Unlike some people, I felt that E3 wasn’t a flop. Sure it was disappointing, but I’m trying to see the good in what we did see. Of course, no amount of reasoning is going to convince the fanboys of a certain franchise that there’s nothing wrong with having a certain game appear on another console. Think Devil May Cry multiplied by 100. Scary stuff. Anyway, here’s a list of the games to look out for.
Mirror’s Edge – PC, Playstation 3 & Xbox 360
It seems EA are finally making up for their poor attitude towards the industry. They are finally coming up with something original, and good looking to boot. The concept does sound bizarre, but that’s why it sounds so good. Mirror’s Edge is a first-person parkour (or free running) game. The idea is to use whatever means necessary to make your way from building to building, without being caught by the authorities. In practice it sounds hard, but EA have made it look easy, yet challenging at the same time. The fact it’s in a first-person view is intriguing. Normally, you’d expect this kind of game to be a third-person action adventure. Another interesting thing to note is the combat system. A lot of it seems to be based around parrying, dodging and disarming, yet the player can still use the weapons they obtain. Of course, a game like this isn’t complete without some gorgeous graphics. Mirror’s Edge holds the most potential so far. I’m looking forward to it.
Fable II – Xbox 360
It’s the RPG everyone’s talking about. From what I can tell, it’s going to be a tale like no other. Starting out simply as a kid and growing into an adult hero is something no-one has even conceived would be applied to the current generation of RPGs. Another interesting addition is the ability to play the game with someone else in a co-operative manner. When walking around the player will see orbs floating around which will represent the player’s friend playing the single player. All that’s needed is a quick invite, and the friend appears. The idea behind this is that the world of each player is different. What the player does affects not only how their character grows and matures, but how the world changes in general. Not only that, but you can get married, have a family and get a dog as a companion! Fable II is shaping up to be fantastic.
Wii Sports Resort – Wii
Now this is what the Wiimote needs. An attachment that gives 1:1 movement. What that means is that the player’s movements are simulated in the game exactly. The slightest movement will show up on the screen. This will allow for greater precision, and will add an element of a challenge to the games. Its name is Wii Motion Plus. As for the game, like the original Wii Sports, it’s like a tech demo to demonstrate the Wiimote’s capabilities, and will come bundled with the Wii Motion Plus attachment. The games this time look a lot more fun too. So far we’ve seen a frisbee game, a jet-ski game and a fencing/kendo game. While it may not boast awesome graphics or concepts, Wii Sports Resort will add yet another innovation to the Wii’s list.
Wii Music – Wii
About damn time. This game must have been announced last year, and now we finally get to see how it fairs. No prizes for guessing how you play each instrument. I am curious as to how the player will be able to play certain notes since the number of buttons will seemingly limit the number of notes that can be played. What I like is that there’s no pressure to perform well. All you do is play. One neat feature is the ability to record music videos. I am curious as to how that will work and be beneficial because game data doesn’t save on SD cards, and I highly doubt there will be an option to upload them to a Wii Music website. The most interesting part is the use of both the balance board and Wiimote + nunchuck combo. Obviously the Wiimote + nunchuck are used as drumsticks, and the balance board is used as the pedals. Quite funky.
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There were other announcements, but I’m keeping an eye on the following games because they could be a hit or a miss for me. Of course, they’ll be hyped up, but chances are I won’t get them due to fanboys, extreme hype and unreasonably high expectations from the gaming community.
Final Fantasy XIII – Playstation 3 & Xbox 360
Oh dear. The Sony fanboys are not amused. How dare Square-Enix broaden its audience and horizons by porting it to the Xbox 360! Good business practice needs to be moaned about on the internet by the “Oh-so-wise” Final Fantasy nerds and Sony fanboys. Gloating from Microsoft fanboys is also encouraged.
Jeez. Why do people get so wound up about Final Fantasy games? They aren’t the epitome of gaming. In fact, they aren’t even the best RPGs out there. I blame Final Fantasy VII. Anyway, enough ranting. This game looks rather dull. Oh, it’s pretty, I’ll give it that, but other than nice graphics (with some meh character design), what looks so good? I don’t see anything original or intriguing about it. I am clinging onto what little hope I have that it might be good. Final Fantasy XII was good, so what the hey!
Resident Evil 5 – Playstation 3 & Xbox 360
Resident Evil 4 was a good game. It did kind of stray from what the Resdent Evil series is (survival horror) onto the path of action horror. RE4 had atmosphere, but it still lacked the character that made Resident Evil one of the behemoths of modern horror games. From first appearances, Resident Evil 5 seems to be a reworked version of RE4. Again the focus is on blasting the hell out of everything that moves, and leaving no room for suspense and mystery. Even the story seems the same. However, it could very well be entertaining. The addition of a co-op mode seems a little iffy to me though. Given time, I could appreciate Resident Evil 5, so I’m keeping my eye on it.
There are other games besdides these, like Gears of War 2 and Left 4 Dead, that look kinda meh, but I will wait and see what other people think about them
I’m not going to go into an opinion of how each company performed in general. I’m sure someone (i.e. fanboys) will get mad, and giving an opinion on their performances is a bit redundant. Have a good one folks, and let me know what you thought of E3!
Maxon out.
18 July, 2008 at 4:52 pm |
There is a severe lack of Ravi Drums in this article. Although I do agree with you on all games mentioned.
18 July, 2008 at 6:05 pm |
I’ve not even heard of that. I’ll give that a look sometime soon though.
18 July, 2008 at 8:03 pm |
Glad Mirror’s Edge got a mention, it certainly seems like one of the more interesting titles on the horizon. The FPS genre needs some weirder titles to stop it from going stale.
18 July, 2008 at 8:08 pm |
You’re right, Wildcard. I have taken a look at The Conduit, and it just seems very bland/generic. However, the developer of that game is hoping to push the Wii to it’s limits, so The Conduit may be one to keep an eye on too.