For over 25 years, Matt Hazard has been a staple of fake gaming culture, beginning with 1983′s The Adventures of Matt in Hazard Land up until the final blow to the dying franchise with the 2002 stinker Choking Hazard: Candy Gram. After the poor reception of his last few titles, I was certain Matt Hazard was gone forever, but D3 Publisher has just given me new hope with the announcement of Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, due out at the beginning of next year for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

“Eat Lead parodies some of our fondest memories in classic gaming and pop culture, so gamers will have a laugh out loud experience everytime they pick-up the controller,” said Pete Andrew, vice president, product development, North America, D3P. “With an original storyline, Eat Lead perfectly blends action and humor with rock solid gameplay for an experience like no other.”

The game features Matt Hazard finally making his big comeback, only to discover that the new game might just be a plot to kill him once and for all. Judging by the hilarious and rather elaborate viral marketing that’s cropped up for the title, we could be in for something special. Welcome back for the first time, Matt Hazard!