Human Head

Gathering of Developers (add to watch list)

Human Head Studios (add to watch list)

Westlake Interactive (add to watch list)

Rune (add to watch list)

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