Double Fine's Hack 'N' Slash Is Not What It Seems

Double Fine can't stop announcing games. They refuse. Tim Schafer and co have so many dollops of digital glee in the oven, in fact, that you might have entirely forgotten about Hack 'N' Slash. It is not, as you might expect, a game about hacking and slashing or even gently bopping on the head in a way that implies mild disapproval. Rather, the entire world - the entire game - is hackable. It might look like The Legend of Zelda (that's intentional), but it plays like... well, pretty much nothing I've ever seen. You wield a giant USB stick that lets you dig around in the code of enemies and objects in the game world. And it's *real* code. You can and probably will crash the entire game, though save state trickery keeps that from ruining the whole experience. Honestly, it's a bit tough to wrap your mind around at times. Go below for an explanation and demo from lead designer Brandon Dillon.