VGT at E3: Massive First Day Recap
05-11-06 | 11:18 AM
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From: Westchester, Los Angeles
VGT at E3: Massive First Day Recap
First off, I wasn't able to get this info out yesterday due to a packed appointment schedule (day and night) and my hotel sucking in the wi-fi dept. Anyway, let's get into it:
Guitar Hero 2
A next gen (360 & PS3) version is in the approval stages, but the company is remaining tight lipped about it. I got that further info out of the Guitar Hero rep last night at the Gizmodo party. As for my appointment with them, I got my hands on the sequel. It contains at least 2 to 3 times the amount of music in the original which are mostly covers. The rep was most enthused about scoring a Primal cover song right before E3. There will be 2 versions, one with the guitar and one without. They will not make you repurchase a guitar for the sequel.
Gears of War Hand-On Multiplayer
This was the absolute best game I played yesterday. I played four on four team deathmatch on a small urban map. The map was littered with abandoned cars and empty concrete structures. It was a small map, but perfect for the number of players in the game.
The controls are perfect for a 3rd person shooter. The A button allows you to sprint which makes the camera shake behind you adding a sense of urgency to the situation. The A button also draws you into cover. Any object in the game can act as cover: cars, buildings, mailboxes, potted plants, etc.
The weapons I got my hands on were the standard machine gun, shotgun, grenade launcher, & rocket launcher. But the absolute goretastic weapon has to be the built in chainsaw to all of your weapons. Just get in close and your opponent will be shredded to pieces while he attempts to reload. Also, the reloading system is pretty damn unique. But using timed button presses, you can speed up the amount of time it takes to reload as well as get damage bonuses. Oppositely, if you screw up the reload, your character will go into an animation that shows him trying to clear a gun jam.
All in all, Gears of War is everything MS has been saying it is. BTW, AwfullyGood won that Team DeathMatch with the top score of 14 kills 1 death. Had to live up to my name
Crackdown
I had a low opinion of this game going in, but the developer cleared some things up. Crackdown is a cross between GTA and an RPG game. Also, it's presented in a deliberately over the top way which makes it a huge playground for the Havok physics engine.
The game is colorful in a cartoonish graphic novel way. The explosions look particularly destructive, but they do cause a spike in the framerate in the current build. Some vehicles in the game have morphing abilities and special features that cause cars to explode or be catapulted away.
The RPG elements allow you to raise the stats of your character for added agility, better driving skills, more accurate shooting, etc. By the time the game comes to an end, your character will seem almost god-like, being able to jump from building to building or raise cars over your head. There are 21 assassination missions that you will be able to complete in single player or 2 player co-op over Xbox Live. The missions are similar to GTA style.
Overall, Crackdown looks fun to play, but I'm betting it will be destroyed in reviews for being too over-the-top.
Viva Piņata
Rare is releasing this game at the same time a similar children's TV show will be broadcasted, both based on the lives of piņatas. Rare will be offering hints in the TV on how to be more successful in the game.
There are 60 species of piņata on your piece of farmland. You have limited directional control over the piņatas, as they usually just do what they want. The currency in the game is candy. Candy can be used to purchase in game objects or trading between players on Xbox Live. Also, players can trade species with each other. Species are delivered in wooden boxes to hide the true nature of the species. In other words, you could grief your friends by sending mean piņatas to chase or eat up all their good piņatas.
Viva Piņata is very cute, but I really don't see myself playing this game.
Too Human
Dennis Dyack personally showed us the work that has been done in Too Human so far. The idea of the game is that humans have started upgrading themselves with cybernetics. Your companions and higher ups keep telling you to upgrade yourself because you are "Too Human".
This game really has an interesting style. It's like a culmination of all the games Dennis has worked on so far. The cinematics are wrapped into the combat system flawlessly. In other words, you can continue to fight while the cinematics are going on. The camera works fairly well at adjusting to enemies.
The game uses the Unreal 3 engine. At this point, the game is suffering heavy stuttering when multiple enemies are on screen as well as loading new areas. Dennis blamed it on overheating issues, but who knows? Dennis also said they are shooting for a solid 30 fps, not 60 like Eternal Darkness.
The game will be split over 3 games, all on the Xbox 360, with the possibility for episodic content over Xbox Live between games. This will allow Dennis to continue the story as each game will be self-contained, a.k.a. no cliffhangers. This is the longest script Silicon Knights has ever attempted to create. They are shooting for 15 to 25 hours for the first single player game, btw.
