This caught me completely off guard. Locke Webster returns to the UGO.com Games Blog with a look at the very interesting Ride to Hell, by veterns of Rockstar's Vienna studio.

Who is Rockstar Vienna? History lesson time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockstar_Vienna

Rockstar Vienna is responsible some good ports of classic Rockstar and Remedy games including Max Payne (remedy) and GTAIII, Vice City and Manhunt. This looks like their first major release, and it is a new IP to boot.

Set in Vietnam era US, Ride to Hell is the Easy Rider of videogames. Or maybe it’s something more akin to Born Losers or any of the other “Billy Jack” biker films that ranked of the B-movie caliber. Either way, the Sex, Drugs, & Rock n’ Roll culture practically drips from the early demo I saw at the press event out in Joshua Tree, California (one of the birthplaces of biker culture). And it’s easy to see that there’s one huge difference between Ride to Hell and the bucketful of other sandbox games available: you’re not stuck in the big city. And surprisingly, that small difference begets a fairly large tonal shift for the game.

Daigoji_Gai via gamesblog.ugo.com »