Atari announced a brand new game at the tail-end of last week, the curiously titled Act of War: Direct Action, which will feature troops entrenched in a near-future war, abound with conspiracy and intrigue. The game itself is due in the not-so distant future too, Spring 2005 to be precise, and American techno-thriller author Dale Brown has been enlisted to make the game as gripping as possible.

Brown's influence on the plot is obvious, the US troops at the game's centre found battling a shady global organisation through San Francisco, Moscow and Tokyo - the completion of which will lead into the mode, where up to eight players can duke it out. So far a release has been mooted. More on this soon.

By Luke Guttridge