If Lost Planet (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) seems at times like a Monster Hunter game set in a different planet, then Namco Bandai's new PSP title God Eater is a Monster Hunter game set in a futuristic urban environment. Judging by the media released so far, that doesn't necessarily seem like a bad thing.

God Eater is a portable local multiplayer action RPG that owes more than a passing likeness to Capcom's aforementioned games. The game pits up to four players -- the titular God Eaters -- against creatures called aragami that suddenly decide to attack the planet.

  
  

Players use weapons called "deus ex machina" to take the aragami down. These weapons can be switched from a blade to a gun to a super-elaborate hybrid "predator form" and can be further customized with items. Armor seems to be customizable too.

It looks like there's more story in this game than in any of the MH games as there's actually a single-player story mode that gives you five different NPCs to choose a partner from.

Japanese gamers will be able to decide this fall if God Eater lives up to the awesomeness (check out that sword in the fourth pic) depicted in the scans. A US release has yet to be announced, but the good news is that Namco Bandai already filed a US trademark for God Eater a couple of months ago.

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• Namco files application for "God Eater" trademark