E3 2011

[caios]

So We managed to score some passes to this thing and spent all day today in gaming awesomeness. I wanted to therefore take some time to provide some short and sweet reviews of the games I get first hand experience with while at E3.

At the top of the list today...

Star Wars: The Old Republic
Yes, 100% Yes. This game is every bit as good as they claim it is. This is the reason I won't be playing Warcraft anymore. It's a full on Bioware RPG on an MMO scale.
They have nail down a solid street date but I have been promised that they will release it this year.

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine
This one is a ton of fun actually. It's pretty much a straight forward third person shooter action adventure game. But it does have many cool story elements, and for fans of the franchise it's going to be just a blast to play.

Need for Speed: The Run
I like this one. It's an "action racing" game so it is in many ways a typical racing style game, only this time they're adding an out of the car element. This actually does a ton for the game taking it from a basic racing game to a full blown action adventure title. It's one thing when you're trying to race down the street, it's another thing when you're trying to race down the street in a stolen cop car while a giant helicopter is shooting at you. I'm probably going to get this one just to see what they do with it.

Saints Row: The Third
This is the only title that I technically didn't get to play first hand, however I did see enough of it to know that it is going to be a wild ride to play this one. If you're at all fans of either of the prequels then you will love this one.
I know for a fact that I'm going to get it but only because, as part of their E3 promotion, I was able to get free park and a free car wash done by a dozen both babes in bikinis. Let's face it, they deserve it just for that alone.

[gothicshark]

I will Have to chime in with a 100% agreement on these (seriously they washed his car like 5 times) back to the Games, I will be pre-ordering the Space Marine game Collectors edition, SWtOR is epic in so many ways.



Also the Wii U pretty much looks dumb.

[ghostveil]

Jun 8, 2011 3:00:03 GMT -5 gothicshark said:

I will Have to chime in with a 100% agreement on these (seriously they washed his car like 5 times) back to the Games, I will be pre-ordering the Space Marine game Collectors edition, SWtOR is epic in so many ways.



Also the Wii U pretty much looks dumb.

It's a pretty pre-rendered trailer, but no gameplay in there.

I'm still really skeptical about SWTOR, it looks like another derivative of the WoW MMO equation. But who knows, it could surprise me. I'm interested in hearing more from the people who play it.

[gothicshark]

Jun 8, 2011 8:18:36 GMT -5 ghostveil said:

It's a pretty pre-rendered trailer, but no gameplay in there.

I'm still really skeptical about SWTOR, it looks like another derivative of the WoW MMO equation. But who knows, it could surprise me. I'm interested in hearing more from the people who play it.

As for the video yes it is a pretty prerendered video, but the game play is closer to SWG meets KOTOR than WOW. the UI is literally just like the pre-jump to lightspeed UI, the controls are basic 3rd person shooter with the RPG elements. the Voice Acting is apart of everything.

my big fear with SWtOR is not gameplay or content, but will the game work for long term group play i.e. the word I hate End Game. Because everything works and it is not a WOW clone, but is it a RPG with other players in the environment or is it actually an MMO. I know Eitan will be yes its a MMO because the other players are in the Environment, and the solo play will possibly be the best any MMO ever had but something in the way the devs talk make me think when you get to max level you'll sort of be out of things to do. i.e. they have made leveling fun, and the story is the main focus, and I like this but after you get to the top what will they have?

[The Cheshire Cat]

The stuff I've seen for Saints Row has made it a must pre-order for me. I mean it already was, SR2 was awesome, but now it's like... moreso.

[Warp Factor]

I'm cautiously hopeful for SW:TOR, and what Caios has to say about it makes me moreso. I don't like the cartoony look but I can understand the reasoning behind it. I would just have preferred something more along the lines of AoC or DCUO for a Star Wars game, visually. Space Marine looks like a fucking must-buy. Saint's Row 3... on the one hand, it seems like it should be great, especially if it uses the environmental destruction tech from Red Faction: Guerilla. On the other hand, I'm still pissed that they didn't bother to fix the CPU timing bug that makes SR2 unplayable on Windows 7. They fixed it on RFG, so they should be able to do the same on SR2. Still feeling burned about that.

Also, Wii U sounds potentially pretty cool, the issue is whether they get any good games on it. Shit, the Wii is great for the few good games it has, even without serious processing power or HD visuals. The real question in my mind is whether Nintendo gets serious about supporting good quality third party developers and stops green lighting every piece of shit shovelware game someone wants to crap out onto their system.

[caios]

Before I get into my day 2 coverage let me just say, as far as SWTOR goes, yes there will be content and there will be an endgame for those who want it. I was discussing this with the Bioware devs and they made it very clear that, even though they've made every aspect of the game a part of a huge single player experience, there is definitely a huge incentive to play with people. Grouping with people during the single player missions will not only make them easier to accomplish but will also provide big boosts to the rewards you can earn. And yes there will also be raids and party instance content to keep people at the end game busy.

Another thing to keep in mind is that they were showing off level 26 characters saying that this was mid-level content. So there will be plenty of leveling space to keep people happy.

[caios]

Day 2 - E3 Harder!

Allow me to just jump right in here...

