...truck-bed shoot sequence. Which I really wish it hadn't. I hate these things. This one's no different. It has all the cliches, including the One Gun to Rule Them All. With a dozen shots, I'm able to take out over twice as many bad guy vehicles, snap. Seriously, you give the bad guys just one of these things and it'd be Game Over, Sauron wins.

THOOM-THOOM-THOOM, dozens of trucks flying through the air, whoops and attaboys from my driver, giant structures withering under my virtually cosmic cannon-fire...and then I'm through, cue credits, and a banner touting the game's June 2009 release along with requisite bullet points enumerating missions and weapons and vehicles.

Demo verdict: I'm impressed with the engine's geometric flexibility. I'm persuaded by it's total destructibility per the Walker sequence. But I can't gauge much else at this point. Story? Campaign? Mission and area design? Weapons and ballistic play? Oppositional intelligence? Flexibility and design relevance of the "open-world" in which the game ostensibly takes place?

We'll just have to wait until June.

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