Ushering us into a room laden with linked Xbox 360s, Morris and Polge invite us to sit and take part in some serious multiplayer action. We happily oblige.

The playtest kicks off inside (and out) a giant wheel-shaped space station. What strikes us like a bolt of lightening seeking out a hairdryer is that the already staggering Unreal Engine 3 – so impressive in Gears of War – has been tweaked to even greater levels of visual excellence and performance.

Heading outside into the zero gravity void, we hop from one end of the station’s hulking framework of knotted metal to the other, while spitting out bullets at our floating foes. The transition from outdoors to indoors is seamless, with the unceasing action never compromised as we power through the level, jousting in intense battles with our fellow combatants.

Perhaps even more impressive is the sheer quality of the AI bots. Strafing, jumping, switching weapons and shooting with lifelike degrees of accuracy, these computer-controlled enemies are practically indistinguishable from our human opponents. “We’ve put a large focus on AI, because a large percentage of people who bought our previous products never went online,” explains Morris, as we battle one of the bots in a bouncing, low-gravity rocket launcher duel. “Our AI is trying to simulate a 14-year-old kid who’s trying to exploit you on their high-school LAN. We’ve got some really challenging bots, both for the newcomer and for veterans of multiplayer games.”

As if to further showcase the quality of UTIII’s AI, we play a team game alongside bots. Issuing them with barked orders through our mics, we watch them follow their instructions to the letter before intelligently reporting their current status in minute detail.