"Inversion hands-on preview"

Inversion is released on 8 June 2012.

Inversion is looking to take the macho third-person shooter and turn it upside down.

Formats: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
Developer: Saber Interactive
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Released: 8 June 2012

It starts with a lot of blood, and carries on with more or less the same amount. Inversion is a third-person cover shooter set in today's world, where an inexplicable invasion suddenly takes hold. Vanguard City cop Davis Russell will kill anything and everything, with his longterm police partner Leo at his side, as he searches for his young daughter Leila, lost in the chaos.

None of this is particularly unexpected in a game with such apparent ties to the likes of Gears of War. Earth is under siege and valiant, strong men storm through adversity to become the hero. Bromances are made very clear, masculinity reins supreme, and a distinctive, well-realised visual style helps convey the gravity of the situation. So much so, in fact, that Saber Interactive has focused on gravity manipulation and destructible environments to mix things up a bit and it's this that makes Inversion shine, in spite of its obvious flaws.

The city is a typical modern American metropolis bustling with activity one minute, and then an urban battlefield the next, under attack from heavily armoured troops known as the Lutadore. The place is soon devastated, despite the confused efforts of Davis and Leo, and becomes a dismal warzone within moments. Civilians become prisoners of war and it's Davis' descent into one of these PoW camps that sets the scene for the rest of the game. Bloodied concrete and twisted metal creates the framework of the new world. Bodies are littered here and there, sporadically grouped together in slaughtered packs. It's very strong imagery that draws on the darker undertones of the narrative and illustrates Inversion's more harrowing side well. A shame, then, that dialogue and voice performances are so over the top, with Davis' reflective monologues feeling a little bit too “Dear Diary” especially. Leo is also so enamoured with his own 'buff bro' character profile that it's almost comical; calling Davis “soft” for giving his small daughter a birthday gift, and subsequently exclaiming no! No, he does not understand the mentality of parenthood and paternal love.

This can be excused somewhat with an immersive story, though, and while Inversion's starts out a little shaky it begins to look more promising the further down the rabbit hole you get. These invaders are genuinely interesting, and quite quirky to say the least. They speak in a language not unlike the one I use when over-tired – garbling senseless noise with the occasional English word thrown in, but mispronounced, abbreviated or merely adapted. It's enough to understand a few of the more important, immediate intentions of this mysterious human-looking race, but not nearly enough to comprehend motives or reason. Enough, then, to engage the player's curiosity, but not to quell the enigma.

It becomes a slightly off-kilter blend of Gears Of War and Bulletstorm when the game's key selling point really comes into the fore. The Lutadore invasion coincides with a large number of gravitational anomalies spreading across the tattered landscape. Some regions suffer from having zero gravity or vector changes, and thus certain sections of Inversion have the player shooting upside-down, floating through debris or being slammed from side to side. Davis and Leo acquire possession of the Lutadore's futuristic gravity-altering weapons when in the labour camp, escaping with a useful tool of engagement.

What lets Inversion down the most, though, is shoddy handling. The controller is mapped much like any third-person shooter, but especially like Gears of War, right down the weapon changing d-pad. The problem is, movement and aim is heavy-handed and laborious. The aim in particular takes a while to adapt to, as you need to learn to manually compensate for its weight, lack of precision and the fact it scopes in way higher than you were holding the reticule at the hip.

AI, too, is an area where Inversion currently needs work. Leo, if not controlled by another player, is always at your back. This is fine, it's where he's supposed to be for sure. But then don't turn around, because often if you do he's walking into a wall or merely struggling to tread a clear path to Davis or the objective. He'll regularly teleport to you, but the occasional issues break the immersion and no amount of shoving, shooting or disturbing of the gravity at his feet will make Leo move away from that damn fence.

He's good in combat though. When multiple enemies ambush the pair, you have a lot to think about with cover, gravity alterations and having to compensate for the ferocious way in which the game handles. In this case, Leo really is an excellent combatant and team-player. While he's reluctant to shoot much, he's pretty trigger-happy on the Gravlink, and will regularly disturb the environment around enemies, pull their cover away or straight-up hurl them into the air while you shred 'em up. In this, Inversion does well, handing the player key opportunities to use their gravitational powers for greatest effect, but not expecting them to juggle everything at once, continuously.

Though Inversion is very rough around the edges it does put a good foot forward in terms of story and co-operative play. What seems like just another bland shooter does start to become more engaging once the gravity manipulation and destructible set elements come into play. How the world takes on a new haphazard, ravaged look and then crumples under the weight of your heavy weapons or tears apart with your gravity-shattering power is genuinely compelling. The narrative, too, is intriguing and involving and visually it's looking fantastic. It's just a shame that the game seems to aim for extremes in its characters, stumbles with the dialogue and handles like a grumpy Rottweiler having a tantrum.

All things considered, it feels like it needs some serious work in certain areas, but it's a fresh IP with a genuine draw and could be greatly received. While elements of the game are stuck in standard third-person shooter mode, the Lutadore are genuinely enigmatic and bring the story to life and the gravity elements look set to put a new spin on an otherwise tired template. It may make a few missteps early on, but with enough focus on the destruction and manipulation of the environment, there could be plenty to like here. And though macho dudebro stories are a dime a dozen, there's a chance Inversion could be riffing on this, and it remains to be seen whether its tongue is firmly in its cheek, or whether it's simply a fistbump too far.