We didn't get to see the 4 player co-op, but will be Xbox Live compatible. The game will increase in difficulty (harder and more enemies) as the number of players increases. There are vague RPG elements as well and you will be able to bring the character you created in the first game into the 2nd & 3rd games.
Overall, I'm impressed in the scope of their project, but not the execution.
Saint's Row Hand-On
Wow, what a horrible game demo. The graphics are bland and the textures are fuzzy. The hit detection is spotty at best. You can be shooting a foot away from an enemy and still hit him. The controls are far too limited for the 3rd person shooter and need to be tweaked quite a bit before release. Saint's Row really disappointed me. But the booth babes where nice.
Superman Demo
The EA rep wouldn't let us play this. The build I saw was 40% done and still looked as bad as the trailer. Metropolis is 80 square miles of territory, all representative of the comic book culture. The game is set up like the Spiderman games. There will be minor missions around you to take care of as well as the main storyline. Also, since Supes in indestructible, missions will be failed by letting the city take too much collateral damage.
Supes can fly up to 300 mph and jump 800 mph. There will be no multiplayer for anything but the PSP. He was tight lipped about downloadable content as well. Overall, it looks like the best superman game to date, but that's not saying much.
Battlefield 2142 Hands-On
This game is almost identical to Battlefield 2, only with upgraded weaponry and advanced vehicles. Many of the textures look the same as well as the maps. The controls are identical to B2 as well.
The only real difference I saw was more customizable options for choosing weaponry & support items for your character. There are 3 options for your main gun as well as various items like binoculars, health packs, etc.
Mass Effect Demo
This was mostly the same demo I saw on Tuesday, just a bit more in depth on the combat system, which is what I will talk about.
The combat system is basically a third person tactical shooter. You can pause the game to redirect your 2 squad-mates to different locations for flanking. Otherwise, the squad will use combat tactics that you specify. Also, destructible environments will play a role into the combat. That being said, the entire environment isn't destructible, just certain areas. The game will probably offer hints or indicators for this. Also, every gun is mounted with a flashlight.
This really looks like KOTOR with a massive amount of planets to visit and a trigger happy combat system. Also, this game is supposed to be a trilogy as well. No details on the rest of the story.
Games for Windows
I doubt this will be too exciting for most of you; I'm going to mention a few things from my meeting.
1. Vista will offer game information in the Games explorer section of Vista. Dev info, publisher info, version number, release date, ESRB rating, etc. will all be listed when a game is highlighted in the menu.
2. The family settings have been drastically expanded. MS has broken down every ESRB rating on their checklist (drug use, sexual content, use of firearms, etc.) in about 30 different items to check. So if you don't want little Billy to be playing the Hot coffee mod, you can block it out. You can also limit the times that Billy can play games. So no more late night WoW bouts.
3. They are adding a number of inbox games to Vista and upgrading the others (Hearts, Solitaire, Minesweeper, etc.) in 3d glory. Chess was one of the games we were shown and it looked pretty good.
4. There will be a huge marketing push for Games for Windows when Vista is released. Also, DirectX 10 will ship with Vista.
Ok, that's it for now. I realize most of that was 360 stuff, but those were most of my appointments yesterday. I'm going to see if Sony or Nintendo are more hospitable today as well as trying to see Spore if EA will let me in.
Guitar Hero 2
A next gen (360 & PS3) version is in the approval stages, but the company is remaining tight lipped about it. I got that further info out of the Guitar Hero rep last night at the Gizmodo party. As for my appointment with them, I got my hands on the sequel. It contains at least 2 to 3 times the amount of music in the original which are mostly covers. The rep was most enthused about scoring a Primal cover song right before E3. There will be 2 versions, one with the guitar and one without. They will not make you repurchase a guitar for the sequel.
Gears of War Hand-On Multiplayer
This was the absolute best game I played yesterday. I played four on four team deathmatch on a small urban map. The map was littered with abandoned cars and empty concrete structures. It was a small map, but perfect for the number of players in the game.
The controls are perfect for a 3rd person shooter. The A button allows you to sprint which makes the camera shake behind you adding a sense of urgency to the situation. The A button also draws you into cover. Any object in the game can act as cover: cars, buildings, mailboxes, potted plants, etc.
The weapons I got my hands on were the standard machine gun, shotgun, grenade launcher, & rocket launcher. But the absolute goretastic weapon has to be the built in chainsaw to all of your weapons. Just get in close and your opponent will be shredded to pieces while he attempts to reload. Also, the reloading system is pretty damn unique. But using timed button presses, you can speed up the amount of time it takes to reload as well as get damage bonuses. Oppositely, if you screw up the reload, your character will go into an animation that shows him trying to clear a gun jam.
