I still remember a few years back, when after the last 3DMark benchmark software was released, more and more people kept asking "why doesn't Futuremark do video games?!". The tests were so cool and the benchmark used the latest hardware and software advancements to squeeze every bit of performance out of that gaming rig. 3DMark is used to date not only as the 3D benchmark tool, but also as a tech demo to catch the eye of enthusiast gamers willing to buy a new high end system, in almost every specialized hardware store.

It was little to no surprise then when the announcement for Shattered Horizon was released by the Finnish at Futuremark. And being their first game, they decided to go all out and try innovation, because the "regular" shooter market was already flooded with cheap games for the masses - so to speak.

A lot of bold moves were taken during the development process, starting with the decision the game will only work on newer versions of Windows than XP, meaning Vista and 7. The decision was not taken because of name conventions of course, but because Shattered Horizon uses Direct X 10 features, setting it apart from most PC games.

Necessary? I don't know. Not many clues that the game is really taking max advantage of the latest Microsoft standards, though it does indeed look good. The downside of using this technology is of course the high system requirements such as a title imposes on your PC. Still, if you are a fanatic first person shooter fan that invested all his savings into the coolest and watercoolest gaming rig available out there - this is good news for you: you'll finally have something to test your monster on.

On a more positive note for all of you out there, the game is very cheap. 20$ and you're on your way to the moon... well at least what's left of it. In the near future you see, the mining operations have commenced on the Moon. Its natural resources along with the depletion of the ones found on Earth attracted mankind to exploit the Moon to max. All was well until a terrible accident caused it to explode. What resulted was the Arc, a belt of asteroids and rocks orbiting around our planet. Now the International Space Agency is fighting against the Moon Mining Cooperative in order to settle the score and find someone to blame for the explosion.