It might seem a tad nit-picky, but I also noticed some choppiness leading into animations and a few other oddities like disappearing humans and clipping. For a more specific example, when War drops from a certain height, he hits the ground with a fist pound, splitting the pavement. Sweet, right? Well, the tiny knuckle crater I left behind vanished before War even stood up. With so much obvious passion and thought going into each detail, these tiny flaws stand out.

DEMON DEATH-DEALING

As detailed as the monsters and environment may be, I'll tell you what's even better: smashing it all to bits. I initially believed you could only blow up and toss cars, but I accidentally discovered just how much destruction you can really accomplish. In the heat of battle between three swooping angels and a slithering minion, I pressed B to execute a finishing move, a final blow animation particular to each foe. Instead, I mistakenly ripped a parking meter from the concrete and proceeded to bash my opponents over the head. Excited, I raced around the city, snatching street lamps, tossing postal boxes and smashing windows. Sorry, humanity.

Eventually, I needed to focus on, you know, actually progressing through the game. Along War's vengeful journey, you have two jobs: reaching the Destroyer and killing everything that gets in your way. Progressing through the first couple places requires some standard platform elements: climbing, gliding and using collected items at the appropriate times. Later scenarios – clutching onto stalactites over lava pits and battling a bat-winged demon with a four-bladed boomerang – proves the game has a lot more to offer.

Offing foes, on the other hand, can be just as complex as you want it to be. With moves like X, X, (pause), X and Hold X, you can button mash and still look the part. But with a kickass arsenal and moves purchasable from a shady ally, you can do a lot better than mindlessly tapping away. Madureira said he wanted casual gamers to be able to play, but “you'll kill enemies faster if you do the combos.” Yeah and pull off a sweet twenty-hit combination filled with 180 degree spins and uppercuts. Count me among the non-casual.

...AND THEN SOME

It began as a group of four and a pending idea regarding “a kid with a robot arm.” Now, with the final product set to release in a few weeks, THQ and Vigil Games let us see just what that idea has become. The in-game graphics, setting and gameplay definitely look promising, but I'm eager to see more, especially after Adams and Madureira teased some of the later content: more horsemen, lots of badass weapons, a more in-depth story involving The Watcher – and you gotta love whoever Mark Hamill plays – and Ruin, War's fiery steed. Mostly, I want to see if mankind comes back, but maybe I'm just biased.