Though nowhere near as epic as our recent Dealspwn playthrough (honest), Fuse's official launch trailer makes a decent fist of showing off the alien tech-powered weaponry and cooperative combat that Insomniac's upcoming shooter promises to bring to the table.

Fuse releases on May 31st in Europe. If you enjoyed the trailer, a short Fuse demo is available on PSN and Xbox Live.

Last week, Insomniac's Ted Price said that he considered the Wii U to be "more current-gen" than necessarily pushing boundaries for the next-generation of games consoles.

In a new interview, he addresses the reasons behind upcoming shooter Fuse not appearing on Nintendo's system, saying that the development would have been spread too thin and -- yep, you guessed it -- the platform could really do with a classic Nintendo killer app or two.

In a first for our series of Dealspwn Playthrough, Carl is joined by both Matt and Jon to fight through the demo of Fuse, the upcoming co-op shooter from Insomniac Games. Watch as they try to outwit AI companions, battle against huge armoured foes, and use their devastating Fuse-powered weapons, all while voicing their initial gameplay opinions.

We’ll be chatting a little more about our impressions of the demo in this Sunday’s PWNcast, but if you have yet to download the demo, waiting for the PSN store to update, or just fancy hearing out banter, you can check out the video after the jump.

You'll be able to try out Insomniac's cooperative shooter Fuse ahead of its launch on May 31st, thanks to an XBL and PSN demo landing next week.

Fuse is basically a super-powerful  MacGuffin that can be manipulated into some seriously crazy stuff, as seen in the new trailer from Insomniac and EA: Energy shields, active camo, teleporting cyborgs, and an enormous boss character who shoots laser beams from hands the size of office blocks.

Insomniac's FS arrives in North America on May 28th before coming to Europe on May 31st for PS3 and Xbox 360, and you can read our hands-on Fuse preview here.

Insomniac Games has thrown up a quick Q and A on their website dealing with a few hot topics surrounding their upcoming FPS Fuse, answering questions regarding co-op play, different game modes, the game's shift in tone from the original Overstrike reveal, and whether or not it'll require an online pass.

Originally planned for a March release date, the game was then delayed to add some extra polish and to probably avoid Bioshock Infinite's media and sales vortex. Insomniac have just confirmed via facebook (see I was working) that the game will hit EU territories on May 31st, with america getting it a few days earlier on May 28th.

Insomniac plan to deliver a larger-than-life cooperative experience with Fuse, and this new clutch of multiplayer screenshots show all four team members working together to create enormous explosions. And kick goons in the face. Players will need to use cover, relocate and communicate effectively with their teammates in order to prevail, save the face kicker becoming the face kickee.

Anyways, enjoy. Matt described Fuse as "complimentary cooperative carnage" in our hands-on preview. Fuse was recently delayed from March into "Q2 2013," with Insomniac needing extra time for some last-minute polish.

Insomniac Games' CEO Ted Price has stated that, quite frankly, he'd rather focus on making a fun game, rather than worrying over whether or not it's particularly realistic, or offers an "authentic" experience.

In fact, we rather agree with him.

Cooperative shooter Fuse may have slipped from March into "Q2 2013," but Insomniac Games have explained that the time will be used to implement some last-minute tweaks to what is essentially a finished product.

Several new Fuse screenshots that previously only graced the pages of print magazines have finally made their way onto the internet, giving us a closer look at Insomniac's four-player shooter. And stuff blowing up.

Our latest Fuse ands-on preview explains how strong gameplay identity could help to soothe our concerns over its change in tone.

At a recent press event, we sat down with Insomniac's Ted Price to chat about the company's first multiplatform title - Fuse. He reveals why the game got rebranded from Overstrike, talks about some of the weapons featured in  the game, and discusses some of the core gameplay features at work.

Matt Gardner (Dealspwn): You probably been asked this question a fair bit today, but it's one to which a number of our writers and readers will be eager to hear the answer: why the change from Overstrike?

Ted Price: Well, there are a number of reasons. First of all, when we developing Overstrike, we reached a point where it became really apparent that the gameplay and the story were two completely separate entities, and we didn't want that. We believed it was important, and we still believe, that the two be meshed seamlessly so that players have a more meaningful experience. So we were trying to figure out what to do; how to create a stronger identity for the game. The story really did fit with what you were doing doing in the game, so we seized upon this alien substance, which originally something of a MacGuffin, and realise that we'd had something that could start driving a lot off the gameplay: Fuse. And that's when we started calling the game Fuse. We used it to power the weapons, to form the core of the progression system, and used it as a feature to weave directly into gameplay, and everything started falling into place.

