At a recent Activision event we got to spend a little bit more time with the lovable Benson. No, not the witty, but sardonic butler character from televisions' Soap, Barry B. Benson, played by another witty but sardonic TV personality, Jerry Seinfeld.

Since our last look at the game, there has been a lot of progress made. Including somehow being able to up the humor level, Barry's world seems to be even more alive. Focusing on showing you the everyday events we experience through the perspective of a 1" bee, perspective and environment are crucial elements of the gameplay. Many things we wouldn't give a second thought to are shown to be of great significance to you as you play as Barry. Frisbees and soccer balls at the park, while fun to us during outings to the park are life and death elements you must quickly run across or better yet, deftly avoid. While not as harmless to you or me, other elements such as the mist from someone spraying some glass with window cleaner, still pose a threat as a choking fog of chemicals brings your progress to a halt.

Luckily, situation like this are largely avoidable by the tight and intuitive controls that make flying, running, and the exciting aerial combat accessible to children and adults alike. And on that note, it would be a mistake to think of this as a kids only game. The humor is written for people of all ages and there are many jokes that wqill float easily over the heads of kids while having a depth and relevance to adults that will have you laughing out loud while your son or daughter look at you puzzled.

Combat is equally nuanced with Barry able to cunningly use different aspects of his environment to delay and defeat pursuing foes, rather than through straight combat alone. If you pay attention further, you'll even notice that the games environmental pallet changes according to where you are.

Ironically enough, the game is being developed by an Activision studio called Beenox out of Canada. The company is relatively new, but many of the staff have been in the industry for a while and if things proceed as planned during the winding up stages of development, we can expect to see a great game in the end that is sweet to both older and younger audience.