Yes it is a bit late, E3 was 5 days ago and you all are going. "Why is he not covering it?!" well here is a recap of all the juicy things to come out of it. If you want further information on these upcoming games and hardware visit Gametrailers.com or IGN.com for more info and exclusive interviews.
Microsoft
Halo 4 -To kick things off with a boom yes it is official! Halo 4 was announced and a Teaser Trailer was shown at the Microsoft Press conference and the audience was in an uproar of enthusiasm when they saw what was to come, this title however will not be done by Bungie who has made the Halo franchise ever so popular it will be interesting who is going to be taking the lead and how it will turn out. On top of that the new Halo: Aniversary is coming out which is a bungie updated version of the classic Halo: Combat Evolved, with story, multiplayer and some familiar tricks from Reach.
Modern Warfare 3 - The show was started off with a gameplay preview of the upcoming Modern Warfare 3, the game looks stellar and had the audience riding along on a U.S Delta Force mission to intercept and destroy a Russian submarine in the Hudson River, the game looked fantastic and believe it or not more action packed then the previous ones (I know right? Might blowing) I personally am a big fan of the series and look forward to the ever famous action sequences of the new MW3.
Kinect Titles - A new generation is coming out and that is the motion capturing generation, with the announcement and release of Kinect last year it is only expected of Microsoft to give us newer and better titles, this year however focused quite heavily on upcoming Kinect titles such as the new Star Wars game, Fable: The Journey, an ancient Rome warrior game called Ryse, Disneyland Adventures, Seseme Street: Once upon a Monster which is being developed by Double Fine the company that gave us Brutal Legend (I hope Eddie makes a comeback in this new Seseme Street game) and ofcoarse what motion sensing hardware would be complete without a whole new sports game. (Yay?)
Tomb Raider - That's right our sexy, dangerous grime riddled fantasy is coming back but this time with a bit of a twist, the title simply called Tomb Raider was showcased at the conference and it seemed quite darker than the other games, this one is taking place as the Origin story of Laura Croft and in the demo we say poor Laura fall down and break her arm and with that she crawled through a tunnel trying to escape some natives looking to kill her and through the cave ins and survival puzzles the game looks like it is going to be great.
Mass Effect 3 - Yes my pride and joy was also shown there with actual gameplay, there is much to be said about this but the conference is not the only place gameplay was shown! On the floor for the first time ever we as the players got to witness Earth in the Mass Effect universe specifically it being invaded by the reapers the sight for me literally stopped by heart which I was then later resuscitated and able to resume to video. Now as for the conference itself it showed Commander Shepard on the Salarian homeworld helping Mordin Solis and a Krogan Princess escape, it showcased several new things including a melee weapon Shepard can use called an omni'blade, stealth takedowns, rolling, jumping gaps and all around kicking ass. Now a new feature that is quite exciting is Mass Effect 3 will be Kinect ready meaning yes you as a player can talk and decide the narrative if you want (Though from what I saw you must still pick from the narrative) still this is a big step forward and on top of that you may also direct your squad using a command such as "Garrus move up" and he will do just that, amazing eh? The delay I hope will make all the time waiting for it worth it and a release date was finally given as well. March 6th 2012 it comes out so hold onto your seats folks.
Forza Motorsport 4 - This hotly anticipated racing game was also seen at the conference showcasing a bit of gameplay as well as the new graphics engine they are using, the cars now look much more sleek and realistic and the lighting and shine of it all is truly breathtaking, they announced new features like community car clubs, a rivals mode and a world tour. The game was given a release date of October 11, 2011.
Gear of War 3 - One of the most hotly anticipated titles of the year was given given a campaign gameplay trailer which had Delta fighting a giant worm and of coarse the Locust, with all the footage and announcements of the game personally I am a bit upset they are giving away so much information on it but all in all it is gearing up to be a great looking game especially for any Gears fans out there.
That pretty much wraps up the Microsoft E3 conference if you want more info on these games go check out Gametrailers.com or IGN.com
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Review: L.A Noire
The woman was brutally stabbed to death and the entire L.A police department is stumped but there is one man who stand above all... His name is Cole Phelps and he is the latest hero in Rockstars lineup! That's right L.A Noire has been released and it is Rockstar as you have never seen before.
