Digital Extremes' Keystone Is Now The Amazing Eternals, Adding A Little Variety To The Hero Shooter Scene

What's in a name? Not much, if it evokes images of clumsy police officers from a century ago.

Maybe that's why Digital Extremes has changed the name of its upcoming hero shooter from Keystone to The Amazing Eternals. That, and more, were revealed today in a video describing the gameplay and space-age aesthetic of DE's upcoming hero-shooter-with-cards.

According to the game's lore, you've discovered a "mysterious board game" that transports you to one of many classic movie-inspired worlds, such as a sci-fi base or spaghetti Western town. There, you're transformed into a legendary warrior, or Eternal and will duke it out with other players, fighting over the mythical "keystone."

The Amazing Eternals is a hero shooter at its core, but you'll collect cards and build a deck to activate abilities and traps. That doesn't make it a "collectible card game," despite the devs' statement at the start of the video -- no more than in any MMO where you "collect" powers and slot them to a hotbar -- and the initially hyped board game elements are yet to be seen. At least DE is making some attempt to add in a few different styles of game, realizing that "just another hero shooter" probably won't fly in 2017, regardless of how snazzy it looks.

You can sign up for the closed beta for The Amazing Eternals on the game's website, or purchase a Founder's Pack before Aug. 29 to gain instant access to the beta when it goes live.