"The game universe itself is set all over the planet," said Emmert as the overhead lights grew dim and a projection screen flared into life, "and even off it, everywhere from underwater to outer space. Unlike City of Heroes, which is based solely in a city, we're taking you everywhere. For instance: Monster Island."

Cueing a colleague positioned at a computer behind him, Jack then directed our attention to the screen. After punching in a developer code, Jack's colleague lifted his avatar into the air and began a leisurely flight across the island.

"Monster Island is, not surprisingly, a place where all the giant monsters of the world are stored," explained our esteemed tour guide as the in-game hero -- let's call him The One -- continued to rise. "Back in the 1970s, the Monster Maker was famous for creating giant monsters that attacked the planet -- until, with the help of Bureau 17, Japan's agency specializing in giant monsters, created this island reserve to hold all these creatures that are nigh indestructible. They tend to escape captivity a lot, but nevertheless, it's the best solution they had."

At last The One stopped, giving us a bird's eye view of the entire island. For a single in-game zone, Monster Island is absolutely massive, and is broken into separate areas marked by drastic changes in terrain.

Emmert motioned to his partner to bring the view down a bit. As we watched, The One settled into what one might imagine a perfect island to be: lush vegetation framing rolling mounds of sand that lead into frothing blue surf. Rather than sculpted muscle-heads serving margaritas to bikini-clad women, monsters roamed everywhere, some passive, others looking for a fight. One in particular appeared to be an enormous ape, but with one distinct difference.

"Everybody likes giant gorillas, right?" asked Emmert. "Well, our artists said, 'Giant gorillas are boring. Let's set them on fire!'"

Our brave hero, confident in his invulnerability due to a code entered by the designer manning the keyboard, walked over to the gorilla and appeased his desire for violence. As the poor primate pounded on his invincible foe, The One responded with a series of jabs strung together in a combo. His use of weaker hits as opposed to powerful blows was intentional, and quite strategic.

"A player will use his weaker abilities to build his power," said Emmert. "As he uses them, he gains power, and he uses that power via bigger attacks and abilities. So you're constantly thinking, 'Should I use an attack that gains me power, so should I go ahead and use all my power?' That's a basic mechanic that is in the game. There are several variants, several ways of gaining power."