From the way it's being described and the screenshots seen so far, my best guess is that Barbarian will play like a 3-D Super Smash Bros. with a complex story. The reason being that you can interact with all sorts of objects and characters, up to eight characters can fight onscreen at once, and there are many different areas to fight in. According to the game's page, you have to search for each fighting arena, so it sounds like there is an overworld to explore as well, possibly with even more enemies to fight and earn experience with to improve your character. Barbarian sounds like a really interesting game, and one to keep an eye out for when it comes out.