Random E3 thoughts . . .

- With all the changes done to E3, it does not look like we'll be seeing any of the big surprises or announcements from years past. The biggest news probably came from Microsoft's camp, with the redesign of the Dashboard (not sure I like it), the addition of Avatars, a Netflix partnership and the announcement that the 360 will be getting Final Fantasy XIII on day one (not a big deal to me since I own both systems and I have not cared for FF since part VII). Nintendo announced their controller doohickey attachment that makes the Wiimote more accurate and a GTA game for the DS. And Sony showed their new video store. Everything else we basically already knew about.

- Gears of War 2 is looking nice. Gameplay seems like more of the same, which can be good and bad. I hope they emphasize the story aspects of the game better this time around and I hope they open up the gameplay a bit to make it less linear and more dynamic. I'd prefer less of the, advance, enter a pre-planned skirmish (with enemies arriving at a pre-determined time), battle, then move on to next section in which enemies appear. All the while the world closes in behind you preventing back-tracking and ushering you forward. I would prefer more open levels, multiple paths (that I don't want a menu to choose my course, let me just choose while playing) and battles that feel fresh each time you replay them (like in Halo). Technically though the game is showing all the improvements done to the Unreal III Engine. I just hope there are no refrigerators with N64 textures this time around.

- I enjoyed the Resistance 2 demo during the Sony Press Conference. Battling that huge creature was pretty impressive and it looked like a lot of fun. I hope the game is full of memorable encounters like that. I never finished the first Resistance (I borrowed it from a friend initially) so I'm not sure how the previous game ended. Don't think that will affect my experience with part 2, but I now wish I would have finished it.

- Resident Evil 5 looks very impressive visually, but I have a big problem with it. Technically, it looks absolutely gorgeous. But the gameplay looks like a carbon copy of part 4. Resident Evil 4 was superb, but times have changed and its controls and general gameplay feel a bit dated. In an interview with one the producers they mentioned that they are aware of this and are working on implementing addition control schemes, but one of them better include strafing and having more control of your movement. Another problem I have, which adds to the "I've been there" feeling, is that a lot of the animation seems to have been borrowed from RE4. The way the enemies approach you holding their weapons above their heads, the way they stagger when you shoot them, the way Chris reloads the sniper rifle, it seems to have been pulled straight from the previous game and it really kills it for me. I do not like recycled animations! Especially when jumping to a whole new console generation for the sequel!!!

- Wii Music did not interest me at all. Watching everybody "performing" on stage, playing their "air" instruments looked dreadfully boring. I do not think any of them were really enjoying themselves, because it did not look like fun at all. The main reason that Guitar Hero and Rock Band are as big as they are is because the instrument controllers give immediate feedback and really emulate the feeling of playing an instrument. I seriously doubt banging on an invisible drum generates the same satisfaction.

- I was really happy they had a teaser for God of War III. The game is probably a long way off and I knew it was being worked on, but just having that "official" confirmation was a relief. I hope it makes a Fall 2009 release!

- Little Big Planet cannot come out soon enough.

- I'm hearing good things about Flower for the PS3. FlOw was interesting, so I'm keeping and eye on this one.

- Fable 2 looks alright. According to Peter it is completed and they are just tweaking and fixing bugs. That is good. I heard a report that the main quest is only about 12 - 15 hours long! That is dreadfully short for an RPG! I understand there is a lot to do besides the main quests, but those side-missions are never as interesting as the main quest. I was hoping for something around 30 hours at least this time around. Especially since you start the game off as a kid, grow up, can get married and even have kids of your own. I'd think more time is needed to really develop that. Oh well. From what I have seen this title is still not a day 1 purchase for me. I did enjoy the 1st one though, despite it falling well short of what was promised.

- I watched a live demo of Left 4 Dead and I was pretty impressed. The game looks like it has potential. Well, any game with zombies has potential in my opinion.

- The new Prince of Persia is looking great. The cell shaded art style looks phenomenal, making the game look like a painting, rather than a cartoon (which is the norm for cell shaded games).

- One game that is quickly rising to the top of my "most anticipated release" list is Mirror's Edge. We've only been given snippets of this game, but it looks fantastic! The two trailers available, which claim to be made up of in-game footage, are absolutely gorgeous! This one has a lot of potential.

