A salty Brit's take on E3

by Brendan Rose

With E3 wrapping up, I thought I'd talk about some of the new games I think looked cool, as well as the games I think seem crap or that I'm indifferent towards as well as the new motion controls for the PS3 and Xbox.

Okay first up, Mass Effect 2, now I think this looks really cool. You can bring your old character over to the new game, and if you die you don't get to bring them over into the third game. It's supposed to be darker than the first Mass Effect, which is cool because it was kind of lame. I just sat around waiting the entire game for the lesbian sex scene with the blue alien girl, but it was a lot of fun, and I really liked the psychic powers. They've revamped the graphics and the combat, and you can now wound and cripple the enemy. It looks cool

Alright next we've got Bioshock 2, it seems really neat from the footage I've seen. Everybody knows this time around you get to play as a big daddy, with the proper drill. Slower this time, more lumbering, more powerful, and they've got the big sisters there to set up some good dynamics. It looks ok.

Heavy Rain, seems really cool. It's got the branching plot lines. If you die as one character you just switch to one of the others and the plot adjusts, and it just looks like it's got a lot of potential. I'm not a fan of those stupid quick-time events where you have to press a certain button fast enough to keep the scene going. I hate that. But it seems interesting enough for that not to matter.

Dead Rising 2 is going to be awesome. God of War III seems pretty good from the footage I saw. Everyone's pretty hyped about that game. I never played the God of War games, but I'll definitely try it out. Then there's Final Fantasy XIII and now XIV which will be online. Not much to say about that. I like the look of the new game, and VS sounds awesome.

Flashpoint 2 seems to be rolling along well and looks cool, if they ever release it. Left 4 Dead 2, looks exactly like the first game, which isn't exactly bad, I'll buy it, and some new maps would be fun. Then there's Halo ODST, I'd like to play another Halo. Looks ok.

Assassin's creed 2 seems neat with some new features, better assassinations. It looks like it could be fun. Brutal Legend seems kind of funny. Jack Black... Probably a stupid game, but I'll buy it just to have a look. New AVP, could be fun, if they get it right. Batman Archam Asylum is something I will take a look at later along with Crackdown 2.

Now moving onto the intermediate games there's MAG which seems interesting with 250 or so players. Dark Void just keeps floating around. Some Knights of the old republic game, others liked the earlier one. And then Lost Planet 2 which has fancy graphics and lots of neat action and open areas and big scary monsters to fight but I just look at it and I feel nothing. I feel dead inside.

Then the games that just look like festering shit. First, Uncharted 2. My god, can someone please kill the hype surrounding this miserable looking tomb raider thing. It looks so boring and stupid it makes me want to barf on a child. Modern Warfare 2, I have no interest in...none. I understand people love the first Modern Warfare, but I've never understood it. So, go ahead and let the flaming begin.

The Beatles Rockband will probably sell a lot of copies, but not to me. No way in Hell. And then there's some fucking Metal Gear thing going on... Some stupid shit... Looks like Metal Gear on Xbox. I really don't care

Then finally, these new motion controls, which I hope will strangle the last gulps of life out of the Wii like a boa constrictor on a stray duckling. First the PS3 has a motion controller set for 2010 release that looks at least as good as the Wii motion plus. And then the Xbox has this.... Magic thing....Project Natal. They just showed a weird trailer. If it lives up to the trailer it could be cool. No controller required. It scans your body with two cameras and tracks your movements in 3D, and it responds to voice commands. Could be cool if it works I guess. So the Wii has no power and no games at all, and whatever the Wii control once offered, is now available on a better system with real graphics, If they get it right.

So anyway that's what I thought of E3. Kind of cool. Like a nerd mecca.

H.A.W.X.: Revolution X shooting down Ace Combat this fall

By Tiberius Jonez

Like Abbott and Costello, Hall and Oates and Lennon/McCartney, Tom Clancy and Ubisoft have been a long-standing team with a track record of success. Responsible for some of the most memorable IP’s around, from the Splinter Cell franchise to Rainbow Six: Vegas, the duo have become a staple of the shooter genre. That’s why I was surprised when I heard about their latest collaboration – an air combat game called H.A.W.X.: Revolution X which is set to debut this fall on the Xbox 360, PC and PS3.

With the Ace Combat series being the uncontested champ of this genre for the past ten years, it will be nice to have an alternative – especially one intent on straddling the line between arcade and simulation while maintaining a high level of realism.

