'This is Vegas' (PS3/X360/PC)

... Your character arrives in Vegas with $50 to his name. After a quick bender, you're off to make connections, crash some parties and build your bank. Unfortunately, this jerk named Preston Boyer is trying to turn Vegas into a family-friendly resort. To stop him, you'll have to complete missions and gigs for the various old-school Vegas factions and revitalize the city. Along the way you'll move from a roach motel up to a penthouse as you collect more money, more allies, and more fast cars ...

The first thing you'll notice when sitting down at a blackjack table is that the gambling takes place within the greater game world. People continue to walk around, some will sit down and join you, and the pit boss moves from table to table around you. The camera sits in an over-the-shoulder third person perspective allowing you to view the cards and the casino around you. This is important.

While playing blackjack, you can use your sunglasses and a marked deck to give you an edge over the house. When cheating, you can see a dash, circle or X on each card. The dash indicates it's a deuce through six. A circle is a seven, eight, or nine. The X tells you it's either a ten or an ace card. This doesn't give you a sure win, but it certainly does help. You can use this cheat move to watch cards as they're dealt and take a peak at the hole card to learn what's coming for you next. In between hands, there's even a fast forward button which makes it so you don't have to sit through the AI playing along with you.

There is one small catch. Each time you use the shades the house gets a little more suspicious. If the pit boss is watching you while you do it, you're boned. If your suspicion level gets too high or you get caught, the game is off. Depending upon how hardcore the casino is, they might try to kill you rather than just dump you out on the curb.

The combat will be mostly melee based with some guns thrown into the mix to keep things interesting. We didn't get to see the main character shooting a gun, but we did get a brief rundown of how it works. The projectile system is based on another Midway game, Stranglehold though you won't get any John Woo blood splatters. Hit locations for bullets are designed for comedic effect rather than graphic violence.

The same goes for fist-fighting. Landing a right-hook to an enemy's jaw sends out a flash of graphics reminiscent of the campy Batman TV show. The boxing is modeled after the system laid out in Bully, if you're looking for a reference point. The one combat mission we saw took that idea of camp to the next level.

The combat gig took place at Ugly Changs, a place run by a Chinese guy who thinks he's Mexican. Chang runs a pit fighting and gambling ring in an empty pool and tosses you in to take on his Lucha Libre fighters. We saw the full range of blocks, combos, grabs and special "Buzz Bomb" finishing moves in a series of three goofy fights. Winning unlocked your very own Lucha Libre mask and outfit to wear around town. Sweet.

The last major gameplay element is driving, which uses Havok for its physics. We only got a brief glance at a car zipping down the street, but we did learn a few choice details. Not every car is open to you at the beginning of the game. Some are given as rewards and can be stored in one of your garages. Others are found on the street which can be "borrowed" from a motorist. If you try to grab a car that isn't open to you yet, you'll find the door locked.