First Person, Cuter: Lovely Planet

I spent almost a year of my life lugging a few Lonely Planets around in a backpack but I don't think I've ever had a Lovely Planet to call my own. Gaming often introduces me to dead planets, toxic planets, desolate planets, living planets that eat other planets, and the occasional meat or bone planet, but lovely planets are rare. Quick Tequila's first-person shooter lives up to its name though, with colours and cuteness aplenty. The aesthetic caught my eye but it's the running, jumping and targeting that kept the eye from wandering.

Out July 31st, Lovely Planet looks like it might satisfy my jump pad cravings for at least a couple of days.

With boots of speed on your feet, an infinite supply of bullets for your semi-automatic and the ability to jump over twice your own height, you're well equipped to go up against any enemy on your quest. You'll find yourself trying to balance between jumping around dodging bullets and taking aim for a better shot at your enemies. The gameplay, should you choose to play a particular style, doesn't involve camping at cover spots and waiting for enemies to pop out. Defeat the baddies and avoid the onslaught of bullets to get to the next stage - perhaps it's a kind of play not suited for a 3D First Person Shooter game, but Lovely Planet hopes to translate the old formula into a version of its own anyway.

I think it's precisely the kind of play suited to a 3D first person shooter game. Oddly, earlier today I was cheering the existence of adventure games with a serious tone. Now it's time to celebrate the existence of shooters that are abstract and silly. That powerful taste isn't paprika, it's variety.

As well as running and jumping, Lovely World has the best plot description.

A story so abstract, it's not told at all - you won't know what hit you

Fairly sure you could switch out abstract for all manner of adjectives to make that statement fit with several Call of Duty games.

I guess my Mountain was quite close to being a lovely planet to call my own. It's dead now. I didn't notice at first because it was still there, on the screen, but it hasn't spoken for a couple of weeks and doesn't even sigh when I try to engage it in conversation. It has joined the bleedin' quarry invisible. It is an ex-mountain.