First impressions: Zeno Clash

This is all kinds of awesome.

A first-person FPS-cum-adventure-cum-beat-em-up from Chilean indie house Ace Games turns out to demonstrate just how true that name is. Zeno Clash is a beautiful ugly. It's ugly in the sense that it's gruesome, often visually disturbing and, at times, oddly frightening to look at. It's beautiful because... well, because just look at it:

It's a surprisingly solid beat-em-up interrupted by surprisingly disappointing FPS mechanics, but driven along by the unmitigated joy of seeing just what this crazy world throws at you next. Whether it's double-sized giraffes with elephant heads, parachuting squirrels with dynamite strapped to their back, haunted woodlands full of strange ethereal beings or a boat trip down moonlit river during The End Of The World, it's always aesthetically remarkable, always stunningly creative, and always startlingly atmospheric.

It's out on Steam now, and it isn't really very much money at all.

You should buy this, y'know.