Why, hello there. Cam and Lucy here reporting from sunny/shitty L.A. What's been on the menu today? Video games, video games and more video games. Oh, and a cheeky malbec, but you don't need to know about that. What you do need to know about is what we thought of the Xbox, EA, Ubisoft and Sony press conferences, so read on...
Lucy's Thoughts
Talk about Microsoft ‘shattering my expectations!’ My high expectations that is, by being completely and totally conventional! While I agree it was important Microsoft focused on games at its conference – the company would have been strung up by its balls if it hadn’t – the publisher was playing it so safe with its announcements it was hard to believe we’re teetering on the edge of a new console generation. Is it too much to ask for a little originality, a little freshness alongside this revolutionary new technological age we’re about to hurtle into, palms sweating and eyes bleeding in the face of such dramatic ‘redefinition?’
But look, I thought Microsoft’s press conference was fine, albeit a little forgettable. I realise the publisher had a vital message to deliver – that the Xbox One was first and foremost a gaming console – and to that end, the publisher did the job it set out to do.
Highlights:
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
The Phantom Pain trailer was so perfectly ‘Hideo Kojima’ I wanted to cheer, even if its eccentricity was slightly bewildering at times. But that, of course, is Kojima. It sated the fans, and it set the tone for a conference that aimed to sooth balm on Microsoft’s troubled relationship with the currently very pissed off ‘core.’
D4
It’s Swery65. There is nothing more to say here.
Sunset Overdrive
Insomniac’s irreverent next-gen debut was the highlight of Microsoft’s conference for me. What a refreshing change it was to see a studio not pushing at the boundaries of realism. The music was great, the art direction was inspired and Insomniac does creative weaponry better than anybody. I can’t wait to see more.
Project Spark
This world-building game looked fascinating and, at least from the presentation, extremely user-friendly. That was some truly horrific scripted banter from the two presenters though, who seemed to have materialised from an early ‘90s anti-drug video.
Microsoft’s claim to continue supporting indie development
It’s made the call loud and clear. Let’s see if the publisher delivers.
Lowlights:
Ryse: Son of Rome
Possibly the best-looking game at Microsoft presentation (it is being developed by Crytek, after all), I thought Ryse was also the most uninspired. It was hard to tell where the ‘game’ actually was in Ryse; so much of it seemed to be a QTE-controlled cut-scene; and if there’s one thing we should leave for dust in the current generation, it’s those little devils. Plus, its name is so silly I can’t look at it without squinting.
Battlefield 4
There was absolutely nothing wrong with what Microsoft showed us of Battlefield 4 (aside from those supremely awkward sound issues), it just felt stale. I’ll freely admit that I’m less enthused about iterations of shooters as we move towards the next generation. Perhaps because I want to leave those trends behind. Perhaps that will happen organically; I don’t know.
That price point
Sony trampled all over it like an old-timey wine-maker high on ether.
Cam's Thoughts
Highlights:
Dogs? Pah
Question: How do you up the ante from the CoD dogs reveal at the pre-E3 briefing?
Answer: HORSES. Yes, it made complete sense that the Xbox conference OPENED with hot horse gameplay. More specifically Snake (Punished Snake to be specific) on horseback exploring the fully open world of Metal Gear Solid V (which was followed by Kojima himself moseying out onto stage). The game looked great – the Afghanistan setting should allow for some pretty interesting stealth gameplay. The footage teased the kind of colourful, somewhat silly cast we’ve come to expect and the new engine really is the business.
Xbox One Also Plays Games!
Dear Microsoft,
Would it be at all possible for you to get all the stuff I’m not interested in out of the way three weeks before E3 ever year? Seriously, as disappointed as I was about with the Xbox One reveal event, and as much as I thought it was a massive error in judgement, I know you guys. You’re ALWAYS going to want to talk about live TV and Skype and sports and Kinect and stuff like that. Every year your press conferences veer wildly between your mainstream consumer/family/entertainment box ambitions and actually delivering on stuff that gamers are interested in. So. This year was the model. Let’s split ‘em up! I can ignore the first one then get a solid dose of gaming news during the pre-E3 show.
