The moment we saw Bullet Witch Alicia, we immediately fell in love with her. Some have commented that she is a rather weak witch, with just a handful of magic spells, but she really is beautiful.

With that said, we are happy to announce that the game has finally shipped to retailers across North America.

We know we've already discussed the different features of the Bullet Witch before, but we'll outline a few details for the benefit of newcomers. The game takes place in the year 2013. Humankind is on the brink of extinction, and demons are creating havoc everywhere. The last hope rests with Alicia and her magical skills, not to mention her swift trigger finger.

It's understandable that Atari Product Manager Jeremiah Cohn is quite excited:

Cavia has designed a game that offers all the successful elements of a next-gen title including sophisticated weaponry, destructible environments, downloadable bonus content coupled with a captivating storyline that bring gamers an extremely intense and exciting game.

Bullet Witch is rated M and can be purchased for a suggested retail price of US$ 49.99. Details about a post-launch downloadable content at the Marketplace should be expected shortly.

Atari's American release for Bullet Witch is just around the corner - February 27, to be exact. We know some of you may have gotten the Japanese version that was released last year, but you do know that a lot of things have been tweaked, right? Especially with regards to the physics engine. That's why a lot of people are expecting so much for the NA release.

Discussing more about the changes, tweaks, and differences between the Western and Japanese version, U.S. Product Manager Jeremiah Cohn and Producer Matt Rush were interviewed by Siliconera. Here are a couple of odds-and-ends from that interview:

• Alicia Claus is voiced by Sarah Natochenny (that's Ash's voice in latest "Pokemon: Battle Frontier" TV animation series)
• Downloadable content will feature not only the schoolgirl outfit that everyone's been waiting for, but also that of the White Witch, the Mummy, and the Secretary costumes
• Ten minutes of playing the game can have Alicia wreaking havoc on entire city blocks (yeah, city blocks, plural) with just a single spell
• Cavia (the developer) was able to touch up the AI, camera angles, lighting, textures, and, of course, overall gameplay
  

Check out the full interview behind the "Read" link.

 

We have here a few screenshots of Atari's third person shooter, Bullet Witch. Yeah we know, five measly screens ain't that much, but hopefully we'll get our hands on some new screens, interviews, and even videos in the coming days so as we could help you decide if you wanna get this game or not.

Anyhow, you already know that you could get your hands on a Bullet Witch comic if you pre-order the game at your local retail store. Well, you still have lots of time to pre-order as it is set to come out on February 27 on the U.S. From the looks of the screens alone, I believe that Jeremiah Cohn and company are doing a mighty good job in marketing this game. So with all that said, here are the screens and keep checking us out for more Bullet Witch goodies.

   

Does anyone think Bullet Witch would need any help in terms of marketing? One would think Alicia Claus would be enough of a marketing strategy. Anyway, Atari Product Manager Jeremiah Cohn gives some details on how they made the game more appealing and on their future plans.

They summarized Bullet Witch's storyline into three phrases and voila! The game's tag line was born. "Powerful Magic. Massive Guns. Extreme Destruction." How can anyone resist the idea of magic, guns, and destruction?

The packaging was done to suit the U.S. players, too. It shows off some screenshots and it comes with a surprise. The cover slip has the Japanese cover on the other side.

The Bullet Witch website is now up and a number of flash ads have been unleashed unto the interweb. Cohn also alludes about "underground videos" that will be released soon. Extra download packs includes additional missions and the school girl outfit (we can hear the fanboys now), and would be available at the Xbox Marketplace.

More info about the extra download packs soon, stay glued.

We are not speaking for the rest of mankind, but we fell in love with Bullet Witch Alicia the moment we saw her on Christmas day. Having said that, you could just imagine our anticipation and excitement for this third person shooter from Atari. We're pretty sure the publisher would like the world to worship their new heroine as well, or so what it seems based from the latest interview with Product Manager Jeremiah Cohn.

Aside from being a straight up shooter, Cohn reiterated that the game is founded on a deep and complex story. Take for example the mysterious entity "The Darkness." The product manager explained:

Why she's a witch and how she became a witch, you'll have to play the game to find out. As for now, Alicia is the only Bullet Witch. The Darkness is a voice inside Alicia's head. Who it is and where it came from is a secret I'm not telling. It affects the gameplay in that it helps the person "playing" Alicia as to what they should or should not be looking for, doing or fighting, but it's also more than that.

Also, Cohn wished to talk about how magic works in the game. This is pretty understandable because it feels like this is the game's main selling point, not to mention Alicia's million dollar smile. The industry, after all, is pretty much saturated with shooters and heroines. Cohn mentioned:

Alicia begins the game with a couple spells and unlocks more as the game progresses. Spells can be upgraded and made even more powerful. Overall, there are nine different spells within 3 elemental circles of magic: fire, wind and lightning. Using the spells effectively is a big part of the fun. And the game was designed to easily select a spell and quickly cast in the midst of action. 

Bullet Witch has been released in Japan back in July of 2006. While there is no definite date yet, the game is expected to hit American shores some time this year.

While Alicia Claus is one of this generation's hottest video game heroines, how sure are we that the game she's in is just as hot as well? You've seen dozens upon dozens of screenshots for Bullet Witch: screens of Alicia under a full moon, Alicia firing her magical rifle, Alicia and her backside... Screens can only go so far. We need more info.

And that's just what we've got today. Atari Product Manager Jeremiah Cohn reveals that, after their July 2006 release in Japan, they've made a couple of improvements to enhance your gameplay experience and, of course, some additional eye-candy.

Firstly, controls for the game were tweaked. Gun-targetting, force feedback, and camera controls have been changed in order to "tighten up the play experience." Cohn comments that the game has become more fun to play now because the controls have become more intuitive in the sense that you don't have to fight with it.

The AI was highly improved also. Cohn now hints that the groups of enemies are so intelligent that you've got to take out the leader first so that the rest become unfocused and scattered in the battlefield. With regards to graphics, texture maps have been enhanced to bring a higher level of detail on screen. Object and item collisions have also been improved to look more realistic - explosions, flying debris, splattering organic limbs...

Cohn states that they've also revamped the package of the game itself and moved some elements around. They're going to include a poster for the fanboys, too, if you're into that kind of stuff. February? Can't the release date get any closer?