Rockstar hopes to define a whole new genre of game including the action elements of combat, third-person exploration, simple puzzle solving and even stealthy progression as Konoko uncovers secrets not only about the police force, but also about herself. Playing as a one-woman army, your aim is to negotiate 17 widely varied locations ranging from a warehouse to a research lab and even an aircraft hanger, all presented under the cover of darkness for added atmosphere and tension building.

14 bosses stand firmly between you and the end of your quest with a multitude of other enemy guards to battle with in between. Some bosses wield huge weapons to blast you into molecules, although if you get in close and attack them, you can steal their heavy-duty firepower for your own disposal. Others rely on lightening speed ninja skills to thwart your attacks and then counter-attack, so your combat skills need to be both aggressive and tactical. As you make your way around levels, either stealthily or purely die-hard, "come and get me" style, plenty of weapons and power-ups are dropped by enemies including guns and health replenishments. Expect to be handling pistols, machine guns, cannons and even phase projectors alongside your vast array of rapid hitting moves, which include punch and kick combos, throwing people off ledges, piledrivers and strangulations. New moves can be learned while playing and are recorded within your diary in the menu screen, along with your objectives, items and weapons carried.

Using the controller in a more unique manner than your average run of the mill brawl-em-up, most of your movements are controlled with the two analogue sticks. The left stick moves Konoke around, but she will remain facing the same direction. The right stick controls the game camera and alters her orientation, changing the direction faced. Though it sounds complicated and does take a while to get used to, at least Rockstar has included a full training mode which extends into the early missions to gently ease you into the action. What impressed me the most about this unique control method is the ease with which you can launch into moves to fight several enemies within the 3D environments. If there's an enemy behind you and you are facing away from them, simply hit the punch button to land a backhander straight to their chops. Inspired by those jaw-dropping action sequences in The Matrix, Konoko can combine moves together, essential for surviving in the heat of a frantic firefight. By far the most spectacular allows you to roll and pick up a weapon at the same time, so that as soon as you're back on your feet, you'll be ready to reel off a round of ammo - impressive!

Running at a rock steady 30 frames per second, the PS2 hardware effortlessly handles the luscious environments without even a hint of slowdown. Gorgeous graphical touches like huge glass panels shattering into shards and multi-coloured explosions blend with ease into the anime influenced graphics to create levels with unique appearance. Levels themselves have been individually tailored by an architect and are structured to allow both fans of stealth and straightforward action games to succeed. Certain situations may require simple strategies - on one level, you must gain entry through the double-doored entrance to a building. Trouble is the doors are locked and you can't blast your way in. Simple -you meet a boss armed with dynamite on the roof of the building. Knock him down to ground and his exploding dynamite will ensure you make a grand entrance!

Not all people you meet are enemies and often talking to various characters will yield new objectives for the level. If you need to, you can also give them a damn good slap about the head, which always amuses as they aren't keen to retaliate. Boss interaction is introduced with character art appearing on-screen to compliment the relevant voice in the conversation, completing the true anime flavour of the proceedings.

From what we've played of the game so far, Oni looks set to create a surprise hit for Rockstar, appealing to a wide range of gamers. Whether the control system will innovate or simply annoy remains to be seen, but we'll have a full review soon to put Konoko through some of our own vigourous testing.