Let’s jump back into it…E3 Expo recap part 2:
Rock Band 3
God-dammit I hate being wrong. Ugh! Just when I thought knew this series inside and out, they go out of their way to show me they still have a trick or two up their sleeve. Alright, the new features Harmonix has to dish out are gigantic leaps into the future and have completely retooled the music game genre. First off there’s the keyboard. I thought I didn’t need this either, and it actually can teach you rudimentary piano. I’ll tell you how in a second, but first let me assuage any doubt on this you may have by telling you the first song the creators demonstrated for the press was “The Power Of Love” by Huey Lewis and The News…… Don’t you dare act like you haven’t watched Back to The Future a thousand times and don’t know the lyrics by heart. The keyboards work, and they work because of a new “PRO” mode that is exclusive to the Keyboard and Guitar.
The new Keyboard is comprised of 25 keys and split up into the 5 color bars. In regular mode, you are required to press a key in the octave color at the right time. In Pro Mode, however, you are required to hit the specific key at the right time… I can’t emphasize this well enough, THE GODDAMN GAME IS TEACHING YOU HOW TO BASICALLY PLAY PIANO!!! Still not impressed? Peripheral gurus Mad Catz are making two new guitars for the game. One has a mock string strumming area, the other has 102 button spread across the neck representing 6 stings and 17 frets. The other is an actual guitar that just happens to work on the damn game… just happens to have 6 strings, 17 frets and is made by Squire/Fender. In Guitar Pro mode you actually are required to hit the right string, the right fret(s), at the right time. This is GUITAR TAB BOOT CAMP!! Still not impressed? What if I told you all three of these new instruments also function as midi devices? Got your attention now, do I?
All the songs will be backwards compatible, but what they intend to do with the Pro Mode versions of older songs remains to be determined. The Rock Band 3 disc itself will feature 83 brand spanking new tracks from a collection of artists such as the White Stripes, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Cure, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts and the almighty Dio (RIP). Ozzy Osbourne has Crazy Train coming to the set list, and Queen has licensed Bohemian Rhapsody for the game.
Kinect
Kinect works, it does what it should and down the line will probably have a dozen new applications once it’s taken out of the hands of cheesy actors in a press conference. Did it blow my mind? I wouldn’t go that far, but it certainly was impressive. Is it the next step in gaming evolution? That remains to be seen, but it’s at least the prototype of the next big idea. My only issue at this point is the marketing. Specifically, it’s not marketed at me. I’m in no need to get a virtual pet tiger, so Kinectimals isn’t going to be my bag. Sorry Harmonix, I don’t dance, I mosh; if Dance Central does not have slam dancing I’m going to skip it. The Go-Cart game, Kinect Joy Ride, looks alright but still futile when sandwiched between Mario Kart and ModNation Racers. I guess Forza 4 is the only game that is aimed at me, but considering that I found the cars in that series to handle like Cement bricks, I’m hesitant on getting behind the wheel without a controller. Not saying these games are bad, they just fail to spark my interest. They’re marketed at the children, the Wii-crowd. I don’t necessarily want a pet tiger, but no doubt a 7 year old will. I don’t want to dance, but a 10 year old girl wants this. Kinect isn’t marketed for me, not yet. Microsoft needs to push it out there this holiday season and market it as the completely controller free peripheral and then start finding a way to pair it with games that do use a controller in 2011. Microsoft, listen up, if 2011 comes around and you do not start thinking up this kind of mixed integration, you will hit a wall rather quickly.
Now, where I am interested in Kinect is its integration outside of gaming. The added features it brings to the Xbox Live interface will definitely be the bridge into something unique. I can yell at my Xbox to pause a movie, eject a disc or log me onto Facebook. Voice and facial recognition seems a lot more interesting, and I guess the majority of us are waiting for a time when this technology can be integrated in a deep and meaningful way into actual games rather than just for the browser interface.
Child Of Eden
At their press conference, Ubisoft unveiled a new game exclusive to Kinect called Child Of Eden. It comes to us via Tetsuya Mizuguchi, who aside from designing Lumines and Space Channel 5, is most known on the indie gamer circuit as the creator of Rez. You use the Kinect controls as a bizarre space shooter, set against a wild and vivid artistic backdrop. Not a lot to it and it needs the visuals to do it justice, but certainly the most interesting game Kinect has to show. It looks like a spectacular crazy outing for the peripheral and is the same high-quality visual masterpiece we’ve come to expect from this crazy designer.
