Venetica, a German-developed fantasy RPG set in Italy, coming to the US

What do you get when you mix Venice, a dangerous necromancer, and a protagonist who can go to the realm of death? The answer is Venetica, a game that's been out in Europe for a whileand will soon be brought over to North America.

Here's the story: you play as Scarlett, the daughter of death. You roam around the greater Venice area in the 16th Century, in search of a serial necromancer, as you cross over between the world of the living and the dead. We'll say this for it - it's not a story we've seen that often.

The game was released in Germany a couple years ago, and had been shopped around the trade shows but never found anyone willing to take it stateside. That is, until Atari decided to pick it up.

"Following the successful German launch, we look forward to introducing North American gamers to the world of Venetica," said Atari VP Bob Spellerberg in a statement.

It's an RPG, and lets players freely walk around the streets through dynamic day and night cycles. Atari describes it as a "vibrant" world filled with all the environmental accoutrements associated with Venice, like canals and gondolas.

The game will be available in the US for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC in January.

Dec 1, 2010