Incog Inc. can seemingly do no wrong. Between their seminal PS2 stunner Twisted Metal: Black (and its online counterpart for those who've picked up a Network Adaptor), easily the best car combat game ever made, and War of the Monsters, a basic but incredibly fun brawler, the Salt Lake City-based developer definitely has a firm grasp of what makes a game fun.



Which is why it's a bit hard to swallow their next effort: Downhill Domination, a game about... competitive downhill mountain biking? Yep, in what looks like some kind of attempt to meld the essence of the Road Rash legacy with the random contents of a half-dozen Nissan Pathfinder commercials, Incog and Sony Computer Entertainment America Santa Monica are setting foot into incredibly unfamiliar territory, and if their previous efforts are any indication, we could be seeing the most surprising hit of the year.



Based on the entirely real sport of downhill mountain bike racing, Downhill Domination lets you slap on the helmet and pads of one of 14 different riders, each with their own tweakable bike in an effort to beat the rest of the pack to the bottom of the hill. Along the way, you'll be treated to one of three different race modes scattered throughout 27 different courses, 30+ tricks, a handful of combat moves (one such move is shown in a screen below), and the freedom to essentially carve your own path down the course. Points earned for technical runs and flashy trick combos can be used to bump up the features of bikes, allowing for some hopefully interesting customization options.



The requisite multiplayer modes (with up to four players at once), and licensed music tracks are a given, though specifics like online play, artist and song lists and the like have yet to be revealed. It's likely all of this will come to light at this year's E3 next month. For now, take a look-see at the pics below, and stay tuned for more goodies.





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