Day one of E3 is dusted, and Cam and Lucy have trudged back to the relative safety of their LA hotel to spew forth their thoughts on what they saw. And perhaps just spew. Seriously, who knew where that miniature seafood sub had been?
At any rate, read on for their highlight and lowlights of day one.
Highlight:
Batman: Arkham Origins
I went into this demo with a perhaps irrational concern: that Warner Bros. Montreal will somehow mess with previous developer Rocksteady’s winning formula. I came out massively encouraged, both by Batman: Arkham Origins’ core concept – this is an Arkham game set on a single night, which happens to be a stormy Christmas Eve – and execution. The new studio is adding a handful of interesting new additions to what we expect from this series (you can read my thoughts on those additions in more detail here) but, for the most part, it appears there’s no tinkering with the formula – only careful improvement.
Not Sure:
Mad Max
The Mad Max franchise is a great fit for Avalanche Studios (Just Cause). It’s chaotic and it’s rough around the edges. It’s just a pity Avalanche’s take is so… American.
While the studio seems to be doing some interesting things with a car combat formula and the massive open-world itself still holds a dirty Mad Max flavour, I just don’t understand this flat out denial of the fundamental Australianness of the series. This was the film franchise that introduced the Australian new wave to the global market. This was a film franchise that launched Mel Gibson’s… uh, Hollywood career.
But, still, it’s Avalanche – a studio I trust to deliver on material like this – and this very early Mad Max E3 demo felt a little unready. In the meantime, I’ll wait for more information, listen to this on a loop and pray that my antipodean spirit doesn’t grow too agitated at the thought of such an icon being gutted inside and out.
Lowlight:
The Nintendo Direct Conference
I understand why Nintendo chose not to hold a full-blown press conference this year; there just wasn’t enough to show. The handful of (expected) announcements the publisher did make played to its fanbase – Super Mario World 3D and Mario Kart 8 look predictably endearing and lovely – but this was a showcase short on surprises and short on ballsiness. Nintendo was keen to highlight that crucial (and thus far elusive) support of the Wii U from third-party publishers through a video montage, but considering the video’s highlights included the lightweight Sonic: Worlds, Just Dance 2014, and the once-exclusive Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut, its efforts fell a little flat. The thing is, I’m happy that Megaman will be in the new Smash Bros., I’m happy you can drive a hovercraft in the new Mario Kart, and I’m happy you can play as Princess Peach in Super Mario 3D World. But with the shadow of Xbox One and PlayStation 4 looming over the Wii U’s shoulder, how is this even close to being enough?
Source : ign[dot]com
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