Initial details on Earth No More surfaced in the latest issue of Game Informer, which is set to hit stores and subscribers later this week. Beginning in a small, quarantined New England town, Earth No More's antagonist comes not from space, but from nature. As a result of mankind's constant pollution of and experimentation with the environment, a growth of deadly red vines and mutating spores have overtaken the world, perverting whatever they encounter.

When reached for comment, Miller told Shacknews that the Game Informer piece represents the company's official announcement of Earth No More and contains all the details that can be shared at the moment. "This game is part of our new push to work with more independent studios to co-create original IP," Miller explained to Shacknews. "More announcements along these lines should be expected."

3D Realms has three other projects in development, with a planned total of eight when the studio is at full capacity.

Earth No More will include online co-op play, deathmatch, as well as the option for gamers to assume the role of an enemy and fight against other players."We're going to design almost every weapon in the game to where it's going to have a sort of collaborative mode to it," said Miller. "One gun called the Linker works like a reverse proton pack from Ghostbusters."

To separate Earth No More from the number of solitary first-person shooters on the market, main character Will Forsyth will team with four other characters, each with their own unique back stories and motivations. Throughout the game, players will be able to converse with the other characters with a conversation system said to compare to that of Bioware's upcoming Xbox 360 RPG Mass Effect. According to the article, a small portion of which is posted on 3D Realms' official website, "the development team is specifically moving away from what they call the 'lone hero,' while also avoiding a squad-based direction."

"The good guys aren't the only ones who can team up, however. Enemies are being designed to complement each other's skills as well," the article continues. "The team is intricately analyzing how group dynamics work in movies like the Alien, The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and 28 Days Later, hoping to emulate that kind of tension in game form."