Warp inside the bodies of helpless scientists and make them explode!

Stupid humans. Always wanting to capture, poke, prod, and agitate alien visitors. Never do we hear about people welcoming extraterrestrial creatures and then having a sweet barbeque together. Grab some Buds, right?

For semi-translucent interplanetary traveler Zero, it’s the former scenario. The cute little guy is stripped of his essence — his ability to teleport — by his Earth-dwelling captors, who run the innocent biped through a series of tests in a vaguely Aperture Science-esque laboratory to try and learn what makes him tick.

Ever wanted to hold one of your own body parts in your hand?

That’s where you come in. Picking up in the lab during a routine test, the game begins when a glitch allows Zero to escape his confines, elude the humans, and regain the teleportation “module” (it looks more like a beating heart, but we digress) that had been stolen from him. And from there, it’s on. With a singular goal of escaping the facility — and saving a fellow alien inmate who is able to serve as a guide via telepathic communication — the labs become a labyrinth to be solved. As Zero, you can warp through thin walls and doors, beam into objects (like barrels or turrets), or even zap yourself into the bodies of humans in order to conquer the lab’s puzzles and make your way out.

Interestingly, Zero can’t control the humans he possesses — he can only occupy their corporeal essence. So it’s not about teleporting into an armed security guard and then using him to shoot up the place. But by wiggling the left thumbstick, you can produce seizure-like results, causing scared guards to open fire. Thus, drawing their fire and warping out before you’re gunned down is critical. We should note that if you accidentally wiggle the left stick too much, your host might explode, covering the walls with their blood. Better still, you’ll discover upgrades as you go, such as the ability to warp farther or Echo, which generates a holographic decoy to distract your foes.

If the soldiers get a bead on you, you’d better warp into something – or someone

To be clear: Zero is not an angry being. Possessing people is just what he does in order to protect his defenseless natural form. The part about making their bodies swell and explode like flesh-filled balloons is simply collateral damage — should you choose to play it that way. And you can bet we did during our brief hands-on time. When we get our mitts on the full version, every last needle-prodding lab worker is gonna get ’sploded. We promise.

PUBLISHER: EA DEVELOPER: Trapdoor MULTIPLAYER: No RELEASE DATE: Winter 2011 FOR FANS OF: Portal, exploding humans