All in all, Gears of War is everything MS has been saying it is. BTW, AwfullyGood won that Team DeathMatch with the top score of 14 kills 1 death. Had to live up to my name
Crackdown
I had a low opinion of this game going in, but the developer cleared some things up. Crackdown is a cross between GTA and an RPG game. Also, it's presented in a deliberately over the top way which makes it a huge playground for the Havok physics engine.
The game is colorful in a cartoonish graphic novel way. The explosions look particularly destructive, but they do cause a spike in the framerate in the current build. Some vehicles in the game have morphing abilities and special features that cause cars to explode or be catapulted away.
The RPG elements allow you to raise the stats of your character for added agility, better driving skills, more accurate shooting, etc. By the time the game comes to an end, your character will seem almost god-like, being able to jump from building to building or raise cars over your head. There are 21 assassination missions that you will be able to complete in single player or 2 player co-op over Xbox Live. The missions are similar to GTA style.
Overall, Crackdown looks fun to play, but I'm betting it will be destroyed in reviews for being too over-the-top.
Viva Piņata
Rare is releasing this game at the same time a similar children's TV show will be broadcasted, both based on the lives of piņatas. Rare will be offering hints in the TV on how to be more successful in the game.
There are 60 species of piņata on your piece of farmland. You have limited directional control over the piņatas, as they usually just do what they want. The currency in the game is candy. Candy can be used to purchase in game objects or trading between players on Xbox Live. Also, players can trade species with each other. Species are delivered in wooden boxes to hide the true nature of the species. In other words, you could grief your friends by sending mean piņatas to chase or eat up all their good piņatas.
Viva Piņata is very cute, but I really don't see myself playing this game.
Too Human
Dennis Dyack personally showed us the work that has been done in Too Human so far. The idea of the game is that humans have started upgrading themselves with cybernetics. Your companions and higher ups keep telling you to upgrade yourself because you are "Too Human".
This game really has an interesting style. It's like a culmination of all the games Dennis has worked on so far. The cinematics are wrapped into the combat system flawlessly. In other words, you can continue to fight while the cinematics are going on. The camera works fairly well at adjusting to enemies.
The game uses the Unreal 3 engine. At this point, the game is suffering heavy stuttering when multiple enemies are on screen as well as loading new areas. Dennis blamed it on overheating issues, but who knows? Dennis also said they are shooting for a solid 30 fps, not 60 like Eternal Darkness.
The game will be split over 3 games, all on the Xbox 360, with the possibility for episodic content over Xbox Live between games. This will allow Dennis to continue the story as each game will be self-contained, a.k.a. no cliffhangers. This is the longest script Silicon Knights has ever attempted to create. They are shooting for 15 to 25 hours for the first single player game, btw.
We didn't get to see the 4 player co-op, but will be Xbox Live compatible. The game will increase in difficulty (harder and more enemies) as the number of players increases. There are vague RPG elements as well and you will be able to bring the character you created in the first game into the 2nd & 3rd games.
Overall, I'm impressed in the scope of their project, but not the execution.
Saint's Row Hand-On
Wow, what a horrible game demo. The graphics are bland and the textures are fuzzy. The hit detection is spotty at best. You can be shooting a foot away from an enemy and still hit him. The controls are far too limited for the 3rd person shooter and need to be tweaked quite a bit before release. Saint's Row really disappointed me. But the booth babes where nice.
Superman Demo
The EA rep wouldn't let us play this. The build I saw was 40% done and still looked as bad as the trailer. Metropolis is 80 square miles of territory, all representative of the comic book culture. The game is set up like the Spiderman games. There will be minor missions around you to take care of as well as the main storyline. Also, since Supes in indestructible, missions will be failed by letting the city take too much collateral damage.
Supes can fly up to 300 mph and jump 800 mph. There will be no multiplayer for anything but the PSP. He was tight lipped about downloadable content as well. Overall, it looks like the best superman game to date, but that's not saying much.
Battlefield 2142 Hands-On
This game is almost identical to Battlefield 2, only with upgraded weaponry and advanced vehicles. Many of the textures look the same as well as the maps. The controls are identical to B2 as well.
The only real difference I saw was more customizable options for choosing weaponry & support items for your character. There are 3 options for your main gun as well as various items like binoculars, health packs, etc.
Mass Effect Demo
This was mostly the same demo I saw on Tuesday, just a bit more in depth on the combat system, which is what I will talk about.
