Oh yes, there’s more. So much more! Driver San Francisco, Halo Reach, Lara Croft & the Guardians of Light, Bulletstorm, Portal 2, Brink, Star Wars : The Old Republic, Shank, Crysis 2, Dead Space 2, Civilization V and Fallout New Vegas. Is that more enough for ya? Huh? IS IT? I asked you a question!!!!
Driver San Francisco – Where to begin with this…how about, what kind of weed are they smoking in the studio? You’re a cop named Tanner from the first Driver. Your rival from the second game, Jericho is…well, your enemy here too. You drive through San Francisco, smashing up stuff in alleys and the like. Now, if your quarry loses you during a chase, you can ‘shift’ in to other cars at a moment’s notice and now you drive that. How can you do that? Well, it’s because you’re in a coma. None of this is real, it’s just a big fever dream being experienced by a coma patient. The mechanic offers some neat options…shift in to a truck coming from the other way and go head on with the guy you’re chasing…but I cannot get past that plot. Seriously, who comes up with that? It’s like one of those terrible “It was all a dream” movie things, but they’re telling you that right off the start. Bizarre.
Halo Reach – It’s the…5th? 6th?…game in the series. The guy’s saying it’s the most ambitious game Bungie has ever made. Of course, at a show like this, that’s as significant as that chick from the bar that you hooked up with only having a mild case of herpes. Well, let’s see what they’ve got (Bungie, not the chick with the venereal issues). Did that make sense? It’s offensive and makes me chuckle…if it makes sense, that’s a bonus.
Okay, it definitely appears that you’re an early model Spartan this time, so you look more vulnerable. The Elites look pretty vicious this time…decent shots, and they aren’t afraid to charge into a melee with that energy sword. Actually, the Covenant AI as a whole seems to be using some good squad mechanics, giving each other cover fire and the like. Damn! Melee fighting has most definitely received a boost! Knife to the throat for the win! What the…was that trooper the EA Sports “It’s in the game!” guy? Holy shit…space combat? Very cool! Okay, there’s potential here. It looks varied enough that it might be worth looking at.
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light – You play a pair of tits who does some spelunking or something. Okay, major shift here to a sort of Action-RPG 3/4 view, and the focus is on 2 player co-op play. Now there’s some sort of rolling ball that can be used throughout the game in different ways…so the focus is still on spheres, just those of a different kind. And…yeah, I just don’t care. It really does have a nice look to it and I give them credit for shaking this tired franchise up, but I just think it’s played out. I don’t know if anyone is interested in this anymore, aside from the creepy 39 year old perverts who wanna see them some nudie pixels.
Bulletstorm – Uh oh. Well, at least it seems like the presenter has dropped the ridiculous ‘XTREME!!!’ shit from the EA press event. I really like the melee and environmental interaction attacks, and the energy leash seems interesting. Pull someone towards you, then kick him in to a fire, or an electrical panel, or a cactus, or…whatever. And you get reward points for creativity. Build up skill points to spend at drop shops (weapons store drop pods). The game looks gorgeous…very smooth animation with a LOT of shit happening on screen at one time. It really does seem fun…but for how long? At a certain point it seems like it will become a bit repetitive. And it’s really infantile…a ‘fire in the hole’ bonus for shooting a guy in the ass? Those ludicrous, groan worthy dick-based lines (I still can’t deal with ‘you scared my dick off’)? It’s almost like something you’d be embarrassed to be caught playing. “What? Bulletstorm? No, honey, I was surfing for nasty donkey show porn! Seriously!”
Portal 2 – The first one is a bit hard to explain…think a shooter where you don’t shoot anything. You use a Portal gun to open ‘doors’ in what is essentially a puzzle game. A crazy computer called Glados is running you through the game in Aperture Labs, and you have to get out. What is it with computers? Bring em to life and they go batshit crazy. It looks like there are a lot more environmental effects you can use to solve rooms this time in Aperture, which is half destroyed and starting to be overgrown with jungle. They’ve added a whole new mechanic now with gels, which can temporarily alter someone’s abilities. A lot of co-op available, too. Steamworks in the PS3 version makes things interesting…since Valve doesn‘t charge for extra content, does that mean Sony can’t charge for Portal 2 DLC?
Brink – Jesus…is the interviewer wearing capri pants? Dude, you’re a GUY! What are you doing?! Anyway…as for the game. So, the environmental interaction looks awesome. No more ‘oh, can’t get on that table because it’s an inch higher than you can jump’…you can now clamber on to it. You can vault over rails. You can slide under things. You can mantle (climb) your way up things. Very, very cool. Three different body types that come with different weapons and equipment options and play differently. Futuristic/cartoonish look that separates it from the 3,714 different ‘realistic milsims’ out there right now. I wasn’t really aware of this game previously, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for more now.
Star Wars : The Old Republic – First off, I’m growing a bit concerned that they keep showing nothing but cinematics. Show us what THE GAME looks like! Light vs. Dark PvP could be fun, but where do the ‘side’ characters like the smugglers and bounty hunters fit in to that? Also, shouldn’t a starship be earnable? I find it a bit strange that you start the game and get handed one. Player companions? And they AREN’T other player characters? How the fuck does that work in an MMO environment? I have some very big questions about how this is all going to come together.