At the same time, we were dissatisfied with our weapons. Overstrike had been this rather cartoony, campy game for a while, and we were struggling with giving the weapons impact. We demonstrated one of them in our trailer back in 2011, which was more of a promise piece than anything reflective of gameplay. Izzy's glue-gun, for example, looked really cool, like something straight out of The Incredibles. It all seemed really neat and interesting, but in reality playing it wasn't that much fun. So we've had people say, “What? You could totally make that awesome!” and the fact is, we've tried! But we've been making weapons, innovative weapons in games, for a long time, and you get to a point in the creative process sometimes where you realise that a certain approach just isn't going to work, and we felt that way about almost all of the original weapons. And it was that sense of the visceral: the over-the-top satisfaction that you get from using Resistance weapons against the Chimera. So making that choice, making turning Overstrike into Fuse and making it a more grounded, mature, and visceral experience, that actually really freed us up to do some badass stuff with the weapons.

Platforms: PC | PS3 | Xbox 360 (version tested)

Developers: Insomniac Games

Publishers: EA Partners

Let's be honest; we actually rather liked the look of Overstrike - a quirky, colourful, Saturday morning cartoon of a shooter, with wildly innovative weapons, deliciously inviting and truly complimentary co-op action, and plenty of cheesy one liners. But, as Insomniac's Ted Price noted, that E3 trailer back in 2011 was more of a tantalising series of vague promises more than anything else. It was an attention-grabber, though the prospect alone would have been more than enough. Insomniac Games being given complete freedom and autonomy over their very own, completely new IP - a four-way co-operative extravaganza with unique weaponry from the people who brought you Resistance. Yes please.

But, of course, Overstrike is no more, and instead we are presented with a title that appears to have had its available colour palette dominated by greyscale, and an altogether more serious tone brought to the table. Fuse - the phoenix born from Overstrike's ashes - revolves around the same concept: four-way co-op shooter action, with plenty of outlandish weaponry upon which to feast. But it's not just a simple name change for the sake of it - which frankly we'd have disputed anyway, Overstrike is so very badass....OVERSTRIKE! - but rather a reflection of the one thing at the heart of this game. Fuse, the alien element that powers the weapons and abilities of A-Team wannabes Overstrike 9, is no longer simply a MacGuffin; it's the foundation upon which everything in this game rests.

Insomniac Games president Ted Price talks us through over eighteen minutes of gameplay footage in this whopping progress update for Fuse. The cooperative shooter once known as Overstrike 9 is looking more promising every time we see it, with this video shedding new light on the characters, weapons, mechanics, storyline and the mysterious Fuse substance itself.

Stay tuned for "fuse-powered wrecking balls."

Legal issues forced Insomniac to delay releasing their Fuse trailer, but without further ado, here it is in all its explosive cooperative glory.

Perhaps the legal issues surrounded the backing track, which is criminally bad in context. Mmm, generic. EA marketing at its finest. Still, there's plenty to enjoy here.

Carl has picked the internet apart looking for Fuse details, which he's corralled in a great big roundup. Gameplay-wise, it revolves around tight cooperation, swapping between characters and using their unique abilities.

Coming March 2013 For PS3 & Xbox 360

This morning’s news may have thrown a slight spanner into the works, but the planned reveal at 2pm today went on regardless, and we now know a little more about Insomniac’s next game. Although featuring a more “serious” visual design that was hinted at in the teaser video a few weeks back, reports are rolling in that the inventive weaponry is still there. Not only that, but some interesting twists on the co-op side of things have also come to light.

“Last Minute Legal Rights Issue” To Blame

Those looking forward to seeing the first trailer of Insomniac’s newly rebranded game Fuse will need to wait a little long. Ted Price, the CEO and Founder of Insomniac Games, has issued a letter of apology on the Fuse website stating that the planned debut of the trailer at 2pm today will no longer happen due to a legal issue. All is not lost though, as Ted explains in his heartfelt letter to the fans.

Has Overstrike Been Hit With A Bad Case Of Serious-ness?

We are six days away from seeing the unveiling (or repackaging) of Insomniac’s upcoming multiplatform title, formally known as Overstrike. Teased during Ted Price’s keynote speech at this year’s PAX, the newly titled Fuse will be shown to all via the official website next Wednesday. However, in a newsletter to fans of Insomniac Games, the Ratchet & Clank developers decided to tease us all with a video that comes “straight from the game, and teases the opening mission.” You can see it for yourself after the jump.

We were all a bit miffed when Insomniac's Overstrike - the four-way FPS title that they showed off at E3 2011 - failed to make an appearance in LA or Cologne this year. However, Ted Price took to the stage at PAX Prime to deliver a keynote speech that came with the unveiling of a brand new IP from Insomniac that's supposedly an overhauled version of that previous project, named Fuse.