Spartan Fist gameplay trailer features flying fists and exploding heads

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First revealed back in May, Spartan Fist is a voxel-based first-person arena brawler in which you play Emma Jones, a police detective with super powers who punches people in the face so hard that they literally explode. Don't worry, though, because she's doing it for a good cause: Money and fame.

Developer Glass Bottom Games described Spartan Fist as "whimsically gritty," which is an odd sort of juxtaposition that nonetheless fits. The music is upbeat, everyone is wearing bright pastels, and they make funny little squeaking noises when you sock them in the chops, reminiscent of a dog's chew toy. On the other hand, blood is flying everywhere, and you are, for lack of a more delicate way to put it, murdering people with your bare hands.

Moral ambiguities aside, it sounds like the fights could be pretty good. Spartan Fist promises procedurally-generated arenas and "high skill ceiling" slugfests, and "a ton of different playstyle-changing fist types [and] mysterious things to dip fists in—Maybe it'll give you power! Or not!"

It's a little odd, yes, but that's true of Glass Bottom's previously releases, Hot Tin Roof and Jones on Fire, both of which feature the multi-talented Ms. Jones she was a firefighter in the first one) and both of which I really quite liked. So even though Spartan Fist is a long way from complete—it's not expected to be ready for release until sometime next year—I'm really looking forward to giving it a try. For now, you can give it a closer look on Steam

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.