A little while ago, we broke a story about the upcoming Natsume developed shooter Omega Five. And up until now, our only impression of the game was from a couple screens and some bad machine translation. Well that has all changed. We finally have a better picture of what Omega Five is all about thanks to a hands-on preview at Joystiq.

In the game you control a flying, gun-wielding ninja pitted against a massive army of robotic combatants. Don't think that this ninja's blade skills will go unused -- there will also be a way to execute sword attacks. If that doesn't sound bizarre enough for you, movement and aiming (which can move independently) are both controlled by a single thumbstick.

...how in the...?

Yup, both are controlled with a single thumbstick, but the controls are still being modified and tweaked. Zack Stern (of Joystiq) even admits that the controls were a little troublesome. Let's hope Natsume and Hudson iron those issues out before release. The game will follow Bomberman Live! as Hudson's next XBLA offering so don't expect it anytime very soon.

[via Joystiq]

Looks like Hudson has more than just Bomberman Live! up their collective sleeves. Xbox Gazette broke a story (in French) on the upcoming Natsume (you know, the Harvest Moon devs) developed, Hudson published Omega Five.

There are a bunch of images of the game at the site so check 'em out. It seems to be a side-scrolling 2D style shooter but with 3D elements. Machine translation of the page is pretty rough, but apparently the hook of the game will be enemies emerging from the 3D background and not just from the top and bottom of the screen like most side-scrolling shooters.

Based on the images available it looks like the game is close to completion but we never can tell. (I said the same thing about Mutant Storm Empire six months ago...) The article states it will likely cost 800 MS Points.

[via Xbox Gazette]