So I'm going to be lazy (and extremely late) with this entry, and just list my 5 favourite things I saw over the E3 period. Before I start, however, it was disapointing that so few NEW games were announced, with most being at least rumoured at for a few days beforehand. I can safely say that a couple of the things in my top 5 were things I heard about for the first time at E3.
Disclaimer: I do not own the footage seen before. These are all from the youtube pages of Playstation, Ubisoft, IGNEntertainment and GameTrailers
NUMBER 5: Splinter Cell: Blacklist demo
It's no secret that I love stealth games, and the last Splinter Cell game was one of the first things I bought for my 360. So when I saw the gameplay demo for Blacklist, I almost crapped myself with joy. Sam Fisher is back, and he's brought the mark and execute function with him. But it's undergone a serious makeover; where Fisher had to take his shots in a stationary function, the mechanic can now work in motion.
It also looks as if players will be able to chain multiple Mark and Executes together, like some kind of homocidal poetry in motion. While this looks as stealthy as a bear covered in cooking pans, it also looks hella fun.
On the other side of that, however, is the new kinect functionality, where voice commands can be used to distract enemies, and initiate air strikes by your fellow fourth echelon super spies. It looks cool, but like most Kinect functionality, I can see it wearing kind of thin.
NUMBER 4: Beyond: Two Souls reveal
So in 2010, Quantic Dream released Heavy Rain, an interesting experiment that had a great story, but maybe not enough game for most gamers. It was certainly different, playing out more like an interactive movie than a game, though player choice mattered more than most games can ever say they did. But hey, whatever, I still enjoyed it, and I think it's one of those games that everyone should try at least for one chapter.
And how is this relevant? Quantic Dream have announced their first release since Heavy Rain, titled Beyond: Two Souls, and that's damn exciting for me. It's a story revolving around Jodie Holmes, a young woman who is always accompanied by a ghostly presence, whom she calls "Aiden". Aiden can interact with the environment and communicate with Jodie; it's effectively the games second playable character.
Story details are sketchy at the moment, but from what I can gather, Jodie (and by extension, Aiden) are on the run from some form of Law Enforcement, and the pair must use Aiden's supernatural abilities to escape and survive. Having not seen much gameplay from it, I don't know many details for sure, but I would assume that it's somewhat similar to Heavy Rain. Also, Jodie ids played by Actress Ellen Page. Sweet.
Here's a trailer!
NUMBER 3: Assloads of Assassin's Creed 3
So we've known about Assassin's Creed 3 for quite some time. But despite this, how much gameplay have all of us actually seen? Not much, would be the answer. Well, at E3, we were treated to 3 demos, as well as a reveal at some pocket-sized assassin fun.
Now, it's common knowledge at this point that tree running is now an option, but until now, we could only speculate as to how well it works. I can say, quite confidently, that it looks as smooth as any other free running in previous games. Using forks in trees as junction points allows Connor to flow quickly through the trees and to switch paths at a moment's notice. As well as this, we saw some hunting, the effects of snow, and the furious viciousness of Connor's melee attacks.
As well as this, we saw a trailer demonstarting the game's naval combat, featuring Connor in his very own pirate-y get-up. It all looked cool, but whether or not this plays well, or is the new Den Defense (I haven't forgotten you yet, Revelations!) is yet to be seen. Finally, some gameplay of a Boston market showed off some new hiding techniques in the assassin repertoire, as well as some very cool kills (bayonet stabbing one guy and shooting through him into his buddy is sweet!) and rounded out the enormous amount of AC3 coverage.
But then some PSVita footage was shown. Yes, the tiny bundle of gaming joy will feature it's own AC game, featuring a female French-African assassin named Aveline. Sweet. So yea, thats an Assload of Assassins Creed.
NUMBER 2:Watchdogs Demo and reveal
So at E3 this year, there were maybe 2 or 3 new IP's on show. And Watchdogs was one of the best things about the show, as well as one of the newest. It's gameplay looks open-world, and the focus seems to be on taking out targets (like another certain Ubisoft property). What sets this game apart from every other open world game that involves killing, Watchdogs has a focus on hacking, as it's set in a world where so much information and so many process are control by a central operating system (which may be a reality in the near future, if it isn't already).
On top of the interesting premise, the demo suggests multiple player characters, tight cover based combat, and a nice amount of freedom in how you approach situations. I'll leave you with a demo for you guys to see for yourselves.
NUMBER 1: The Last of Us gameplay
The last of Us was announced quite some time ago, and despite this, we've seen very little actual gameplay. If any at all. So it was awesome to actually see something from Naughty Dog at E3, and it was surprising to see how brutal this game is. You can clearly see some of the animations are courtesy of Nathan Drake, but where Mr Drake would crask wise while knocking a guard out, Joel just snuffs a guy out while he struggles for breath. It's certainly a departure from anything that Naughty Dog has done before.
In the demo, we see how the lack of ammunition and the importance of strategy impact this game. Certain approaches to situations will be more difficult than others. We also see that Ellie isn't the hand holding escort mission style of NPC, as she participates in combat, but sticks to the shadows so she doesn't get herself killed. It'll be interesting to see this one when it hits stores. Heres the last demo for the day!
Honourable mentions ironically go to Dishonoured which seems to provide a seriously mental amount of freedom to go about your missions with. Dishonourable mention for Gears of War Liberation, which only had a 45 second reveal trailer with no gameplay. And a big WTF to Rockstar Games who didn't even show up.
See you next time!
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