There is nothing more mundane in the world of video game marketing than the bullet-point announcement. Unless the game's developers go to the trouble of kinda realising this, and dressing the "news" up as an excuse to make a neat little video where everybody who works there gets to pretend they're about to give the…

The cinematic intro to multiplayer PC shooter Firefall has just been released. And unlike previous pieces from the game, there's no shooting in it whatsoever.

Red 5's Firefall is an upcoming shooter whose development is being led by Mark Kern, former Team Lead on World of Warcraft. All we've seen lately about the game is some cosplay, so let's get back to basic with gameplay footage. Two hours of it.

You may have noticed a few websites around the place pledge to "shut down" on January 18 in protest against the awful Stop Online Piracy Act. That's all well and good, but now Red 5 Studios, the developers behind the upcoming Firefall, are doing it as well. Thing is, they're shutting down their video game.

To help shill their upcoming Firefall, Red 5 Studios is employing two models to play the part of the game's characters at press events and shows. One is cosplayer Crystal Graziano, who Red 5 is also sponsoring for a full year. The other is not a cosplayer. He's an actor and...American Gladiator.

Regular readers of our Fancy Pants cosplay feature here on Kotaku will be familiar with the phenomenal work of Crystal Graziano. From Metal Gear to Valkyria Chronicles, she's one of the most recognisable and successful video game cosplayers around.

Firefall is an upcoming co-op shooter for the PC, made by Red 5 Studios, which is helmed by the guy who was team lead on World of Warcraft. So it should know what it's doing when it comes to online gaming.

Firefall is an online shooter that is quietly pushing a lot of people's buttons. Which is what happens when you pitch an online, co-op shooter that looks a lot like classic jetpack simulator Tribes.

Orange County, California might be bland, confesses one developer of Red 5's team-based shooter Firefall, but the game certainly is not. Armor-bound medics squirt now de rigueur healing ribbons that glow a pale green to extrude life back into teammates wearing primary yellow or red that's too busy for G or B.

For a game that the developer will be handing out for free, Firefall looks impressively promising. The large scale team-based online shooter—don't call it an MMO—is certainly pretty from way up here.