There is some cheery news today for those readers who like their video games to feature men in slightly flared suits deploying .44 Magnums against snivelling ne'er-do-wells - Clint Eastwood will voice a new Dirty Harry adaptation which aims to "introduce this memorable film character to new generations on a medium they appreciate", as the Oscar-laden Hollywood heavyweight put it to the New York Times.

Anyone who recalls seeing the orginal film on its 1971 release will also remember the rumpus it caused - due in the main to Clint rejecting the normal due legal process in favour of pumping miscreants full of lead. As the poster put it at the time: "You don't assign him to a murder case - you just turn him loose". Blimey.

Of course, it all seems a bit tame nowadays, so it will be interesting to see how Eastwood's Malpaso Productions intends to tempt a blood-soaked generation of youths to load up their vigilante piece and hit the streets.

According to the NYT, the game will include "characters and settings from the five-film franchise, which began with Dirty Harry in 1971 and ended with The Dead Pool in 1988", but the storyline "will be original".

Original perhaps, but we do sincerely hope that gamers are given the opportunity to pull the trigger against unarmed suspects while uttering the immortal words: "Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?" Ah, they don't make 'em like they used to... ®

Bootnote

We gather that a game version of the Al Pacino hymn to cinematic ultraviolence Scarface is also in the pipeline. Should be a laugh a minute.

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