Mad Sci, you were once curious about Virtools Dev2 (http://www.virtools.com) Well take a look at what I was able to put together in only a few hours (that includes the time required to model and animate the character and objects in 3DS Max )

http://www.poptronik.com/dev/

You need a joystick, also hit 1 key to activate the follow cam. Without a joystick, use the numpad to move the character.