- The new James Bond game also had some pretty nifty visuals. Some of the environments I saw were really, really, impressive. Bond himself, modeled after Daniel Craig, looked a bit robotic though, but the textures and lighting were of really high quality. Gameplay looked like a mix of 1st Person Shooting and 3rd person combat similar to the recently released Bourne Identity game (read: fast, cinematic, hand-to-hand combat with timed button presses).

- Did I mention that Little Big Plant looks and sounds great? Just checking . . .

- Seems like Microsoft decided to pull Bungie's announcement of their new Halo game from the Press Conference because they wanted to keep it under 90 minutes. Well, that was freakin' stupid. Umm, I'd think a new Halo game from Bungie is pretty big news . . . but maybe that is just me.

- If Brother's in Arms: Hell's Highway doesn't come out soon I am going to lose all interest in the game. I remember the developers talking about this title before the 360 even came out, comparing its technology to the then about-to-be-released CoD2 and claiming how much more advanced their game was. Well, that was 3 freakin' years ago! Initial glimpses of the game were insanely impressive, but as more time has gone by and other great looking games have come out, Hell's Highway is looking more and more average. I am still looking forward to the tactical gameplay, but I think this game should have been out over a year ago. Graphically, it now looks a bit dated. I'm giving it until September, after that, I might not care anymore. Shame, this was in my top 5 . . . two years ago!

That's all for now, if I think of any other games that caught my eye I'll mention them in a follow-up post.

Game Overload

Well, we knew this would happen.  There are just too many good games out or coming out in the next few weeks.

 

I am currently making my way through the Orange Box.  I am still only by HL2.  I have Episode 1 and 2 to go.  I've barely touched Team Fortress 2 and I can't get enough of Portal (playing through it with the commentary on and trying the "advanced" levels).

 

I'm still enjoying Halo 3 (although I have not played it much since the Orange Box).  I managed to collect all but one of the skulls in the game and I would like to play through it again with some skulls turned on to get the achievements for beating each level with a high metascore.  That should be hard.  And there is still plenty of multiplayer gaming left in that title I think.  :)

 

I have Forza 2 just waiting for me to play it.  And it is going to have to wait for a really long time. (speaking of which, I picked up King Kong months ago and need to finish it as well)

 

Guitar Hero III comes out on Sunday.  While I am way more excited for Rock Band, GHIII has too many awesome tracks for me to pass up.  Plus, the demo was a lot of fun.  Not too sure about those Boss Battles though.  We'll see.

 

All of a sudden I really want to get Final Fantasy Tactics on the PSP.  The reviews have been great and I have been meaning to get a good PSP game for a while to entertain me when I travel for work.  I was absolutely addicted to the original Tactics on the PS1.  Like, seriously addicted.

 

Then of course there's Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect, Rock Band and Assassin's Creed all in November.  Are you kidding me?  I can't.  Too many.  I hate having so many games to play!!!  Not only is it a strain on my wallet, but I feel it takes away from my enjoyment of each one.

 

Games of the Year 2006

Last year I did a Game of the Year awards for 2005 (found HERE). I guess I might as well do one for this past year of gaming as well. I hope I remember everything I played, because it was a lot. As before I'll throw out the disclaimer saying I'm only choosing from games that I actually played, I'm sure there are a lot of gems that I missed (especially on PC). Also, I did about 90% of my gaming this past year on my 360, so don't expect a diverse list.

Ok, here we go:

Xbox 360

Game of the Year: Oblivion

When I decided to rate all of the games I own not too long ago (LINK) I discovered that Oblivion was the one I rated highest. It was a surprise to me then, but in hindsight it really shouldn't have been. As far a sheer value for your buck, no game tops Oblivion. You can see my previous write-up on the game HERE. Needless to say the game is huge, ambitious, and a hell of a lot of fun. The level of freedom afforded to you is unmatched by any other game out there (console-wise at least). Throw in truck-loads of downloadable content which add even more hours of game play and you have a game you can play for 200+ hours. That is insane.

On a side-note, I recently started playing this game again (I will finish the main quest at least, even if I don't finish the hundreds of additional side-quests) and I'm now about 140 hours in. 140 freakin' hours!!! And I have so much left to do. This game might actually offer TOO much content. :)

Runner-ups:

Gears of War - With all the hype this game received, I'm suprised it managed to live up to it. For the most part at least. Overall the game was great. You can find my earlier impressions HERE. It did not revolutionize the action genre, but it was a blast to play through. The single-player game (especially co-op with a buddy on Hardcore or Insane) is as good as it gets. The game's narrative and story were completely non-existant though (give us some backstory and info next time Epic!!!), but the controls were great, the action was fast, and lets face it, the graphics did wonders to keep you interested in this game. Even though I went all anal-rententive on the visuals previously, they are still the best this generation has to offer so far.