Shank – I’ve been following this game for months. Think Metal Slug…side scrolling action game with a sense of humour. Mix in a tale of revenge, insane attack combos, gunfire ‘juggle’ attacks, shooting two guys on either side of you at once, and blood by the bucket. So…much…BLOOD. Some really nice graphics effects as well…one battle is shown entirely in silhouette against a sunset…very, very cool stuff. Also, a cool spaghetti western/Robert Rodriguez Mariachi trilogy style soundtrack…and actually, the Rodriguez movies are probably a pretty solid comparison from the looks of things. Now, the question is how controllable it all is. Hopefully the insane looking twin pistol, twin dagger, chainsaw, ambush, grenade in a guy’s mouth insanity is as fun to play as it is to watch. This one merits an embedded video…I deem it so!
Crysis 2 – This time, things start right off against the aliens without the prelude with you smashing North Koreans. And the environment has been moved from the jungle to the urban jungle of New York. Ugh…what a fucking douchey line.
Okay, they aren’t messing around with New York, or with it’s destruction. Massive energy strikes are blasting entire buildings in to clouds of rubble and the cityscape is enormous. As with the first game, you have your customizable suit. Use it to stealth your way around and go for quieter takedowns and ambushes. Amp up the strength and go all aggro Rambo upside some martian ass by kicking a taxi in to them. Whatever you wanna do. The game’s gorgeous, but that’s not a surprise…hopefully it doesn’t take two years for the average computer to be able to run it worth a shit. What the…okay, I think that alien was actually wearing a Rambo headband. Alien Rambo = win! Bonus points for the Crytek guy playing the game getting that ‘serious gamer face’ going during the demo.
Dead Space 2 – The first game was actually pretty solid, at least on the 360 (I’ve heard the PC controls sucked ass, but the devs have made a point of saying that won’t be the case again). However, it was definitely rough around the edges. This one looks a lot more polished, and a lot more open…less on rails equals goodness. And more types of enemies than…you know…ONE…also equals good. Some very cool looking zero gravity areas. Also, you can cut off an enemy’s claw arm with an attack, then use kinesis to pick it up and throw it at the guy you just sliced it off of…SWEET. Now, one of the guys presenting the demo is wearing an Isaac space suit. However, as hokey as that would normally be, everyone not making a big deal about it is awesome. “Ho hum, some dude in an armoured space suit is sitting here using a 360 pad.” The game is not stuck on a ship this time, either…it’s an entire city. The first game was sort of lost in the wash of a Christmas rush. Hopefully that doesn’t happen again.
Civilization V – Now, that’s a 5, not V as in the aliens from that TV show. Wow. WOW. That was awful even by my lax standards for humour. Perhaps this entry should end this post. Okay, the next Civ has some things I like a lot. I love the streamlined interface…everything is parked on the screen edges until/unless I decide to open it. Notifications ‘stack’ over to the side for me to look at when I want to rather than splattering themselves all over the middle of the screen space like kamikaze text. Interface aside, hexes have replaced squares and the maps look noticeably smoother. A one unit per hex limit means no more ‘stacks of uberdoom’, and ranged units firing multiple hexes adds a bit to the tactical part of the game. City states exist as NPC’s on the map, offering bonuses but also demands to any player who allies with them or beats out rivals for their favour. And FINALLY cities can make a fucking decision on their own on what to build…I don’t have to instruct every goddamn one of them that it would be real awesome if they’d build a fucking granary and barracks. Improved and deeper diplomacy sounds awesome, social bonuses give reason to not jump on every cultural change for a cheap pop and the end of the insanely simplified Religion system in the series all sound fine by me.
I was going to end it here, but I am REALLY, REALLY jazzed for the next game…
Fallout New Vegas – Take the Fallout 3 system and drop it in VEGAS, BABY!!! Yes…yes, I am forced to use that line. Anyway, it’s a post apocalyptic Vegas. The Strip is rebuilt. Feel free to explore, eat, drink (heavily), gamble (if you’re successful enough, you’ll get comps…get busted cheating, and they’ll toss you out…possibly as a corpse) and whatever else. Like in Fallout 3, quests and missions are everywhere. There are multiple factions all over the region. EVERY SINGLE NPC can be capped (except the few kids wandering around). Of course, killing the wrong guys will make some missions nigh impossible. You can also play a no kill game with bean bag shotguns and knockout punches…you know, if you suck. Companion management has been improved quite a bit. Also, melee combat is a thousand times more detailed and better, with special attacks with every melee item…there are also twice as many guns as Fallout 3 had. VATS is still there to pause, target a specific part of an enemy, and fire, but it sounds like the real time shooting part of it has also been beefed up.
The other big addition is the hardcore mode. Get hurt? You need someone with a medical skill to fix you up and time to heal. You need to eat, drink and sleep on a regular basis. You craft your own ammo. You fix your own gear. One bad hit will kill you.
All in all, the game looks sweet.
And amazing as it may seem, I am actually E3 burnt out for today. One more day of it tomorrow, then I’ll free your Twitters from constant “OOO, LOOK, SHINIES!” commentary. I’ll probably do a late review of the Konami press event (why Konami gets their own event is beyond me…), then rank the 6 big pressers. And any other games I see some good footage of, I’ll share. Cause I’m good like that…and fucking obsessed.
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