First off I should say that this is a Rockstar published game but the talent behind it lies in Sydney, Australia from one of Rockstars sub companies Team Boni. Yes the Aussies have delivered us a game unlike you have ever played before.
Now in L.A Noire for the first time in a Rockstar game you play as the good guys, you are Cole Phelps a street cop in 1940's L.A and your job is to climb the ladder from simple street cop with an eye for investigation all the way to Vice (The Rolls Royce of policing apparently...) So we begin with Phelps getting a lucky break as some boys from Vice do not want to bother with an investigation leaving Phelps to take care of it and through some in depth policing you find that a simple shot to the head goes much deeper and once the case is solved it seems the head honcho of the local PD has his eye on you. He quickly promoted you to the Traffic desk which has you investigating a series of deaths having to do with automobiles. The story quickly escalated from there but it is up to you as the player to find out just how it escalates.
Onto the overall story, now this is a bit different since there is no "Main story" each desk you get promoted to will have you following a series of murders most of which have to do with the same killer however it will take some good policing to figure out weather the suspects and witnesses are lying, or telling the truth. The game uses a sophisticated facial capturing technology which actually captures the expressions of the actors playing the characters and put's it in stunning realism. During investigations you will first visit the crime scenes which are surprisingly brutal and gritty, so it is advised you not have kids in the room on them as they do not censor themselves at all. Your job is to search the area for clues which can be examined and used as evidence later in interrogations.
During interrogations is where the facial recognition really comes into play, as a player you will ask them a series of questions and you will have to ability to choose one of three options being Lie, Doubt and Truth. Now you are going to have to try and read their facial expressions in order to try and make your final decision which of the three are going to be used. Selecting Lie for example will force you to accuse them and you will have to use evidence found in the investigation in order for it to be the right answer but if you have no evidence then you must doubt or if you think they are being straight then select Truth! It is a simple concept yet surprisingly difficult to nail all the right answers.
Now onto the action of the game.. Now as most Rockstar games focus heavily on the physics and the combat this one concentrates mostly on the interrogations with some shooting and driving, the shooting will feel familiar to you but it will not feel as polished as say Red Dead Redemption or GTA 4, instead it uses a mediocre version of the famous Rockstar physics and often is not as responsive as you would like to make it feel like a satisfying kill. The driving in the game is a huge part.. Bigger than it needs to be to be completely honest, L.A is beautifully reconstructed in the game and could take you a good 25 minutes to get across the city in a straight line! But 40% of the game is driving around in beater cars that feel just as mediocre as the gun fighting, do not expect the same level of detail as GTA 4 in terms of car reaction to impacts, dents scratches you name it.. The cares back then apparently were tanks on wheels because a bent bumper and a cracked windshield are about the most damage you wills see besides an exploding car.
I will also note that the world is not as living and breathing as it is in previous Rockstar games there is no driving around and throwing darts at a bar or going to eat at a Burger King it simply wants you to do the Main Story with about 40 side missions that randomly appear around the city which normally result in the same thing.. Shootout, car chase or foot pursuit. There really is not much diversity in terms of things to do and truthfully this game could have done much better considering it was announced 5 years ago. I will also mention that at each desk you are given a partner each one with their own charms but they are not much help at all besides using them as a fast travel method... For once in a game the answer is YES! Someone else will drive you to the location, but besides that it seems all they do is tell you obvious points and bitch about various things when in the end Cole is always right it seems. I also mentioned the facial recognition earlier which is a fantastic technology and I hope other games use it in the future but in this game the tech far exceeds the came.. In comparison to the games graphics the facial expressions look like moving masks and the children in the game look horribly done, specifically a little girl you interrogate at the Homicide desk (Play it and see for yourself).
This game is solid and there is an even number of good things as well as the bad to be said about this game, that is not necessarily a good thing however as you want to minimalize the bad when making a game.. Especially one that took 5 years to develop, the idea is solid but there needs to be more to do and it needs to feel more real if it wants to compete with the upcoming 2011 titles. In summary it is a solid game that is worth a rent if you are in the mood for a game that takes a sharp mind to play but if you are looking to buy it beware the replay-ability of this game is limited to none.