The combat system is basically a third person tactical shooter. You can pause the game to redirect your 2 squad-mates to different locations for flanking. Otherwise, the squad will use combat tactics that you specify. Also, destructible environments will play a role into the combat. That being said, the entire environment isn't destructible, just certain areas. The game will probably offer hints or indicators for this. Also, every gun is mounted with a flashlight.
This really looks like KOTOR with a massive amount of planets to visit and a trigger happy combat system. Also, this game is supposed to be a trilogy as well. No details on the rest of the story.
Games for Windows
I doubt this will be too exciting for most of you; I'm going to mention a few things from my meeting.
1. Vista will offer game information in the Games explorer section of Vista. Dev info, publisher info, version number, release date, ESRB rating, etc. will all be listed when a game is highlighted in the menu.
2. The family settings have been drastically expanded. MS has broken down every ESRB rating on their checklist (drug use, sexual content, use of firearms, etc.) in about 30 different items to check. So if you don't want little Billy to be playing the Hot coffee mod, you can block it out. You can also limit the times that Billy can play games. So no more late night WoW bouts.
3. They are adding a number of inbox games to Vista and upgrading the others (Hearts, Solitaire, Minesweeper, etc.) in 3d glory. Chess was one of the games we were shown and it looked pretty good.
4. There will be a huge marketing push for Games for Windows when Vista is released. Also, DirectX 10 will ship with Vista.
Ok, that's it for now. I realize most of that was 360 stuff, but those were most of my appointments yesterday. I'm going to see if Sony or Nintendo are more hospitable today as well as trying to see Spore if EA will let me in.
05-11-06 | 11:27 AM
#2
DVD Talk Legend
Thanks for the update. Glad to hear Gears of War is turing out to be as good as we were all hoping.
I am actually really excited for Viva Pinata especially after downloading the trailer on Live last night (freakin over 200 megs). This looks like it could be the game that sells 360s to the gamers that prefer GC or PS2 because of the wacky games from Japan like Animal Crossing or Katamari (I'm looking in your direction Pixy). I see it being one of those games that I have to play every day.
I am actually really excited for Viva Pinata especially after downloading the trailer on Live last night (freakin over 200 megs). This looks like it could be the game that sells 360s to the gamers that prefer GC or PS2 because of the wacky games from Japan like Animal Crossing or Katamari (I'm looking in your direction Pixy). I see it being one of those games that I have to play every day.
05-11-06 | 12:17 PM
#4
DVD Talk Legend
Originally Posted by noonan4224
Thanks for the update. Glad to hear Gears of War is turing out to be as good as we were all hoping.
I am actually really excited for Viva Pinata especially after downloading the trailer on Live last night (freakin over 200 megs). This looks like it could be the game that sells 360s to the gamers that prefer GC or PS2 because of the wacky games from Japan like Animal Crossing or Katamari (I'm looking in your direction Pixy). I see it being one of those games that I have to play every day.
I am actually really excited for Viva Pinata especially after downloading the trailer on Live last night (freakin over 200 megs). This looks like it could be the game that sells 360s to the gamers that prefer GC or PS2 because of the wacky games from Japan like Animal Crossing or Katamari (I'm looking in your direction Pixy). I see it being one of those games that I have to play every day.
05-11-06 | 12:22 PM
#5
DVD Talk Legend
Originally Posted by PixyJunket
Don't look at me! I promised I'd never touch another Animal Crossing style game again.
05-11-06 | 12:44 PM
#6
DVD Talk Legend
Originally Posted by noonan4224
Yeah....sure. I'll believe it when I see it.
05-11-06 | 12:49 PM
#8
DVD Talk Legend
Originally Posted by PixyJunket
I fought quite the epic battle with my girlfriend concerning Animal Crossing Wild World; needless to say I stood my ground and have not touched it. Even if it's a great game, I just refuse to play anything that has any kind of "play every day" catch to it (MMORPGs, etc.).
Some of the features of this game look crazy. You have you own personal tag that you design which goes on all of you creatures. When/if you trade them over live, where ever they end up they always have your tag on them.
Edit: Panzer Dragoon on 360
05-11-06 | 12:55 PM
#9
DVD Talk Legend
Originally Posted by Gallant Pig
Somehow I think if they release a JSR & Panzer Dragoon for 360 we'll see a certain fellow get a 360. ;0
05-11-06 | 05:18 PM
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Gears of War is truely shaping up to be a beast. Very excited! I just got done playing MotoGP Demo online, man what a blast with 0 lag! I even got a 2nd place finish the first time i played it online. Definetly into the 360 more and more.
