As others before me have noted, this new Snoopy game from Smart Bomb Interactive actually looks like a decent, enjoyable flight simulator. Yup, Snoopy: World War I Flying Ace has action, adorable Nazis pre-Hitler German soldiers, and lots of explosions. Wait, what? Check out the trailer.

I admit, I haven’t played the previous Snoopy games, like Snoopy vs. the Red Baron — but compared to old screen shots, this new title looks downright violent, or at least menacing. I don’t mean it as a bad thing, just a surprising (and perhaps out-of-character) one. The landscapes Snoopy is flying through seem dark and foreboding. The attacks he launch spark real damage on his enemies. Sure, the Germans he’s fighting are super cute, but that makes the semi-realistic fighting on the backdrop of a historical war all the more striking. Adorable Nazis pre-Hitler German soldiers meet less than adorable ends.

Maybe I’ve missed out on some dark side to Snoopy, but this to me reads like putting Hello Kitty in a fighting sim and watching her battle it out with all of her Sanrio buddies by ripping out their spines, Mortal Combat-style — which is to say, kind of awesome. I look forward to checking out the game for real when it comes out… sometime.