(WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW)
Mass Effect 3
Let's start with my most anticipated game of E3, Mass Effect 3. There was a lot of news about Mass Effect 3 today. Yes, on the Xbox 360, Mass Effect 3 will support Kinect. No, you do not have to use it and I really don't plan on using it (that and I don't have it). And Casey Hudson also dropped a release date of March 6, 2012. A long ways away but there are still many games to keep me busy until then.
So from what we can see in the trailer and demo below, the Reapers' galactic invasion has begun and Shepard has many new tools to him/her defeat them. Combat is now much more refined with a roll system and the ability to shift from cover-to-cover which was not in the first two games. The power system appears to work just like in Mass Effect 2 which is okay because it was so fun.
Melee is going to be much more important with the omni-tool blade. I really don't know how it kills people, being a hologram, but hotdamn it looks awesome. Also stealth kills are possible. There will also be rail shooting segments. No word yet on the improved RPG elements but I expect to hear more about those later this week.
We can also see that Garrus and Liara are both back (provided Garrus survived the suicide mission) as squad members and both Mordin and Legion are also returning (again provided they survived). One of the demos I watched (which I can't post) also showed Anderson back as well and showed the Reapers beginning their obliteration of Earth.
All I can say is, it looks awesome and I can't wait to get more news about. Oh and the Widow Sniper Rifle is back. Hell yes and hello one-shot kills. I've also heard rumors that BioWare is planning on making trailers for FemShep which I really like given Hale's outstanding voice acting and that I'm primarily going to be playing as FemShep.
Batman: Arkham City
Now I can't post the demo for this because it was an exclusive demo on GameTrailers. However, I can relay what I saw and what I saw was beautiful. Take Arkham Asylum (already one of the greatest licensed games in history), adapt the controls to better allow free-roaming and you've got Arkham City. Okay it's more than that.
Obviously we now all know that Catwoman is playable. Basically the game is going to have you switching between playing as Batman and Catwoman throughout the story. Think of it kind of like Resident Evil 2 where you switched off between Claire and Leon. Though you'll definitely primarily be playing as Batman. Catwoman's fighting style is graceful and elegant compared to Batman's tank approach. She has a whip that she can use to disarm and stun opponents as well.
Everything that we saw in the gameplay trailer appears to be right on the money. Traversing the environment is much easier this time as you can go into a glide and have full control over it as well as fire your grappling hook midglide and either land on the building or use it to propel you forward more for extra gliding. Also, interrogations. You can mark thugs to interrogate who will point you out to different Riddler challenges throughout the city.
It's shaping up to be an awesome sequel to an awesome game so get ready for October 18 when Arkham City hits store shelves.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was arguably the best game of 2009 with outstanding gameplay and level design, incredible graphics, a good story, and voice acting equaled only by a few games like Mass Effect and Enslaved. So we as gamers now expect a lot from its sequel and it's looking pretty damn good.
The trailer below shows that Drake is looking for what is known as the Atlantis of the Sands in Arabia. Opposed by the game's villain, Katherine Marlowe, he's joined by the returning Victor "Sully" Sullivan. Also returning are Elena Fisher and Chloe Frazier. How much of a role they'll play in the game, I can't say. And the game looks beautiful.
The only problem is that while the demo looks really fun, it doesn't look like they added too much. To be fair, Uncharted 2 was so amazing that they really didn't need to. But I want this to feel like a full sequel in terms of gameplay and story in both single-player and multi-player (okay maybe not story there). But I'll save my judgment until the game comes out and even then it looks awesome.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Like with Arkham City, no footage as it was a GT exclusive. But what I saw was simply awesome. The details that I got from the demo they showed were as follows. First they changed the animation to make 3rd-person a viable way to play which it was not in Oblivion. There will be over 150 dungeons in the game and dragons are going to be a major focus. The dragons are unscripted meaning they can show up at anytime in the game and may do anything. Hurting them enough will ground them and killing them will give your powers and abilities a permanent boost. A few of the abilities in the game are breathing fire (yes, you can breathe fire) and calling a storm down to hurt enemies.
The skill system will primarily work the same way as Oblivion's and factions will also be returning. Stealth gameplay will also be returning and you can now dual-wield any single-handed weapon. You can also dual-wield SPELLS which add to their potency.
A new engine, dubbed the Creation Engine, was built specifically for this game and it looks beautiful. I had trouble getting into Oblivion but this game looks flat out awesome and a heavy contender for the best game at E3.
Battlefield 3
Battlefield 3 and Mass Effect 3 were the big dogs at EA's press conference so it made sense that they start and end with each one. EA closed off with Battlefield 3 and gave us a definitive release date of October 25. A big move by EA, launching it two weeks before Modern Warfare 3. It also makes October even more difficult for me with Dark Souls, Arkham City, and now this.
DICE created the Frostbite 2 Engine for Battlefield 3 and it looks awesome. Absolutely beautiful. Also they're launching Battle Log with it which will go over all your battle stats and unlike Modern Warfare 3's, it's 100% free. In the demo they showed off we saw a Paris map and they also showed off an assault in a Tehran desert so watch it below. Multiplayer is showing today and I'll write on that tomorrow. Finally an open beta will be launched sometime in September so keep an eye out for that.
