In development by a relatively unknown England-based development crew, Prey Digital has been working on this little gem, known as Stung!, for quite some time now. Mixing groundbreaking new gameplay elements, incredibly realistic textures and a cast of crazy creepy crawly characters, Stung! looks set to offer originality, lastability and heaps of crazy fun to the gaming world - all rolled up into a nifty first person kill 'em up!

Since the 1950's the military had been using top-secret scientific research to explore the possibilities of using insects as weapons of war. Undetectable by radar, able to access high security facilities, carry viruses and even in some cases able to survive a nuclear blast, the potential was enormous. However, as the cold war came to an end and funding became more difficult to come by, the top brass decided to put an end to the project, shutting down the laboratories and transferring the scientists to other more necessary research.

Now, in the present day, a group of genetically enhanced, intelligent and angry insects have escaped from a long abandoned research station. Heavily armed with an array of tiny yet deadly weapons they have vowed revenge on the human race. On their way out of the laboratory they managed to take with them a vial of the secret formula, which turns average, everyday bugs into super effective killing machines, meaning that their insect army will grow and grow...

It is a day or two before a routine security patrol notices that something is amiss and informs the relevant department at the Ministry of Defence. The scientists that had been involved with the project were hastily gathered together to formulate the best way of keeping a lid on the whole affair. Eventually it is decided that the only solution is to fight fire with fire. Another highly trained and enhanced insect will be revived to track down and destroy the rogue bugs!

At the start of the game, you have the choice of 1 of 6 different bugs, each having different strengths and weaknesses, attributes and abilities.

From there the player battles his way through a wide range of incredibly realistically modelled levels, each based on familiar environments, but viewed upon from an entirely different perspective. There will be twelve main locations, of which most will be divided into two or three sub-levels. These sub-levels will not be small areas though, not by any stretch of the imagination! Each will be a large, beautiful and realistic area, consisting of 'checkpoints' that have to be completed correctly to allow the player to continue to the next area.

As well as fighting his way through hordes of gun toting enemy bugs and dangerous larger creatures, the player must also avoid other dangers that could have seriously adverse effects to his health! Things to look out for include the steam from boiling kettles, inescapable spider webs, extremely sticky flypaper traps and of course the deadly bug spray!!! The ability to fly though proves to be extremely useful in avoiding these hazards and getting up to hard to reach places, where there just may be a hidden weapon or power up for your disposal!

At the start, your bug character will start off with very limited weaponry. But as the game is progressed through, a large range of more powerful and advanced weapons will become available, as well as the mandatory spare ammunition and first aid kits! Just the same, the enemies that you come across as the game develops also become more intelligent and heavily armed and armoured, requiring the player to become accustomed to the strengths and weaknesses of the various different weapons that become available.

As mentioned before, it will be essential that the player becomes accustomed to the flying capabilities of the insects, as certain areas and special bonuses will only be accessible by flight. Be careful though, because the insects only have a limited amount of flight time! This is represented by a power bar, which will appear on the screen when you decide that it's time for you bug to take off. Once the power bar is empty, your bug will fall from the sky, and must recharge before attempting to take it back to the skies!

There will also be a multiplayer mode, in which the player will be able to take part in normal death match games, team games, and also Capture the Flea and Protect the Queen game modes. Of course all the humour, fun, and original gameplay will be carried over to the multiplayer arena, making it a great game to get some mates over for!

Stung! looks as though it is set to bring some new ideas and concepts to the tired FPS genre. This game might also become the next Pokemon too (!), with action figures, toys and even a cartoon and comic series to be potentially released to the market! Personally, I can't wait for this game, bringing much needed originality, and more importantly, fun to FPS lovers.