Gears of War 3
Strangely I've never been a huge Gears fan but there's no doubt this is a great game. I never bought the first two so I'm not planning on getting this one, either, however if you played and are fans of the first two then this one is a must have, pure and simple.

Resistance 3
This falls into the exact same category as Gears for me. Though I should add I have a couple of friends that I know who are actually working on this over at Insomniac. ( No they're not hiring I already asked them. ) At any rate, in many ways it's more of the same, so again if you are at all fans of the first two this one is a must have as well. Yes it's good!

Prototype 2
This one actually got bumped up to my Buy list after I got the chance to check it out. It's an awesome game especially if you just want to jump in and violently fuck shit up everywhere around you. Yes you can still yes kick a helicopter.
Also I must confess I was talking to the devs for this game and without giving away any spoilers I can tell you that they liked a line that I gave them for the game so much they promised they'd try to get it into the game. Likewise I promised them that I'd buy they game, twice, if they actually did that.
As for the line in question?
"We're gonna need a bigger car."

(and no, that line has nothing to do with driving.)


And Finally the Creame of the E3 Crop this year

Mass Effect 3
Yeah, there's no way to be objective about this one. Therefore let me put it this way. There are no words in the English language to describe how good this is.
I was lucky enough to get into a behind closed doors Press Demo of the game, there has been plenty of video from that demo released so you will be able to see all of the important bits if you want to. I did notice, however, some other details from the press event that I have yet to see mentioned anywhere else. Sadly I can't give away any spoilers but don't worry, it's mostly story related details that any true fans will really appreciate. Trust me you're better off without any spoilers on this one.

[ghostveil]

A decent SWTOR gameplay video, narrated by one of the devs: massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/09/new-star-wars-the-old-republic-dev-walkthrough-takes-players-to/

Gives a good sense of the game, I think.

[Hollowpoint Heroism]

Okay, well I knew ME3 was going to be biblical anyway, so that's on the purchase list, Good to hear that Prototype 2 will be worth the effort, as the first one was ludicrously fun.

However, this HAS somewhat swayed my opinions of SW:TOR which I was inclined to veto initially. Hopefully Bioware really can deliver the goods!

[gothicshark]

Jun 9, 2011 18:48:23 GMT -5 Hollowpoint Heroism said:

Okay, well I knew ME3 was going to be biblical anyway, so that's on the purchase list, Good to hear that Prototype 2 will be worth the effort, as the first one was ludicrously fun.

However, this HAS somewhat swayed my opinions of SW:TOR which I was inclined to veto initially. Hopefully Bioware really can deliver the goods!

when I first heard about it I was going to get it just because I actually liked SWG - prior to JtLS, however I didn't expect much. after reading what they have been doing and trying the short demo, I can say it will be a fun and very different MMO when compared with WOW, it has story and content people will want to play through, it feels like a real game. And a great one at that. it just happens to also be an MMO. And since Caios asked the important question about End Game, it looks as if it might be worth a long term investment.

[Warp Factor]

Jun 9, 2011 18:48:23 GMT -5 Hollowpoint Heroism said:

However, this HAS somewhat swayed my opinions of SW:TOR which I was inclined to veto initially. Hopefully Bioware really can deliver the goods!

Same. I'm still not sold on the look, but I do have to say it looks better in actual motion than in the screenies I've seen. And I like everything else I'm hearing about it.

[caios]

Day 3: The Day the Earth Stood Still To Watch The SW:TOR Trailer Then Went Home Early Cause It Was The Last Day.

Really didn't do much on the third day but hang out, play some more SWTOR, and catch a glimpse of Felicia Day. I did want to cover a few titles that are definitely worth a buy, even though I didn't get a chance to really get hands on with them at all.

BioShock: Infinite
This one is looking sweet. And if you're a fan of the series there's just no reason to pass this one up. The change of location from sea to air is a fascinating one.

Uncharted 3
More fun with Nathan Drake! This one is a total must buy. Despite not showing much this year what was shown was pretty insane for a franchise already known for its insane sequences.

Batman: Arkham City
The original was a fucking masterpiece. The sequel looks to follow those black booted footsteps. The addition of Catwoman as a fully playable character makes this a no brainer. Get this one!

[The Cheshire Cat]

Jun 8, 2011 21:34:38 GMT -5 Warp Factor said:

Saint's Row 3... on the one hand, it seems like it should be great, especially if it uses the environmental destruction tech from Red Faction: Guerilla. On the other hand, I'm still pissed that they didn't bother to fix the CPU timing bug that makes SR2 unplayable on Windows 7. They fixed it on RFG, so they should be able to do the same on SR2. Still feeling burned about that.

SR2 and RF:G were both farmed out to 3rd party companies, and Volition was unhappy with the job they did, especially with SR2, so they're handling all PC ports in-house from now on. So SR3 should run pretty well on PC, since they're actually porting their own game instead of hiring someone else to do it that doesn't give a shit.

I don't think it will be as destructible as RF:G; I mean that would be awesome but the city is probably too dense for the physics engine to be able to handle. The populated areas are very spread out in Red Faction so there isn't a ton of stuff in one place. They have talked about being able to affect large parts of the city throughout the various interviews though, so it seems they've got something up their sleeve.

[gothicshark]

I guess I'm the only one who feel in love with Rusty Hearts @ E3