My
favourite part of E3! The games! And this year’s lineup was pretty darn good, I
have to admit. I am dying to get my hands on some of the
soon-to-be-masterpieces. Seriously, I can’t wait.
So
let’s get into it, shall we? Here’s my list of games to look out for:
·
The
Last of Us
·
Beyond:
Two Souls
·
Nintendo
Land
·
Dead
or Alive 5
·
Tomb
Raider
There’s
probably more, but at the moment I can’t think of any others, but some of the
above games are just fantastic. Wanna know more? Look below:
Overview
The
batch of games we got was just great. Well, we always say that, and next year,
we end up saying they were good too, but yeah, whatever. Now, you know how
there’s tons of “action/adventure” games out there now? Well, E3 2012 seems to
be full of the stuff; Tomb Raider + The Last of Us + Beyond (not sure) +
Assassin’s Creed III, and probably others, but they were the most noteworthy.
Just one thing, every action/adventure is copying off Uncharted. Seriously, I’ve
said this so many times over. Another gripe is the lack of innovative and
revolutionary games. Technically, I am being a bit harsh, but aside from
Beyond, and ZombiU, I was about disappointed in the originality of the games.
Sure they sound great. Sure they look fun. But it’s not like they’re blowing
everything out of the water. It’s the old, with a new coat of paint, and some
new decorations here or there, and some patching up. But I digress, there are
some nice additions. Really there are.
Specifics:
·
The
Last of Us
A
post-apocalyptic survival 3rd Person shooter (whew, that was long!)
it’s your typical “the world’s ended” survival game. But it just looks so good!
The graphics are just superb, and they really capture the “oh no, it’s the end
of the world” thing. The concept is pretty interesting too; basically, there’s
two survivors from a disease that affected the entire world, causing fungus to
grow in their head and something like that. Pretty cool, huh? You play as Joel,
and you’re accompanied by a girl who must be Navi (an annoying whiny fairy from
Zelda) except grown up and less annoying, and more helpful. Anyway, there is
violence! And it’s just great to watch! The fighting is really gritty and
visceral; melee, shooting, and even Molotov cocktail (like a bomb from alcohol)!
The interface seems to be real time; if you’ve played Legend of Zelda: Skyward
Sword, you’ll get what I mean. If you don’t, well I’ll explain. Basically, you
know how you have to access your inventory, or switch weapons, and stuff like
that? Well, when you’re busy getting that health potion out, enemies can still
move around, and the action doesn’t pause; you have to do it in actual time.
Overall, it’s a bit clichéd,
but very nice looking game we’ve got. I would’ve liked multiple solutions to
things, and I really want to be able to make more bombs and stuff like that,
because it just sounds great. This game DID come from the makers of Uncharted,
so we know it’s gonna be good. Because it’s so much like Uncharted, I think it’s
going to be just as good.
·
Beyond:
Two Souls
I
can’t express my joy for this. I really can’t. It’s quite a departure from the
norm of its genre. Oh, and the facial modelling. IGN, Gamespot, Kotaku, etc,
have all noted this. And it is just out of this world. Anyway, Beyond has a
very mature, gritty, and noir tone about it; not for little kiddies. Gritty and
mature are what describe it. You play two characters; a girl who has an
unknown-as-of-now past, with her pet ghost. Well, maybe not her pet, but
companion at least. He protects her using his ghostly powers. Oh yeah, it’s a
him. It’s all about what happens beyond death
(see what I did there?) and the ghost links back to this. The gameplay is
similar to most action/adventure. Except for when you’re in control of the
ghostie guy. He can do your standard ghost stuff; frighten people, go through
walls, make shield bubbles, and all that supernatural stuff. But the way they
presented and showed me at E3 just blew me away. My description sucks. The
overall concept is a mature one, and I’m really interested. It sounds good,
right?
 |
| No, this is not a soon-to-be blockbuster movie that will become an all time classic that will forever more be engraved in history. No. It's an amazing game. But still, I reckon someone should make a movie on this. |
Overall, this is a
revolutionary game. I can’t pick up many faults; it’s tense and dramatic, while
mysterious and gripping. It’s like a murder mystery, and once you start
reading/playing, you can’t put it/the controller down. There are some really
great concepts there, and there’s no doubt in originality.
·
Nintendo
Land
It’s
the new Wii U version of Wii Sports! … I think anyway. Well, that’s what
Nintendo said anyway. I haven’t looked it up too much, but I quite like it; it’s
like Super Smash Bros, but Wii Sports style. A whole bunch of minigames, all
based on other Nintendo games (Mario, Zelda, Pokemon for example), thrown into
a theme park. Guess what it’s called? Nintendo Land. I’m loving it. You can use
your Miis too, so it adds to the fun. And to make matters even more wild, the
gameplay evolves and shifts if you use different controllers. Wanna use your
old Wiimote? You can! Wanna bring out that Wii Balance Board? You can! Wanna
bust out that Wii U Gamepad, with it’s multiple and complicated (and expensive)
design? You frickin’ can! It sounds so … Nintendo-like. Oh wait, it’s from
Nintendo. It sounds very original, and the gameplay will surely draw in
hardcore Nintendo fans, and it’s an interesting idea. I’m keeping tabs on this.
·
Tomb
Raider
Uh…
Lara, old girl? You’re supposed to be raiding tombs, not trying to survive on
an island. … Oh, I see, this is a reboot… Wait … WHAT?!
Anyway,
yes, it’s a reboot of this series. Lara’s fresh outta college … and happens to
be stranded on an island with hostiles. So, Bear Grylls time it is! Anyway,
another standard action/adventure type gameplay, though some of it seems pretty
darn clever, even Zelda-like in smartness of delivery.
Let’s
say Lara is being confronted with enemies. She’s at the top of a hill, and the
baddies are getting up. What’s she to do? Well, personally, I’d hack and slash
through their ranks, leaving a bloody mess behind me, like in Ninja Gaiden, but
nope, Lara shoots a bunch of stacked barrels, and lets gravity do the work for
her. She then climbs onto a metal roof thingy, and doesn’t have to step over
bodies! Sounds almost like Zelda, huh? There’s parachuting (and hitting trees),
swimming (well, more like being swept away by a strong current and trying to
stay alive in it), ducking while randoms are shooting away at her, jumping HUGE
distances (and while she’s at it, waving her arms like an idiot) and more
action-ish stuff. It’s pretty awesome. It’s what every action/adventure game
aspires to be. Except … the linear passages. There’s no choice on where to go,
so the exploration goes down, while the action goes up. Not sure if I like that.
And what’s more, too many quick time events. Seriously, God of War was good
with that, but I think we’ve had enough of those for a lifetime. But aside
that, I am so excited. Goodbye Uncharted, hello Tomb Raider!
·
Dead
or Alive 5
She’s
alive! After a 7-ish year hiatus, our favourite boob-bouncy fighter is back!
With more maturity clearly. The boobs aren’t gone (I’m sure some people are pleased) but the game’s
taking a darker and more mature turn. And the graphics are beautiful. The
characters now look more like human beings instead of dolls, and the
environments look wonderful as ever. There’s also Power Blows, which is your
equivalent of a special, and Cliffhangers, which is a bit complicated to explain,
but I’ll say more later. Overall, Dead or Alive 5 is looking great. I think it’s
really time for it to compete in the fighting game competition – everything’s
been upgraded, and while I am a bit concerned for the online, the actual
fighting will be well worth the wait.
Ok!
I have more opinions on the games, but I might post some more in a couple days,
so watch out! Next up is a concluding statement for E3 2012!
