Next experiment: Pummel the debris mess I've made. First minor disappointment -- all the poles and meshy links are indestructible. Not so much as a scrape or dent. So much for atomization. (Then again, I'm an insurrectionist, not a jackhammer.)

Off we go then. Banging on stuff or smashing it around alerts the police, who have guns...which I don't. Nowhere to really run and hide here, so I'll just die, restart, and try this again. The demo doesn't lay out the rules, but after dying a few times, it's clear the level contains areas with invisible boundaries. Trip one and you'll have half the compound on your tail.

Since it's not a stealth game, I can't sneak around, and my objective's smack in the middle of police central. Fight? I suppose, but that way lies multiple reloads. On the other hand, I can go through anything with my trusty super-powered Hammer of the Gods. Steel? Concrete? Gates? Walls? No problem. I'll just stroll on down to a point as far away from the entrance areas as possible, then WHAM-WHAM-WHAM, and voila, I'm in!

A sprint or two later, I'm peeling off the side of the compound housing the Walker. Geez, it's pretty big. This could be cool...or then it could just be awkward. Have I mentioned I hate giant robots in games? Really. No one does cool mechs anymore. They're all so clumsy. Or on rails. Or just plain boring. Last time I honest-to-goodness enjoyed piloting a metal hulk around was Activision's . That was 1995.

Okay, I'm riding in the thing's shoulder-side cab, and...not bad. Big, but responsive. Nothing complex to learn, just left- or right-handed thumps and the option to sweep your arms left or right like someone angrily clearing the top of a desk. Ripping apart multi-story structures is kinda cathartic. For a couple minutes, anyway. Then it's time to cruise before my health bottoms out, and the game launches its...