E3 2012: Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse

Fans of Family Guy, rejoice: there's a game on its way that features all the absurd humour of the TV show. We managed to sneak into a session in the Activision booth to take a quick look.

Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse centres around fan favourite Stewie, rather than Peter Griffin. Stewie has plans to take down his half-brother and nemesis, Bertram, who has been trying to erase Stewie from the universe in the Family Guy show for a long time.

The game is in pre-alpha, so it was far from perfect in terms of animations and voiceover work, but it managed to capture the feel of the Family Guy show nicely.

Senior producer Chris Harvey said every character you can imagine has been inserted into the game, and the company even managed to get the controversial Herbert - an elderly man with a sexual interest in children - past the censors.

When you walk past Herbert, he says things like, "What time is it? School must be getting out." It could almost be innocent if you don't know the character, but it's not.

In the preview segment we saw, Stewie has managed to find the Amish centre of the multiverse and was intent on eliminating the community, which is under the influence of the conniving Bertram. The family dog, Brian, is along for the ride.

Players can switch between Stewie and Brian, or a second player can drop in and play splitscreen co-op.

We asked Activision whether multiplayer was likely, but the company said details were still to be determined.

Given that Stewie's a baby, it makes sense that he has the most fantastical weaponry. He carries sci-fi guns, while Brian, who plays the straight man in the comedy act - despite being a dog - carries real-world weaponry that includes sniper rifles and the like.

Characters can also gain power-ups. In the demo, Stewie had an ability that allowed him to summon a giant chicken - the one Peter Griffin fights - to help him fight the Amish. The chicken looked pretty powerful, too - he managed to survive for some time despite being on fire and repeatedly shot with a crossbow.

Chris Harvey said Activision had been in regular contact with the Family Guy writers, and from what we could tell, all of the major voice actors are on board.

The company is currently planning to release the game in the US on 25 September.