Much love,
Cam
D4
Yes, it’s a new game from Swery – the demented genius behind Deadly Premonition. As a detective with the power to rewind time, players must use this to stop their wife from being murdered. Again. I guess. Now, we don’t know much about this yet other than it’s an episodic murder mystery with a cool visual style. It does, however, look like some of the action may be controlled by Kinect, which could obviously be a problem. I mean, Deadly Premonition took poor controls to new heights and that was using a goddamn controller. Swery trying to master Kinect? Sounds like a disaster in the making. Here’s hoping it’s a patented Swery-style awesome disaster.
Quantum Break
This one is a bit of a mystery. I’m personally not that interested in “blurring the lines between reality and television,” but I trust Remedy to make great games, and there’s no doubt that – as a studio – they’re a little obsessed with television, so it will be interesting to see how this transmedia property comes together. The small snippet shown today was undeniably cool too. A frozen bubble of time that players can interact with? Colour me intrigued.
Levelling the playing field
Xbox One was always likely to have live-streamed gameplay and the ability to edit and upload gameplay clips, but it’s still cool to see it confirmed. Can’t wait to get started on my Blinx: The Time Sweeper 2 Electric Boogaloo gameplay commentary series!
Dead Rising 3
This game has a stack of potential. The world looks massive, the system can throw a heap of zombies on-screen at once, you can upgrade weapons on the fly and the gameplay should be a whole lot of fun. My only fear is that it might move too far away from the comic sensibilities of the previous games. It does look pretty grim and serious as opposed to wacky and colourful, after all. On the other hand, sledgesaws.
Titanfall
Wall-running, jetpacking and piloting mechs? That sounds like a recipe for fun to me and, thankfully, it looks like one too. Those three elements really do have the potential to inject new life into the world of online-centric shooters, bringing verticality, tactical variety and, erm, giant robots into the mix. PUNCH, GIANT ROBO!
Flogging a dead horse
Okay, so horses in games are clearly the future, but c’mon, there’s no need to go overboard. When I saw Geralt on that horse in The Witcher 3 I was like, dude, that is sooo half an hour ago. I am, of course, kidding. The Witcher 3 is going to be bad-ass. Love the series’ non-linear storytelling and shades of grey characters, so taking that – alongside an expansive open world – to next-gen is win in my book.
Lowlights:
Ryse: Son of Rome
Boy, what an underwhelming reveal. A game that I wasn’t in any way interested in when it was a Kinect title has now become a traditionally-controlled game I am in no way interested in. The gameplay we’ve seen just looks like yet another modern action game filled with cinematic set pieces, bombast, awful speeches and – worst of all – routine looking gameplay punctuated by button press prompts for finishers. Sure, the setting is something slightly different, but I’d take God of War any day. Honestly, I’m just not seeing what there is to be excited about here.
Lip service to indie devs
There’s been a lot of talk lately about just how much Microsoft will support indie devs and what the process for publishing on the Xbox One platform will be like, so it was great to see the question addressed by Phil Harrison. Sorry, I meant to say, it would have been great… if he’d actually shown off some titles or highlighted some partnerships. I mean, of course it makes sense to bring Minecraft to the system… but what about all those other indies that haven’t released a game that’s sold six million copies on XBLA?
Killer instinct, dude
So, I wasn’t going to mention Killer Instinct here because, well, I’m not too sure how I feel about it. On one hand it’s cool to see it coming back and it’s good that Microsoft is making an effort to cater to what a certain subset of the most hardcore gamers want. On the other hand, I’m just not sure Killer Instinct’s style of gameplay with its ULTIMATE COMBOOOOOS are going to be relevant to modern gamers. Change it and you’ll upset the fans. Don’t change it and it could feel hopelessly out of date. I’m assuming this is a sequel and not just a remake, so it’s going to be interesting to see what they’ve done with it. The real reason this is included is for the unfortunate trashtalking that took place during the demo. The internet got all in a tizzy over it – and I’ll let you draw your own conclusions over its intent, but it’s kind of crazy when you consider just how scripted – and conservative – the patter during Microsoft’s press conferences generally is. In hindsight maybe there’s a reason why…
Source : ign[dot]com
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