5th Cell Leaves Cuteness Behind for Gritty Source Engine Shooter

5th Cell is known for cute DS games, but that might change with the recently announced XBLA shooter Hybrid.

Last week’s dirty tease by 5th Cell has turned out to be for a game called Hybrid. As an Xbox Live Arcade shooter that uses Valve’s Source engine, it’s a departure for the studio known for Scribblenauts, Drawn to Life, and Lock’s Quest.

5th Cell has released a brief teaser trailer for Hybrid, which doesn’t show much, but it’s enough for us to know that Hybrid is a shooter. A third-person shooter, actually, set in a post-apocalyptic world. The trailer’s narrator is hiding behind cover Gears of War style, until an enemy comes literally flying in out of nowhere and the two start firing automatic weaponry at each other.

Dig a little deeper into Hybrid‘s new website, and you’ll find that the narrator is a member of the game’s Paladins. The Paladins are at war with another group called the Variants, led by someone called the Grand Marshal. The trailer and website hint that you’ll be able to choose to follow one of the two, but any gameplay details are still unconfirmed. Humans are mentioned as bystanders in the war between the Paladins and Variants, so there is some mystery as to how this war began, why it continues to rage, and who is actually behind the soldiers’ armor.

It’s an interesting basic concept, so hopefully some gameplay and details should be revealed soon. With Hybrid, it looks like 5th Cell is going from Scribblenauts to a very different title similar to Gears of War with Mass Effect‘s choices, which is quite the step. Hybrid will be out in 2011.