Hot off the press (via CVG), the latest issue of Xbox 360: The Official Xbox Magazine brings word that Bethesda is teaming up with Zombie Studios for a new anti-terrorist shooter, called Rogue Warrior. The game is vaguely planned for release sometime in 2007, and it will likely go head-to-head with Ubisoft's freshly revealed GRAW 2 sequel. Boy, I'd sure hate having to face that kind of tough competition!

Fortunately for Bethesda, Zombie Studios is no stranger to tactical shooters. Their past catalogue includes titles such as Spec Ops, Covert Ops, Shadow Ops, Delta Force: Task Force Dagger, and the Combat series. Even though these may not be the brightest samples of cerebral action in gaming history, Zombie also worked on America's Army: Special Forces, so they should have just enough experience to tackle a next-gen shooter. The Seattle-based developer is even using Unreal Engine 3 as the base for Rogue Warrior, and with a name like Bethesda backing the project, it might just turn out like a worthy opponet for the likes of Ghost Recon.

So far we know that Rogue Warrior will feature a co-op mode for 4 players on Xbox Live, and the usual online shoot-out for up to 24 players. Nothing out of the ordinary here, but the game will have at least one interesting feature, in that it will allow players to customize their battlefields, by building multiplayer maps from sections of other maps. Here's how it's supposed to work:

"According to the magazine, each level is made up from three sections - you choose one, the other team picks another, the then centre section is plucked out of the list at random by the Xbox 360 (from over 200 combinations). Opposing teams won't know what the other team has picked until they're in the game."

That should keep boredom at bay for a while. And with a bit of luck, it could drive other developers to push the idea one or two steps further... Not bad Zombie, not bad. Just make sure the game itself doesn't suck, will you?

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)