Bioshock Infinite
With the exception of the apology and some Uncharted stuff for both PS3 and the new PSV (Playstation Vita, their new handheld), God of War games on the PSP coming to the PS3, and a few other things, Sony's press conference was boring focusing more on the Move and talking points than the actual games.
Bioshock Infinite caught my attention though and I'm very excited to see more of what this game has to offer. On the PS3, it will have Move support, whether it will have Kinect support on the 360 I don't know. I couldn't find a demo to post on here but I did find a teaser trailer and it looks awesome. Sure, the setting looks nothing like Rapture but it still looks really cool so take a look at that.
Tomb Raider
I've got to say that I was a little underwhelmed by the Tomb Raider demo. It looked cool and it looks like they're really pushing the survivor angle but it was made up of almost nothing but QTEs with the occasional puzzle thrown in.
So yeah at the end of the day, I feel that it could have been better with more complex platforming but this is just a demo so I'll reserve judgment.
OTHER GAMES
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
We got our first look at gameplay from Assassin's Creed: Revelations yesterday and it looks VERY similar to ACII and Brotherhood. I'm not disappointed as I expected that but I'm not quite as excited for it as I was for those two games. It still looks awesome and I'm curious to see how Ezio's story will end. This one will also involve Altair as Ezio will be to open seals that reveal to him pieces of Altair's memory throughout the game.
Where this is all going, I'm not really sure but unpredictability is a trademark of this franchise and I'm curious to see how it will continue. Also FLAMETHROWER TURRET!!!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Obviously the big dog of the game industry, Microsoft opened their press conference with a demo of Modern Warfare 3. It looked cool from what I saw but just like Scott said in his blog, more of the same. That doesn't mean that the game looks fun and there were really awesome moments like infiltrating the Russian sub but not much has changed. I am glad that slow-mo breaches are back. Those kicked ass.
Dead Island
Dead Island got a release date yesterday of September 6 in the US and September 9 everywhere else. It looks cools from what I've seen. I've read that it's primarily an open-world co-op game with zombies, a focus on melee, and RPG elements with skill trees. It seems a little like Left 4 Dead but hopefully it has enough elements of its own to separate itself from that crowd.
Gears of War 3
The Microsoft Press Conference also showed a single-player demo for Gears of War 3 and it didn't really surprise me all that much. It looks cool but I've never been the biggest Gears fan. It's definitely a rental for me and the mech suits look awesome and taking cover behind them is also a cool feature. They're like miniature walking tanks. From what I can tell, the Lambent have become a major problem and that's going to be the main focus of the game. So, here's the demo with Cliff Bleszinski and Ice-T, who's voice acting for the game.
Halo
Two pieces of Halo news yesterday. First off, Halo: Combat Evolved is getting remastered for the 360 with Xbox Live capability. The entire campaign is being remastered and graphically updated for the 360 as well. If you enjoyed the original, you might want to keep your eye out at least for a rental.
Second, Microsoft confirmed a new Halo trilogy with the reveal of Halo 4 which picks up sometime after Halo 3 showing Cortana waking up Master Chief from cryo-sleep as the half-ship they're on heads towards what looks like...a mass relay from Mass Effect? I'm sure it's not that but that's kind of what it looks like.
OverStrike
Insomniac is making a multiplatform game. Before they've mostly just made games for the PlayStation consoles like Ratchet and Clank and Resistance. But now they're working with EA and making OverStrike and the trailer was freaking awesome. It's going to be co-op with four distinct characters with differing abilities. The trailer was fun and hilarious and the animation style made me think this was like The Incredibles WITH GUNS! I'm keeping my eye on this.
Rayman Origins
Rayman is making a return. Yes the armless and legless character is being brought back by Ubisoft in glorious 2D and it looks like so much fun. Originally it was announced as episodic downloadable titles on the different platforms but it's been combined into a full retail release that will be in store shelves later this year.
After the success of some other big revivals, if Ubisoft puts as much care into this as say Retro did into Donkey Kong Country Returns, this is going to be one badass game.
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Finally The Old Republic got a new trailer yesterday. Unfortunately there was no gameplay and no release date but we did get the opening prologue to the game.
What does seem to be confirmed is that Jennifer Hale is voicing Satele Shan. Very appropriate given that Bastila Shan from Knights of the Old Republic is one of her most well-known roles along with Commander Shepard from Mass Effect and Naomi Hunter from Metal Gear Solid. I actually would have liked to have seen fan reaction if she WASN'T voicing her character's descendant.
Well that's everything that I could possibly post from yesterday. Everything that's shown today, I'll give updates on tomorrow. See you then.
As a huge Halo fan I have to say that I'm worried about the future of the franchise now that Bungie is gone. Halo 4 looks intriguing, but can it retain the quality of the previous 5 games? I'll try and stay optimistic about this, just as I'm optimistic about Screed Revelation, but the trailer was WAY too loud. Remember the original announcement trailers for Halo 3 and Halo Reach? Yeah, those were good trailers.
ReplyDeleteThe Halo CE remakeover is just a stupid cash grab. I just played through the game a couple of months ago and it's still a perfectly fine game. The graphics are dated but acceptable, and the gameplay doesn't have a lot of the bells and whistles that have come to define FPSs made since, but I don't think that warrants it a remake.