6.5/10
First off I should say that this is a Rockstar published game but the talent behind it lies in Sydney, Australia from one of Rockstars sub companies Team Boni. Yes the Aussies have delivered us a game unlike you have ever played before.
Now in L.A Noire for the first time in a Rockstar game you play as the good guys, you are Cole Phelps a street cop in 1940's L.A and your job is to climb the ladder from simple street cop with an eye for investigation all the way to Vice (The Rolls Royce of policing apparently...) So we begin with Phelps getting a lucky break as some boys from Vice do not want to bother with an investigation leaving Phelps to take care of it and through some in depth policing you find that a simple shot to the head goes much deeper and once the case is solved it seems the head honcho of the local PD has his eye on you. He quickly promoted you to the Traffic desk which has you investigating a series of deaths having to do with automobiles. The story quickly escalated from there but it is up to you as the player to find out just how it escalates.
Onto the overall story, now this is a bit different since there is no "Main story" each desk you get promoted to will have you following a series of murders most of which have to do with the same killer however it will take some good policing to figure out weather the suspects and witnesses are lying, or telling the truth. The game uses a sophisticated facial capturing technology which actually captures the expressions of the actors playing the characters and put's it in stunning realism. During investigations you will first visit the crime scenes which are surprisingly brutal and gritty, so it is advised you not have kids in the room on them as they do not censor themselves at all. Your job is to search the area for clues which can be examined and used as evidence later in interrogations.
During interrogations is where the facial recognition really comes into play, as a player you will ask them a series of questions and you will have to ability to choose one of three options being Lie, Doubt and Truth. Now you are going to have to try and read their facial expressions in order to try and make your final decision which of the three are going to be used. Selecting Lie for example will force you to accuse them and you will have to use evidence found in the investigation in order for it to be the right answer but if you have no evidence then you must doubt or if you think they are being straight then select Truth! It is a simple concept yet surprisingly difficult to nail all the right answers.
Now onto the action of the game.. Now as most Rockstar games focus heavily on the physics and the combat this one concentrates mostly on the interrogations with some shooting and driving, the shooting will feel familiar to you but it will not feel as polished as say Red Dead Redemption or GTA 4, instead it uses a mediocre version of the famous Rockstar physics and often is not as responsive as you would like to make it feel like a satisfying kill. The driving in the game is a huge part.. Bigger than it needs to be to be completely honest, L.A is beautifully reconstructed in the game and could take you a good 25 minutes to get across the city in a straight line! But 40% of the game is driving around in beater cars that feel just as mediocre as the gun fighting, do not expect the same level of detail as GTA 4 in terms of car reaction to impacts, dents scratches you name it.. The cares back then apparently were tanks on wheels because a bent bumper and a cracked windshield are about the most damage you wills see besides an exploding car.
I will also note that the world is not as living and breathing as it is in previous Rockstar games there is no driving around and throwing darts at a bar or going to eat at a Burger King it simply wants you to do the Main Story with about 40 side missions that randomly appear around the city which normally result in the same thing.. Shootout, car chase or foot pursuit. There really is not much diversity in terms of things to do and truthfully this game could have done much better considering it was announced 5 years ago. I will also mention that at each desk you are given a partner each one with their own charms but they are not much help at all besides using them as a fast travel method... For once in a game the answer is YES! Someone else will drive you to the location, but besides that it seems all they do is tell you obvious points and bitch about various things when in the end Cole is always right it seems. I also mentioned the facial recognition earlier which is a fantastic technology and I hope other games use it in the future but in this game the tech far exceeds the came.. In comparison to the games graphics the facial expressions look like moving masks and the children in the game look horribly done, specifically a little girl you interrogate at the Homicide desk (Play it and see for yourself).
This game is solid and there is an even number of good things as well as the bad to be said about this game, that is not necessarily a good thing however as you want to minimalize the bad when making a game.. Especially one that took 5 years to develop, the idea is solid but there needs to be more to do and it needs to feel more real if it wants to compete with the upcoming 2011 titles. In summary it is a solid game that is worth a rent if you are in the mood for a game that takes a sharp mind to play but if you are looking to buy it beware the replay-ability of this game is limited to none.
6.5/10
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