Devil May Cry
Despite the fact that Dante’s personality was extremely annoying (not every situation requires a snarky or ridiculous comment you jerk!), DMC was actually quite awesome. Demon mode is mapped to the Right trigger, while Angel mode is on the Left. Pressing one of these will modify the current attack, thus enabling you to perform a huge variety of combos. This game is a joy to control, there are a plethora of amazing attacks, and I had a great experience during my brief demo. The platforming was solid and the fighting was brilliant. Demon attacks tend to strike with brute force, while Angel attacks are more elegant and smooth. However, it is really easy to switch between them, rack up huge combos and have a ton o’ fun defeating crazy enemy types.
Hitman Absolution
The latest Hitman game features a graphics upgrade and better AI. The AI will now respond differently depending on what disguise the Agent has. For example, if 47 has a janitor uniform, other janitors will instantly be able to tell the difference. However, other characters will ignore him. In addition, Agent 47 will posses a feature called “Instinct”, meaning that he can now detect NPC routes, see through walls, and get a better understanding of the terrain for a short time.
Two other features were also shown off at E3. Absolution has Splinter Cell Conviction-like marking of enemies; once you get enough “Instinct”, you can mark several enemies at once,and then take them out in a maelstrom of magnificence. There will also be an in-game rating system, or leaderboard, that tracks stats and compares you against your friends.
Hybrid
Hybrid is a unique 3rd-person shooter being developed by 5th Cell and coming to XBLA. What makes it unique is that you don’t have much control over your character. In the map that I played, there were a few platforms situated around a central column. On each platform, there were knee-high walls that could be used for cover. You can slide along the walls, hop over them and shoot over them. If you want to move to the next platform, press ‘A’ and you will jetpack over there. Mid-air dogfights and jousts are a regular occurrence. Hybrid is a multiplayer only title, and it is certainly unique. Its pretty hard to describe, but once you try out it out you may never go back.
Mark of the Ninja
Mark of the Ninja is the complete opposite of Shank, the previous game from developer Klei Entertainment. Whereas Shank was all about gory violence, Mark of the Ninja is all about stealth. While you can fight your enemies head on, it doesn’t go too well as I experienced many times during my play-through. Mark of the Ninja is a 2D game that truly makes you feel like a Ninja as you knock out lights, swiftly execute ignorant guards and jump around like a true master of the art.
Wreckateer
Ok, the Wreckateer demo may have been the weakest point of Microsoft’s conference, but in actuality it does look like a solid Kinect title. Wreckateer appears to combine Angry Birds and Boom Blox. Your job is to use a canon and destroy a castle. However, the canon shoots out a variety of items. For example, once one of the weapons had been launched, you could use your arms to turn it into a glider and then steer the weaponized glider into combo multipliers before hitting the castle in a strategic spot. The controls were extremely accurate for a Kinect title and just like Angry Birds, its a pretty addicting game. I imagine it will probably be a pretty good party game, after everyone is tired of Dance Central 3.
Pid
Pid tells the humorous tale of a chubby boy from the future. After he misses the space bus that should have taken him home, he must traverse a dangerous world using a strange artifact he found in a treasure chest. The artifact allows him to use two gravity modifiers. He can attach them to any surface, at any angle. In addition, he can collect items, like bombs, to help him achieve his goal. Pid’s charming graphical style, intense action, and brilliant puzzles will be available on XBLA, PSN and Steam soon.
Madagascar – Join the Circus!
Madagascar-Join the Circus is actually already available on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. However, during E3 I was able to get my first hands on time with the game. It is a fairly straightforward city building game, except it uses the Madasgar licence. Nevertheless, I immediately downloaded the game on my personal iPhone after I got home. It is just too fun building a circus! Plus, I would wager that this game is actually funnier than the movie; you can build all sorts of wacky buildings that are hilariously named. In addition, this city building game also features mini-games. For the time being there is only one minigame — you shoot Marty out of a cannon and attempt to collect as many balloons as possible. Its pretty fun. However, D3 will be updating this game throughout its lifetime with a ton more minigame options. The download link for the game can be found here.