The realism extends beyond the planes - which look beautiful – to the topography of the areas over which you’ll pilot them. By utilizing real satellite data, Ubisoft Romania says the areas you fly over will be virtually identical to their real world counterparts.

H.A.W.X. is an acronym for The High Altitude Warfare - Experimental Squadron, a real squadron founded in 1943. It was originally known as FALCO until the U2 spy plane scandal of the 1950’s forced the government to shut down the unit – at least publicly. In reality the name was changed to H.A.W.X and the program continued as a secret government project devoted to the testing of the US government's experimental aircraft and weapons systems, combat and recon black ops missions, training US and Allied pilots and the capture of enemy air-oriented technology.

The game is set in 2012 with the world on the precipice of global conflict. Private Military Corporations (PMC’s), which seem to be the favorite foil of game plots right now (see Metal Gear Solid 4), are available for hire by any sovereign country and are seen as legitimate mercenaries. Unfortunately, over the years the PMC’s have become more and more powerful and difficult to control, which is where the H.A.W.X. come in - to lay down the law.

H.A.W.X. offers a pilot assistance program called ERS, which aids in tracking enemies and piloting. The system is turned off by double-tapping your brakes and on by double-tapping your thrusters. According to a write up on IGN after a hands-on session with the game, switching back and forth between the two flight styles becomes second-nature within minutes and using it has nothing to do with skill level – it is something all players will use. In short, you’ll be turning ERS off when you need to make really difficult maneuvers that require full control of your jet’s systems and turning it on when you want to find difficult targets or get a better view of opposing planes during dogfights.

Judging by screenshots, H.A.W.X. is looking great and the gameplay sounds very promising. Hopefully we’ll see more on the game before its fall release.

Alone in the Dark setting survival horror on fire in June

by Tiberius Jonez

The new Alone in the Dark game which drops June 24th was already on my short list of summer releases to check out after watching the impressive tech demos from the game. Today Joystiq has a write-up about their extended hands-on play session with what is likely the final build of the game. According to the story, Alone in the Dark is set to take the survival horror genre in some completely new and exciting directions.

Alone in the Dark promises to be one of the most cinematic gaming experiences ever created. The game is broken into chapters with a cliffhanger at the end of each one, much like the serial shows from the 1940’s. Eden Studios, the developer making the game for publisher Atari, is encouraging everyone to finish the entire game regardless of skill level by making all the chapters available for play right from the start. You will be able to play any chapter at any time, and thanks to the “Previously on Alone in the Dark” recaps prior to each mission you won’t miss any key plot points if you have to skip part of a chapter due to difficulty of a puzzle or for any other reason.

The game will blend many different gameplay genres including platforming, environmental puzzles, first person-shooter and even driving elements. Aside from the supernatural premise of the game, the environments are very realistic. According to the developers, Central Park in the game is a near exact recreation of its real world counterpart.

Fire plays a key role in the game as a weapon and an obstacle and the game’s engine does a superb job of animating its behavior. Multiple solutions to every problem and weapon combining also play large roles in the gameplay.

Alone in the Dark is really starting to sound like a winner. This is one game I plan to play on day one. If you want more info, check out the full story on Joystiq.

America's Next Top Model - The game...seriously!

OK, now I have officially seen it all. I thought I had seen every hair-brained idea for a game there was, Barbie in a game?, check. Barney in a game?, check. America's Next Top Model? surely not. Wait, damnit, check!

Yes, it's true. Artificial Life announced that they will launch a mobile, interactive game for your phones, based on the Tyra Banks hosted reality show. You will be able to create your own avatar and send it through a series of modeling based mini games that will hope to capture the essence of what makes America's Next Top Model the hit that it is.

The CEO of Artificial Life said, "This new version of the America's Next Top Model mobile game has a lot of innovative gaming features. We have integrated show synchronization and IVR technology to make the game play more exciting. America's Next Top Model fans will surely love these newly added features."

Unless IVR is some kind of technology that makes the models want to date me, I really don't see how its going "to make the game play more exciting."

Of course, I've been wrong before...I never thought Nintendogs would be the phenomenon it turned into (how DID I miss that one?). So who knows, maybe America's Next Top Model will be next years Mobile Game of the Year.

With Lost and Grey's Anatomy games right around the corner, what TV show would you like to see made into a game?

I vote Battlestar Galactica...but that's already coming too.