D3Publisher today revealed details of Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, a third-person shooter with a sense of humour for the Xbox 360 and entertainment system from Microsoft and PS3. Offering an original storyline and an off-the-wall cast of characters, Eat Lead is written by 2008 Writer’s Guild Award winner, Dave Ellis, and features the return of imaginary 80’s videogame action hero, Matt Hazard, and parodies some of the most beloved genres of games and pop culture. Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard is anticipated for release in Q1 2009.

In Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, videogame action hero Matt Hazard gets his chance to prove once and for all that he is the king of shooters when the new owner of mega game publisher, Marathon Megasoft, gives Matt his comeback role starring in a new title for next-gen consoles that pits him against all of his memorable foes from videogames past. In the world of Eat Lead, however, everything stops being a game and becomes reality when it is clear that someone is using the new game to bring about Matt’s death once and for all. With only the mysterious “QA” to help him, Matt must fight against a legion of Marathon Megasoft catalogue of videogame characters to keep it from being “Game Over” forever.

“Eat Lead parodies some of our fondest memories in classic gaming and pop culture, so gamers will have a laugh out loud experience every time they pick-up the controller,” said, Pete Andrew, vice president, product development, North America, D3P. “With an original storyline, Eat Lead perfectly blends action and humour with rock solid gameplay for an experience like no other.”

Eat Lead pays homage to the games of yesteryear with a menagerie of classic enemies such as zombies, space marines, cowboys, genetically mutated super snipers, and more in an expansive level environment design that reflects videogame history in a next-gen package. The game fires on all cylinders with explosive artillery and combat moves to help gamers escape from a variety of predicaments including radically-changing environments during gameplay via the “hack effects” Hazard’s nemesis uses by altering the game’s code on the fly. Throughout the adventure, players will utilize a strategic cover system dubbed “point and cover”, upgradeable weapons and different interactive melee moves to attack and outsmart foes.