Jake108’s Geekscape E3 Wrap Up!

E3 is behind us and it’s memory is fading fast as we shift our attention from excitement over all of the announcements to actually having the games in our hands! So what games made a last impression on me at the expo? Lucky for you, I made a list!

Marvel vs. Capcom 3

As I said in last week’s recap, I’ve heard that some fans are worried as to how the newest addition to the series will work out, and that’s only reasonable. I’m here to tell you that you can put a stop to your worrying and kick-start your excitement.   

Here’s what I noticed right off the bat:

• Updated Graphics – Yes, it still looks like a comic, but MvC3 looks like an addition for the modern age of gaming.
• Detailed backgrounds – While fighting, I couldn’t help but notice all of the detail in the background. Among the things I saw were the Baxter Building (Fantastic Four’s Headquarters), Daily Bugle, and a Captain America Billboard. All of this was visible as a parade of inflatable MvC characters bounced in the distance, including a giant Spider-Man. 
• Different Controls – It was unfamiliar, but I’m not losing sleep over it. I’m sure you’ll be able to customize your scheme once the final game is released. Either way, at least Gilmore now has an excuse for when he gets his ass kicked.

GoldenEye 007

I was excited to play this as soon as it was announced at Nintendo’s press conference. Having invested hours into the N64 version of the game, it was pretty easy getting back into my rhythm. 

• New features include melee and grenades. Use also the L Trigger to aim down the sights of your weapon.
• You are able to invert your Y-Axis before the match starts. This is good for people who will have this on at parties, and of course that means none of us…
• There’s not one major graphical update, but then again, GoldenEye is a classic, therefore do we really need a new engine?

Crackdown 2

I was a big fan of Crackdown, and I’ll continue to be with the release of Crackdown 2. This sequel was both familiar and new, which is what a sequel should be. The basic premise of the game is the same: Clean the streets up of scum and villainy.

• Melee combos. That’s right, tapping the melee button will result in your agent to engage in a badass combo using his fists and legs. As you level up, it’s safe to assume these combos will appear more deadly and powerful.
• The controls have stayed the same, which is a plus. It was really easy to jump in and play and I’m sure any veteran of Crackdown will have no trouble starting up Crackdown 2.

Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days

During E3, the dev team took us behind closed doors and showed us a single player demo. Though I was not that impressed, it could have been based purely on the fact that I was watching someone else play. In this demo, we saw Kane and Lynch get stuffed into a Chinese police helicopter. Soon after, the two criminals fight for control of the helicopter, and win. The rest of the level consists of fighting other helicopters as Kane, while Lynch pilots the helicopter. One thing I did notice was that the pace of the action going on is just right for a Michael Mann movie like Heat. It’s all hand-held, gritty and intense.

The Game Modes that the team went over with us consisted of Fragile Alliance and Undercover Cop.

In Fragile Alliance, 8 players team up to do a heist.You have 4 minutes to loot and escape. Once the looting commences, any player may become a traitor by killing their teammate and taking their money. Their role change becomes visible to all who are playing by the traitors tag’s color changing to Orange. It is up to the rest of the team to deal with both the traitor and the waves of cops that are coming at you. Those who are killed by cops and traitors get to spawn as cops and try to prevent your old team from escaping. You may also extract revenge on the traitor who killed you. Any traitor who is killed looses their money and gets to spectate for the remainder of the match.

Undercover Cop is similar to Fragile Alliance, only when the heist starts, one of the 8 players will become an undercover cop and must stop the team from succeeding.

Overall, I enjoyed this game and played many rounds of Fragile Alliance. Yes, there are few incentives NOT to become a traitor, but it definitely becomes a risk when you’re trying to save up money for some new guns and what not.

Kinect

We didn’t get to play a whole lot of Kinect, but the game we did play wasn’t so hot. Immediately, I looked to see how Kinect rendered my body and to see if it was accurate with my movement. It was just about perfect. Feeling good about this new tech, I was eager to try this mini-game out.

This Paintball game had us pretending our gun was our hand, like when we were kids, and had us shooting 1940’s Chicago Gangster Style (from our hip). Movement was a little tricky, but eying my body render at the bottom left of my screen helped me realize that this wasn’t Kinect’s fault.

All I can say is that I’m excited to play some more Kinect when it comes out.

Portal 2

Valve’s presentation didn’t fail to impress. It seems that the development team behind Portal 2 knows exactly what the fans want: Another game to tickle the brain. Portal 2 is filled with new factors that will definitely affect gameplay. This sequel looks like it can topple the first. If you haven’t seen any footage yet, you’re missing out.  

Also, another little bit of info you might find interesting was that everything was patented in 1998.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

I’m not a big MMO player, but I’ve played enough City of Heroes to know what’s going on.

The game is set to take place thousands of years before the events of Episode 1. The Galaxy is locked in a Civil War between the Republic and the Sith. Already, the stage is set. During the presentation, the team went over what makes this MMO different from all the other MMO’s out there.

For one, this is Star Wars. Second, this is the first MMO to feature a fully-voiced world. This feature made the game feel like a cross between an Old Republic RPG and an MMO, which is great.

Another perk is having your own starship to explore the galaxy. In your starship, you may have companions that you’ve encountered along the way and various rooms. If you have friends that just want to hang out in the game, you have the ability to hang out there. Your alignment also plays a role as to what your starship will look like.

Leveling up will change your appearance and give you new armor abilities. For example, when walking into a cantina, you may notice a novice Bounty Hunter with little to no armor having a drink. Then you’ll notice another Bounty Hunter down the ways fitted with armor from head to toe. You may also notice the jetpack he’s sporting. Automatically, you know that this guy is experienced and you may ask him to join your guild (or decide to steer clear of him).

The basic gameplay core of The Old Republic is the same as any successful MMO: Play cooperatively with others to achieve your goals.

Halo: Reach

Not much was shown aside from the gameplay trailer at Microsoft’s press conference. What WAS shown was a live demo, and it was fantastic.  

We were told that the campaign level shown, Long Night of Solace, was mid-way through game. The start of the level presents Noble Team on the offensive as they battle their way to a station. One thing to take note of was that there were only 3 Spartans other than Noble Six. Carter, Cat, and Jorge lead the offensive down a beach as drop pods with Elites landed on the shore. Bringing the drop pods back was a great idea.

As the team entered the station, it’s obvious that the Covenant has already made their way through. After clearing the station, you and another Spartan climb into a UNSC Fighter dubbed the Saber. If 4-player co-op is going on, each of you will get their own Saber as you protect an Orbiting space station.

To protect the space station, you must battle waves of Covies who are piloting Banshees and Seph Fighters. The gameplay looked fluid and a combination of Star Fox and Star Wars Rouge Squadron for the 64. If this is Bungie’s last foray into the Halo universe, Reach is looking like it won’t fail to impress.