As a futuristic third-person shooter/platforming hybrid set in the antebellum period, Damnation is a game that seems to defy logic just as much as it defies convention. For that exact reason, I was hardly surprised when I was told that I would be spending time with the multiplayer mode of the game last Thursday. After all, what wasn’t this game trying to pack onto one tiny little disc? After spending as much time as I could with the game last week, the only thing that I can decidedly say is that I’m still working on wrapping my head around this intriguing “steampunk” shooter.

Due to a handful of technical difficulties, my hands-on time with the Damnation multiplayer was limited at best. I did, however, get a chance to play two matches of the multiplayer King of the Hill mode, which proved to be a very interesting experience. This mode is deceptively simple: hold down a designated “hill” area for 15 seconds and defend your crown whenever possible. The angelically-glowing “hills,” which are aptly located at the top of the map, require lots of running, jumping and swinging to get to. As such, I thought it would be a much better way to get a feel for Damnation’s vertical element (especially when compared to the traditional deathmatch), and hopped right in…

After spawning, I ran about the map getting my bearings for the controls and the inner-workings of the game. Damnation is a “vertically oriented shooter,” meaning that instead of the usual ground-based run-and-gunning, you’re scaling up ladders and hopping off walls to get to the very tippy-top of the map. Because of this, one of the first things I noticed was the flexibility the core gameplay. At first it appeared that the only way to reach the king zone was to hop up a certain ladder and scurry across, but after a bit of exploration, I noticed that there were multiple ways to get there depending on your skill level. Either by swinging from pole to pole, running and taking a huge leap, or jumping off walls and grab railings and ladders, the levels just begged to be learned and mastered by players looking for the fastest and most cunning route to the top.

Being the king makes you an easy target for assassins. Throughout the multiplayer I was constantly killing (and being killed by) opponents trying to take the Rhineland from my cold, dead fists. Thanks to the multiple paths that anyone could take to get to the top of the hill, the action rarely stopped once we all got a handle on how to play. The general running and jumping controls worked rather well, and the game seemed to be thankfully charitable when hopping off adjacent walls and grabbing ladders midair. Of course that didn’t stop me from plummeting to my death every time I did make a stupid jump or miss a ladder, but I chalked most of that up to my unfamiliarity with the controls, and the short period of time spent with the game.

Damnation’s multiplayer was fun enough, but seemed to have a few glaring problems that will hopefully be addressed by December. For big starters, the default control scheme on the console version didn’t seem to lend itself too well to a multiplayer deathmatch. When running about, you have to constantly hold down the L trigger to go into a strafing “gun mode” in order to use the R trigger to shoot accordingly. This may not be game-breakingly awkward, but since Damnation is all about running (with the L bumper) and jumping (with the A button), having to use both analog sticks and triggers left me wishing I was born with at least four more fingers on top of an additional hand.