Rainbow 6: Vegas - Score another one for the Unreal III engine. Rainbox 6 turned out just a well as I was hoping. Great tactical action and a solid single-player experience. On the multiplayer side the game shines even brighter. Playing co-op Terrorist hunt with some friends is about as much fun as you can have. I'm not a big fan of versus deathmath type games, but R6 offers plenty of options for those who are. Great visuals, tactical gameplay, and plenty of modes and options to keep you playing for a long time. Make those single-player checkpoints a little closer next time Ubisoft!!! Playing through on Realistic produced some pretty frustrating sections because of lack of checkpoints.

GRAW - The first 360 game to really show us what next-gen visuals could look like (or wait, did Fight Night come out before this?), GRAW still holds a special place in my heart (regardless of my issues with the multiplayer lobbies HERE and HERE . . . oh, and HERE). The single-player experience was only hindered by questionable teammate AI, which at times seemed hellbent on sabotaging your mission by blowing your cover, dying often, or doing idiotic things like just standing around while being shot. Other than that, single-player was a blast. On the multiplayer side of things (aside from my issues with the lobby system) the game was fantastic. Once again, co-op with some friends was (still is actually) one hell of a good time. This is probably the one 360 game I have played more online than any other. Every now and then I still fire it up and play some co-op.

PS2

Game of the Year: Metal Gear Solid III Snake Eater: Subsistence

It took me a while to finally play this thrid installment of the MGS series, but it was well worth the wait. Read my thoughts HERE. Despite some issues with the controls and the series' trademark extra long (but extremely stylish and well-directed) cut-scenes and over-bearing story, the game was just fatastic. Plenty of memoriable set pieces, boss battles, and great character development.

Runner-ups:

Guitar Hero II - Guitar Hero II should probably be winning this category. I think in overall, sheer fun and entertainment, it tops Snake Eater. It also improves over the original in every single way (except maybe song selection). But it has lost just a hint of the charm and originality that the original had. That is not the game's fault and it in no way makes it any less of a great game. I still want them to make at least 20 more sequels to this franchise. I just felt like giving the slightest edge to Metal Gear in this case. Ask me which of these two games I want on a desert island though and it is GH II hands down.

MLB: The Show - One of the finest sports games I have played in recent memory, see my previous thoughts HERE. The Show has the best Career Mode for a sports game yet (alot better than Madden's Super Star), some of the best animation out there and without a doubt, the best commentary in any sports title that I have heard.

PSP

Game of the Year: Daxter

Daxter is just a gorgeous and extremely enjoyable game. It is easy to pick up and play in short bursts or in a long play session. Perfect controls and fun platforming, mixed with almost PS2-calibur graphics makes this one my pick.

Runner-ups:

Loco Roco - This charming and completely original title is the very definition of what a portable game should be. It was desgned with the PSP in mind, delivers an experience which is not offered on a console and can be played in short sessions. Some clever level design, very unique visuals and a totally whacky but phenominal soundtrack made this one a total blast. The only negative is that after a while you feel like you've done it all. Sure, each stage is different, but it is mostly just more of the same.

Misc.

Biggest Disapointment:

Madden 2007 - Although greatly improved over Madden 06 (see impressions HERE), and although I did manage to have a good time with it, the Madden series is still not even close to where videogame football should be by now. 2K's recent announcement however is the best thing that could have happened to football fans.

Runner-ups:

Superman Returns: The Videogame - I thoroughly enjoyed the demo and actually had hope that this was going to be an above-average game. Boy was I wrong.

GoW's story - There is a great background story and history to Gears of War (read it on Wikipedia) . . . umm, but where is it in the game? Epic went hrough all this trouble to create this backstory, and hint at it rhough great trailers pre-release . . . but the actual game gives you zero info. Zero!!! What a waste. The game could have been so much more imersive.

Street Fight II (Live Arcade) - The controls stink and game is way too hard. See my previous complaints HERE.