While I may be anticipating this gaming acid trip, I’m sure my female readers are slightly disappointed by what essentially is a hands-free version of Rez… or not, because you aren’t hip to obscure Japanese culture. People who remember Rez, remember Rez’s distinguishing peripheral- the Trance Vibrator (no, no that’s actually what it was called, and it’s essentially as dirty as it sounds). It was a long pad that was designed to vibrate wildly in sync with the music of the game, which itself was tied directly with the players actions. It got more active with each increasing level and as the difficulty increased. It was never explicitly sold for the “private” purposes, but let’s just say that it was a hit with women who were clued in and had extra money to import it from Japan. Safe to say it’s the only peripheral that no one has ever bought used.
Marvel Vs Capcom 3: Fate Of Two Worlds
I never thought I’d see the day… For anyone with doubts or reservations about the game being rendered in 3D polygons, let me just put your worries to rest by saying IT PLAYS JUST LIKE MVC2. Imagine the game we cherish so much was rendered on the Lost Planet 2 engine, and you have a fighter with rich, lush colors, rendered in absolutely beautiful detail, with new impressive roster of characters. My mouth waters every time I think about this game, and it should. The newest addition besides a whole extra 0.5th of a degree are three new fan-favorite combatants: Dante, Chris Redfield, and Deadpool. Let’s take a beat and realize that Deadpool is in the mother fucking game, and he has an arsenal of witty quips to dish out at his opponent. Everyone’s favorite Merc With A Mouth is immortalized in the hall of world’s greatest warriors. Dante, his slick, trench-coat-wearing counterpart, is on full display with a battery of truly epic combos and plenty of long ranged firepower. Best of all though, Chris Redfield is the fighter’s choice du jur. Long ranged projectile attacks, mixed with brutal close range strikes, Chris Redfield is the answer to anyway who picked Cable in the last game. Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. More characters have still to be announced, and no word as to how many characters we’ll see in total.
Fallout: New Vegas
I am going to be in a suit, Sinatra on my stereo, and a glass of Scotch in my hand when I load this up for the first time. My apartment will be as clean as a whistle, and I may have a cigar ready for anyone who wants to partake. A little touch of class never hurt nobody. Bravo Obsidian for making me a bigger dork, and for bringing a fun element to the otherwise baron and bleak wasteland.
The game takes place years after the events of Fallout 3 on the other end of the country. Didn’t finish Fallout 3? Don’t worry, totally new person with a completely new cast. In fact, so far the only thing we know about the new “protagonist” is that this mysterious stranger just happens to have Pip-Boy. The demo we saw of Fallout New Vegas joined our new protagonist in two distinct locations. The first is on the strip itself, which deserves some credit for being the liveliest thing to appear in a Fallout game thus far (more than Oasis). Like the genuine article, Vegas is lit up and the city is bustling with gamblers and swingers…… ok, so significantly less than in real life, but the point is that even something as petty as a World War against the Chinese won’t stop Nevada’s number one hot-spot from doing what it does best. Casinos are tied to local factions, and inside there are plenty of options to piss away one’s money… I mean, play games of chance. Interesting note, your skill in a game of cards is actually now influenced by your luck S.P.E.C.I.A.L, so don’t take it for granted.
The other area was a rescue mission and raid on a camp inhabited by the New California Republic. Not entirely sure why the state of California is decidedly aggressive against it’s Just-Past-State-Line-Desert-Gambling-Oasis, but the mission we played through had us rescuing our fellow Nevada residents from a tribe of militia men rallied behind a flag with a bear on it. Mishmash armed ourselves with rifles and shotguns and painted the cabins red and pink with the exploded heads of our fellow Californians…… sorry. The VATS aiming system in back from Fallout 3, but the game has also improved the aiming to make iron-sight aiming more accurate and ween players off the aiming assist for every kill. Also, your actions in addition to affecting a morality meter are now linked to factions. Doing something for the benefit of one specific group will have to be taken into account as you grow a reputation across the wasteland. However, it has been confirmed but details are light that you can play through the game as a pacifist. Like in the old Fallouts you can finish the game without killing a damn thing and being able to talk your way out of every conflict. We’ll report on it later when we find out more, but for now an interesting prospect in the world of Fallout.
The last quick noticeable detail is the Hardcore mode. This sounds br00tal, I do not think I have the patience to put up with this, but if this floats your boat, have at it. The features of this mode include an added weight to bullets, eating food and drinking water are a necessity, you have to plan in enough sleep for your character, Stimpacks will have a delayed healing effect, and rumor has it they will spoil over time. Final details have yet to be cemented, but if you want to prove you are THE badass Wasteland warrior, I wish you the best of luck. May god have mercy on your Wastelander.
X-COM
Probably the best showing I saw at E3. The same creative minds behind the original Bioshock is putting their talents towards resurrecting an old series and turning it into the 1950’s version of the Men In Black, sign me up! Actually in a sense this is the premise of the game.
