Based on the upcoming remake of ‘classic’ (read: old) flick Clash of the Titans, starring Sam “I don’t do facial expressions, facial expressions do me” Worthington of Avatar infamy as, this tie-in sounds like a valiant effort on paper. By valiant effort, we mean valiant effort to ape God of War.

That’s no bad thing, of course. This month’s Dante’s Inferno made a business out of using the exact same philosophy, which didn’t do it any harm – if you’re moving into a genre with established leaders and you’re creating a game based on an upcoming movie, you’re not going to reinvent the genre, are you? As long as this is something you can wrap your head around, action-adventure Clash of the Titans shouldn’t disappoint.

The game will have 100 different types of enemy, apparently, which is quite a feat in terms of numbers – that towers over comparable titles in the genre, but we’re not sure if that means hundreds of unique enemies or just variants on the same ones. Nevertheless, among them will be Medusa and the giant Kraken, both of whom ought to provide tough encounters with a hint of visual trickery.

Factor in the game’s 80 different weapons and skills, too, and it sounds like a well-rounded package. Perhaps the most enticing element of Clash of the Titans is the idea that the entire game can be played in co-op, something that’s sadly become a bit out of fashion in the hack-and-slash genre. It makes a big difference to our opinion of the game, as it sounds like the only real feature Clash can call its own.

Clash of the Titans just doesn’t look very good. The character model of hero Perseus is odd, almost like they took a photo of Sam Worthington and grafted it onto the T-1000 from Terminator 2 – monster designs are inventive enough, though, so this should distract from the slightly ugly texture detail.

One lingering concern remains, however. Intriguingly, Clash is the work of Game Republic, the Japanese RPG-centric developer of the repugnant Genji and the frankly baffling, forgotten RPG Folklore on PS3. Since Clash of the Titans has cropped up in short notice and a review is probably two issues away, we’ll eye it with only a cautious slither of enthusiasm. Let’s hope it can surprise us.