Most Underated Game of the Year:

MLB: The Show - What was probably the best sports game of the year and might be the best baseball game ever released on a console received average scores and little to no recognition (outside of the hardcore sim comunity). This game just did so many little things right and captured all the nuances of baseball perfectly. The tv style presentation was phenominal and really, I cannot stop complementing the commentary. Fantastic job guys. I hope the PS3 version is more of the same with next-gen visuals.

Runner-up:

Viva Pinata
Viva Pinata has a huge marketting push by Microsoft, yet the game came and went with little notice. The game was suprisingly deep and addictive. Read my impressions HERE.

Biggest Surprise:

- All the lauch 360 games I picked up for a bargain price and thoroughly enjoyed (PGR3, Condemend, Kameo). I picked up Kameo, Condemned and PGR3 all for bargain bin prices and I enjoyed every one. Sorry I ignored them all at launch (although I always did have my eye on Condemend). Read impressions HERE and HERE.

Runner-up:

- I'm sure Dead Rising could be listed here, but I have yet to play it.

And that's it folks, those are my picks. If I'm not feeling too lazy I'll do some technical awards later this week (Best Graphics, Sound, etc.) although knowing myself, propbably not.

PS3'S SIGHTED

Ok, I was at Walmart today and spotted two Playstation 3's sitting there... Hmmmm I was kind of suprised. Is there no interest in this gaming console??
As Tanis says, technology wise your gettting alot of bang for your buck... But on the gaming side, its rather lacking. I think this is why they are sitting there collecting dust.

PS3 Dilemma

Now that all three consoles have been released (360, PS3 and Wii) how long before they are no longer called "next gen" consoles and simply become "current gen", so that the current "current gen" consoles (Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube) are known as "last gen". Or has that transition already happened? In my mind, I am in some middle ground where the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube are definitely "last gen", but the 360, PS3 and Wii still register as "next gen". Meaning, there are no "current gen" consoles at the moment.

Ok, I now have a headache.

Anyway, I've commented many times on how happy I am with my 360 (at least I think I have . . . if I haven't, well, I am very happy with my 360). I've played the Wii at my friend's house and am looking forward to purchasing one as soon as I find one in stores. Which leaves the PS3, which I haven't mentioned much on here lately.

Do I want a PS3? Well, I'm a gamer, of course I want one, the question is, do I see myself getting one anytime soon? That's a tougher question.

As a gaming machine, I can easily do without a PS3 for the foreseeable future. The only games I am interested in are Metal Gear Solid 4, God of War 3 (which hasn't even been announced), MLB: The Show 2 and maybe Heavenly Sword (which impressed many people). Gran Turismo? I couldn't care less at this point. I was a huge fan of the first 3 games, but until this game goes for real realism - meaning, car damage and no invisible barriers keeping you on the course - I'm not interested. Forza 2 will fill my needs. Assassin's Creed? Sure, except it is no longer an exclusive and if I have my druthers, I will play it with the 360's gamepad (not a big fan of the Six Axis). And that's it. All the games I am looking forward to in 2007 are heading to the 360. Bioshock, Mass Effect, Brother's In Arms, Half-Life 2, Halo 3, the aforementioned Assassin's Creed, GTA 4, GRAW 2, all of them are 360 bound. Why do I need $600 gaming machine then?

So, the PS3 is not currently needed by the gamer side of me. But I have another side. A tech junkie side. A home theater nut side. And videophile side which sees the PS3 as a $600 Bluray player and can't believe what a great deal it is (and in all honesty, the PS3 for $600 is a steal for what it does). That side can only imagine how great a Bluray movie would look on my HDTV connected to the currently not-in-use HDMI slot in the back. Joy!!!

Plus, a web-browser on the TV would be sweet. Connecting my PSP to the PS3 to do . . . uh, whatever it is the PSP and the PS3 do together would be sweet. Super-Audio CDs? Bring it on. A new way to view pictures? Sure, I'm loving streaming pics from my computer to my 360 . . . but I wonder what they would look like on the PS3? I can connect my camera's memory stick directly to it and transfer the pics to the HDD . . .

See, that is my problem. I know I will not be using the PS3 for gaming (well, maybe Motorstorm if the reviews are good), but I still want that sleek, high-tech piece of equipment sitting in my entertainment center. Just think, I can add Bluray movies immediately to my Netflix queue and enjoy HD movie watching in no time!!!

Someone help me, I have a problem . . .