Dark Souls, the “spiritual successor” to Demon’s Souls that looks and sounds a helluva lot like Demon’s Souls, is nearing. Not that that’s a bad thing in any way! A prettier, improved version of one of the PS3’s best exclusives should be cause for celebration, especially since it isn’t shackled to one console now.

The game will hit Xbox 360 and PS3 in North America on October 4th from Namco Bandai, and they’re gearing up with the assets. They just released a whole slew of new screenshots that show just a few of the things that will be killing you without mercy. Think this is going to be easier than Demon’s Souls? The website for the game is www.preparetodie.com.

Enter a dark world filled with despair and threaded by hope where your ability to creatively strategize, learn and overcome unpredictable and unique challenges determines your fate. Dark Souls will demand your absolute concentration, unflinchingly punish your mistakes, but reward your ability to learn from death.  Each challenge is a mind game met with endless combinations that will test your ability to creatively strategize a way to conquer unimaginable monsters and progress deeper into this bleak and forbidding environment filled with the undead.

With tense dungeon crawling and fearsome enemy encounters, the seamlessly intertwined world of Dark Souls is full of extreme battles, rewarding challenges, nuanced weaponry and magic, and the flexibility to customize each character to suit any desired play style.  The innovative online component allows gamers to draw from the collective experience of the Dark Souls community as they either help or sabotage each other on the journey through the Northern Realms to save the land from darkness.  With a massive, seamless open world design, Dark Souls encourages deep exploration and an adaptable gameplay experience.

Can’t wait. Remember that if you preorder the Collector’s edition it’s the same price as the regular game. That’s right, for 60 bucks you get a metal case, art book, strategy guide and soundtrack along with the game. Can’t beat that. (But the game will beat you.)