Ok, this game resembles the best of Bioshock and transports that to a completely new setting of 1950’s Normal Rockwell Suburbia. No longer is everything a constrained linear trudge through corridors that are wet, dark, and on fire… well, soon enough everything does light on fire. X-COM refers to a secret government agency dedicated to investigating paranormal disturbances and reports of extra-terrestrial life on Earth. Players will report to X-COM central and acquire new missions and weapons. Load up and roll out with your partners to investigate strange phenomena across the country.
The mission MishMash was treated to took us to a suburban neighborhood where a mysterious black junk is infesting the town. I want to congratulate this studio once again for their insane attention to detail when it comes to architecture. By far, these creators have provided the absolute pinnacle of game scenery, and what makes them brilliant is their dedication to the smallest detail that makes this neighborhood fit right back into the golden age of television or the concept of an under-water utopia actually seem possible. I’m not sure whether I want them designing a game or my first house, just throwing it out there. As we wander down the block our attention is called around to different parts of the neighborhood, like a man being choked to death by the amorphous alien entity or a housewife screaming in the distance. Our X-COM agents are armed to the teeth with Revolvers and shotguns, and are also making use of an electricity gun. Inside the designated house the aliens will start popping out of anything from sinks, to electrical sockets to pipes in the ceiling. The greatest weapon in your arsenal is an incendiary grenade made from their gelatinous bodies. Throw it on their slimy trail and watch them burst into flames. At the end of the rescue, as we’re about ready to leave we see a glimpse of the Alien Obelisk. Setting up more questions than answers this alien relic starts chasing us down the street shining an ominous light around the neighborhood and disintegrating matter in its path. Cars, lawns, houses, pavement, and even you will be vaporized if you are caught in its path. X-COM is classic sci-fi served up right in video game form; definitely get your preorders in.
Crysis 2
Here is a case of mixed reactions. This will a blockbuster hit, the CryEngine 3 will be the envy of the digital world for years. Graphically, very little will even come close to its ability to render this smoothly.
But if you honestly want my opinion, buy a console copy and be done with it. This game is obviously made for the PC snob who has fooled himself into thinking his fresh off the assembly line Alienware can handle it on high specs, but the PC demonstration I saw had more flaws in it than a Roach Motel. It’s not like I saw a load from the full game, or a video they were thumbing a controller to, this was a specified demo they rolled out. Frame-drops, texture glitches, hit detection bugs, and jittery AI all made the absolute spectacle of game design a walking time-bomb. The game looks tremendous too. Big epic fights are abound in this game, with full-scale battles ravaging crucial landmarks throughout Manhattan. The power suit looks like it has been retooled for the new environment. Old features like super-speed and invisibility actually have the ability to turn the tide of battle in this game.
I’d try to elongate this report on Crysis 2, but the details of the story seem too murky to wade through, I mean, other than Aliens in New York. The first one was about US special-forces finding Aliens in North Korea, this one is about them finding us at home. The bring tripods, brutes, and a ton of fire-power as they wreck havoc across the island. The demo I saw had a major shoot-out inside Grand Central station… I’m kinda surprised this hasn’t happened sooner. A major lobby slugfest is disrupted when an alien tripod breaks down one wall and begins firing on anything that moves. Luckily for you (or just the demo team) someone was courteously thoughtful enough to leave a couple rocket launchers and remote mines laying around.
Listen, I want to close on my earlier advice: get this on a console if you have one. It’s going to be a behemoth of a game and if you are into shooters, this will be one of the best coming this year. I warn you though, if you absolutely cannot be pinned down to a 1080P resolution, if you feel that you have hardware to make this look better than great, then I wish you and your money the best of luck, I just don’t want to hear you crying on a forum.
Rage
Best new IP of the show. This game has been delayed, and pushed back, and delayed, and retooled even further, and finally the finished product is ready for showtime and possibly the best looking game of the convention. About a year ago I mused that the video game world desperately needs ID software. The guys who pioneered the First Person Shooter still get how a first person shooter should look, and how to create a new series from the ground up. You know, for all the problems Wolfenstein had, it still had well-designed levels and Nazi Ninja Women that beat the snot out of anything I’ve shot in a Call Of Duty game. Not that that’s my thing, they looked dreamed out of a Rob Zombie video, but completely usurped any bullshit gritty realism every other game on the shelf seems to strive for. Before E3 I said that Rage looked me-too-ish following behind Borderlands and Fallout (I also was unaware that Rage had been bought up by Bethesda). While still feeling familiar, Rage more strikes me as a refinement on what made ID games the envy of the games industry a decade and a half ago, while injecting new life that draws a line in the sand and dares challengers to cross.
