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It appears that all of the developers at Blue Omega Entertainment, the folks behind Damnation (and producer of B-movie horror flicks like Dark Ride and Danika, starring Marisa Tomei!), have been laid off. Sure, a tweet announcing this has been floating around since June 23rd, but it appears a former employee, who sent a tip to several media outlets, finally got the news ball rolling. Kotaku confirmed with "several former employees" that the entire development team was laid off.

The tipster also reveals there were bigger "issues" at the studio and mentions that, if anyone has access to US and UK legal records, digging around will reveal those problems. Shacknews followed up and found a paper trail of legal disputes and drama involving Blue Omega, publisher Codemasters and subcontractors working on the game.

Whatever all those layers of problems were, it likely had an influence on the team's product: Damnation had an average Metacritic score in the high 30s.

[Via Develop]

Designed by Brass Goggles as part of a contest for Codemasters' Damnation, the above PS3 is about as cool as a console can get. Sure, we've seen our fair share of mods in our day, but, just look at this thing! From the weathered wood down to the slightly tarnished brass, we're absolutely smitten with this PS3. If you want to see more of it, then check out some pics here. And, if you won it, we totally want to invite you over for bludgeoning and theft tea and biscuits!

[Via GameSetWatch]

So here it is, folks. The second game in 2009 to have an individual and somewhat unique premise with a less than flattering visual accompaniment (not to mention bland, seen-it-before looking gameplay). But hey, let's give it a fair shake -- we haven't laid our grubby, jaded mitts on the game yet, so it'd be unfair to prejudge.

What we can glean from the trailer is this: the totally sweet, Raiden-esque sword action seen in previously released clips seems to have all but left in the multiplayer-combat focused video above. In it's place? "Verticality." At least we can still flip around like most ... cowboys. That's what cowboys do, right? Right?!

	1 Platinum 7 Gold 7 Silver 14 Bronze	Difficulty: Easy Online Trophies? No Time to Completion: 20 hours DLC Trophies? No
	View Trophy List	Read More About the Game

Blue Omega's Damnation is set for release at the end of this month, and we don't have to tell you how interesting the combination of steampunk and the wild west is. This latest trailer features lead designer Jacob Minkoff detailing Prescott Standard Industries, the manufacturer of just about every piece of technology there is in the world of Damnation and the evil force looking to conquer the United States.

As interesting as steampunk itself is, we have to say that evil dictators bent on domination just aren't cool. Not at all, and, frankly, we think someone could use a hug.

These days, steampunk is most commonly identified with cosplay kids who have rich, far too compassionate parents. But, as you can see in the above video, Damnation creator Blue Omega Entertainment is putting its own, grittier spin on the typically Victorian-inspired sub-genre.

Damnation has been off the grid for a while, but this video just reminds us how much we want to get our hands on the Civil War-era vertical shooter. How about it, Blue Omega?

One of the more interesting playable titles at PAX 2008, Damnation is a shooter based around one principle -- verticality. Taking the shooter beyond the horizontal space, the team at Blue Omega Entertainment hopes to bring something fresh to the shooter table when it launches this holiday season against some of the big kids like, Gears of War 2. Check out the trailer above and, if you are so inclined, you can even download a high-quality version from our baby-sister site Big Download.

We have to admit it. The premise of Damnation is intriguing. Steam punk mixed with the Old West? Yes please. Taking a look at the debut video, we get a look at Gears of War inspired gameplay with cowboys thrown in for good measure. Then there are the mechs and Nazi-like soldiers that permeate the opening of the video (and presumably comprise the game's enemy forces). It all looks great in theory, but it also seems more than a tad derivative. That's not necessarily a bad thing so long as it's done well. We're hopeful that it is, because Damnation certainly looks interesting.

Le sigh. A sincere question coming from the developers of acrobatic Gears of Civil War shooter, Damnation, once again brings us in direct competition with longtime Joystiq nemesis and mistaken alternate identity, Joystick Magazine. "You guys did a cover for us, right?" asks a member of Blue Omega Entertainment, unaware of our disdain for paper and our geographical avoidance of France.

Being mistaken for Joystick has become one of our favorite trade show traditions (does it happen to them too?), if only for the ironic reminder that the Joystiq with a "q" is the one that isn't French.

Another new game announcement today comes in the form of Damnation a "shooter gone vertical," developed by Blue Omega Entertainment, that promises to "change the landscape of third-person action shooters forever." The game is due out this winter and will feature "huge, open environments, frenetic combat, daredevil acrobatics and high-octane vehicle-based stunts." Sounds energetic to us. The story involves an arms dealer hell bent on world domination - a story which promises to be "epic and in-depth", but which already has us snoring.

The press release is full of superlatives and high-energy words, but not many details are given of what we can expect from the game. Each level will have up to three hours of "actual gameplay," which seems like a lot to us, and players will be able to choose their own paths, utilizing their various acrobatic abilities to get from point A to B. Of course, Damnation will come with a fully-loaded multiplayer experience that takes full advantage of the vertical nature of the game. We'll reserve judgment until we see it in action.

Codemasters just pulled the shroud off of a new action franchise it'll be rolling out to the PC, 360 and PS3 this winter: Damnation. The main selling point seems to be the vertical orientation, as you'll drop thousands of vertical feet each level as you take on an evil arms dealer described in the press release we received as "unstoppable" (honestly, why are we even trying then?). Also, expect vehicles like motorcycles and tanks, along with multiplayer. There's a bit more info here, if you're curious.

The most surprising thing about the announcement isn't that levels will apparently take up to three hours to complete, or that it's the first project from studio Blue Omega Entertainment. It's not even that the release says the game's plot is "truly an ensemble piece." No, the most surprising thing to us is that no one has titled a game Damnation before now. Really? Can that be right?

Earlier this morning, Codemasters announced that their brand new "shooter gone vertical" Damnation will be releasing to the Xbox 360 this Winter.

Damnation is described as a fast paced shooter that features a bunch of vehicular fun, high flying stunts in wide open environments all set in locations "inspired by iconic elements of American history". Yeah, that's a bit of a vague description, but that's why we have screenshots. Posted in the gallery below are a few preview screens of what Damnation has to offer and instantly we get a sense that it's a hybrid between Tomb Raider, Indiana Jones, some western flick and a pinch of Shadowrun for good measure. So, that means Damnation could end up being a not-so-cohesive, broken, mis-matched gaming experience or one that takes the best elements from each of its inspirations. Though, we have no way to tell ... we'lll just have to wait and see.