THQ's special announcement at Spike's Video Game Awards may have accidentally been leaked thanks to a reveal by the ESRB.
The ratings board revealed that the publisher requested a rating for a title called Nexuiz, which they describe as a "first person shooter in which players assume the role of futuristi soldiers who battle alien factions." With so little description, Nexuiz sounds a lot like Halo, but the game is in fact slated as a remake of an open source shooter by the same name, originally released in 2005.
"Players use machine guns, laser blasters, and rocket launchers to kill humanoid robots and aliens," continues the description. "The frenetic battles are accompanied by realistic gunfire, explosions, and cries of pain. Enemies collapse to the ground and disappear when defeated; points are awarded for higher kill counts. When activated, one customization mode—a “cartoony” icon (called Farty Poopy) of an animal dropping appears—causes players' weapons to emit flatulence sounds. As the game progresses, players can achieve the rank of “Bad A*s.”"
With that, the game doesn't sound exactly serious.
According to Nexuiz's official website, the game is currently in development at Ilfonic and uses CryEngine 3. It is bound for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. It's expected to be announced at the VGA's tomorrow, naming THQ as the game's publisher.