The demo had a couple distinct locations. The first part we saw was the opening location was the valley, where we find ourselves trekking through the massive wasteland infested with blood-thirsty mutants. The open-world feel is different from what we have traditionally seen out of ID, it stays true to it’s quick reflexes gameplay, and before long hand you the keys to a buggy and let you take off. You will fight off the hordes of mutants and bandits with twin mounted turrets as you race through huge gorgeous canyons. Special note should also be made that this will be the first game made with the new ID Tech 5. Just when I thought ID Tech 4 was starting to look a little stale on Wolfenstein and Modern Warfare 2, ID Tech 5 came along to deliver beautifully rendered terrain and dynamic NPC’s.
The next location is the city of Wellspring, which serves as the base of operations for the majority of the game. In Megato… Wellspring you are able to find new weapons, upgrade weapons and vehicles, or even take in special races or side mini games that local pedestrians are playing on the sidewalks. The mission featured in the demo of Wellspring was a romp in a sewer level… you laugh, but lets face it, these are the guys that put this cliché in video games. Interesting though was the way that enemies now reacted in small, close-quarter hallways. Enemies are now acrobatic, jumping off the walls and ceiling as they charge you, and also respond to specific damage points. You hit him in the leg he will now limp at you while he’s wielding a pipe to smash your brains out. Also, enemies will jump down from one ledge to the floor your on so be aware of your surrounding at all time. We only saw a few weapons in the demo, but interesting enough the weapons have different types of ammo you can choose between. The weapon select menu lets you switch between the gun and the bullet you use. The cross-bow for example had the tradition quills to hammer into a mutant’s distorted face, but also had an electro-bolt. This came particularly in hand when a group of bandits didn’t notice us coming while they we looting bodies in the water. Last mention should be made to custom weapons like the exploding RC Car that was made from an abundance of tech points and was used to clear out a room full of bandits with.
The last thing we saw was out in an abandoned plain where we got a glimpse of an oncoming attack from a GIANT MUTANT. I am straining to recall the awesome horrifying details of this monster, suffice to say it was big and ugly. The kind of thing that the Single Player Peter Parker out there will be receipting all their favorite monster movie lines during the fight (there are some good ones in Men In Black, and remember to always end the final blow with “Smile You Sonuvabitch”). With a dry cool wit like that, I can be an action star.
Motion Controllers
Folks, this is Michael being frank here… I mean, honest. The media has taken to a discussion on motion controls and the upcoming Microsoft and Sony releases of Kinect and Move, and for the most part, the dialogues have grown increasingly hostile to the new gadgets. The quick bottom line I can offer on both is that they work and generally work well for what they are trying to achieve. If you see a game coming around for either of them, and looks fun, and you’ve tried and is fun, you as the consumer should be encouraged to go buy it if it agrees with your budget. Forum trolls will be forum trolls, and press speculation will be that as well, and you know what? Microsoft and Sony wouldn’t put this much time, money, and energy into this if they couldn’t sell it. Do I find either product to be the most amazing thing that ever existed, no, but they are still fun an functional. Will this new technology take away from my more hardcore preferred game-style? No, it didn’t happen on Wii, it’s not going to happen here. The games you want will still be made. Maybe motion games you didn’t expect to enjoy will find their way into your living room. Who knows, maybe Microsoft and Sony will find a way to sell something to the new kids on the block. Something I’ve suspected about kids for a while now, it can’t be all that hard to sell something to little kids. Will motion technology be the future? A step closer I guess, personally though, I still hope someone is taking a stab at Virtual Reality as the ultimate future, so c’mon don’t let me down yet.
Honestly, I own a PS3 and an Xbox 360 (and 8 other previous-gen systems), and have not particularly cared about motion controls yet. Not that I don’t find them fun, just not interesting enough to dig into my wallet and buy a Wii. When I see the other two companies making their devices, I am suddenly more interested in motion controls. Enough to play Killzone 3 with move? Not particularly, unless there is some added incentive, or the controls are that much better, or a trophy that comes along with it (sadly, I will finish the game on hard and Move for a gold trophy). But I did see Time Crisis for PS3 on the showroom floor, and I know that Dead Space Extraction is coming bundled with Dead Space 2. I haven’t had the need to own a rail shooter for a home console, mostly because I didn’t want a plastic gun that only works on at most two games during a system’s life span, but if I already have Move, what’s stopping me? Now a rail shooter has peeked my interest. I never cared about an exercise game in the past, just was not going to buy a new system and a balance board for it. Kinect seems to have every major company signed on to shave my gut off with their new fitness game. Why not? I could use some more exercise, and Kinect seems to be the end all best choice for this. Ultimately, more games benefit the well-rounded gamer.
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