The breathtakingly apocalyptic Bullet Witch won't be gunning for US shores until early next year, but that hasn't stopped us from pཧlaying the just-released-in-Japan shooter for ourselves. And while it felt - at first - like a fairly standard third-person shooter, the arresting visuals and cool gameplay touches made us hungry♚ for more.

If you've read our coverage, you already know that Bullet Witch takes place in the year 2013, after a series of catastrophes (not the least of which is the sudden appearance of legions of demons) have slaughtered entire nations and driven humanity to the brink of extinction. Enter Alicia, a mysterious, possibly undead young woman with a huge gun and a thing for acrobatics and black leather. You can probably guess what happens next, but it's the execution that makes Bullet Witch stand out.

After a brief explanation of the woes that have befallen the world, the game opens in a dead-quiet New York suburb. A handful of civilians run by, one of them trips, a🍌nd all of them are summarily gunned down by cigar-chomping soldier-ghouls who look like someone ripped off their skins and draped them decoratively around t🔯heir shoulders. The ghouls chat a little, getting jumpy when they see a crow, and then Alicia strides in and it's time to rock and roll.

The skinless soldiers were tough and fast, but Alicia's giant, broom-shaped machinegun mܫade short work of them as we stormed the streets. Fun action, amazing🗹 scenery... and we hadn't even gotten to the magic yet.