Game of Thrones Developer: Cyanide Studio Publisher: Focus Home Interactive, Atlus Platforms: PC (reviewed), PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Release Date: 7 June, 2012 Price: $49.99 (available here)
Overview
There is currently nothing hotter in the world of entertainment than Game of Thrones. It is the latest sensation for HBO, dominating ratings and scooping up awards. The TV adaptation of George R R Martins novels has brought the long running series to the forefront of the public consciousness, and now that Season 2 has bowed out and the latest novel A Dance with Dragons has hit paperback, there’s a long wait in store for fans of the series before fresh tales from Westeros appear.
Enter the second video game entry in the Song of Ice and Fire world, an RPG simply entitled: Game of Thrones. In development long before the show brought the property to such mass attention, developers Cyanide have nonetheless managed to team up with both Martin and HBO to bring some authenticity to the game: the game was crafted under the supervision of the author and a couple of character models reflect their HBO counterparts, even having the actors along for a bit of voice over.
The first Game of Thrones game, an RTS subtitled Genesis, was a horrible mess best forgotten. The RPG has been handled by the same developer: time to place your bets…
Story
The story rotates between two characters completely new to the Thrones universe – Mors Westford and Alester Sarwyck. Mors is a brother of the Night’s Watch, Alester the eldest son of Lord Sarwyck, a bannerman to House Lannister. Whilst Mors has been bound to the Wall by his vows, Alester has been out of Westeros entirely, spending 15 years away from Westeros and becoming a Red Priest in the mean time.
(If that’s already utterly incomprehensible best not continue: this game is here to hook in those already well versed in the Game of Thrones world…)
Alester returns to Westeros upon the death if his father, only to discover that his bastard half brother plans to take over the family lands by marrying his sister (if there are two things Thrones loves, it’s bastards and incest!). Alester makes haste to King’s Landing to convince the Queen to call off the arrangement and reclaim his status as true heir to the Sarwyck lands. Once there a tiny side plot of the Game of Thrones novel is expanded into the game’s main plot: Cersei Lannister’s purge of her husbands’ bastard children. Mors is drawn into the action by a letter from John Arryn, requesting that he help protect a young girl and find somewhere safe for her to stay. After some action at the Wall, Mors is made a Recruiter of the Night’s Watch, and is thus free to leave the North and try and bring the girl, Jeyne, to safety.
The game is split into chapters, alternating between Alester and Mors. The plotting is much like the novels in that although the two tales are intricately linked, the two characters never share the same space – at least not until the end game. There are lots of little details that fans of the novels will lap up, nods to lore, small ties to major events. Things unfold at a good pace, covering the usual Thrones territory of duplicity, manipulation and politics. Lengthy dialogue scenes follow a branch system similar to Bioware games, and character responses follow a train of thought rather than having a series of replies shoehorned in to particular emotions or archetypes. And as promised, choices you make throughout the game have an impact on the outcome…
The story and the manner of its telling are certainly the strongest thing about the game. Some of the twists and turns ape classic Thrones material and a couple of the relationships are genuinely engaging. The fact that the books are several thousand pages ahead of the characters featured here and have yet made no mention of them at all does limit the scale and consequence of the events, but luckily Martin’s universe is one that thrives on character driven stories, and this part of it is no different. The publisher could perhaps have avoided releasing publicity screenshots that reveal a certain twist in the game, and there’s a certain immersion shattering cameo that should never ever have made it in to the game. Other than that things tick boxes fairly readily, but sadly there is more to a game than a story…
Gameplay
Before any of the action kicks off there is some character building to do, and although Mors and Alester are preset in their looks there is plenty of character customisation to be had in Game of Thrones. Each character can be played in three different ways, with classes drawn from Game of Thrones lore. Mors is largely a warrior whilst Alester leans more towards rogue archetypes. There is the usual levelling system that grows skills (strength, luck etc) and unlocks abilities, but also a rather neat strengths and weaknesses system. For every strength allocated to Mors or Alester there must be a weakness to balance it, so if Mors is a Bruiser (added damage from two handed weapons), he’ll have to be a half pint, psychopath or inflicted with Greyscale to balance out his advantage. It’s different, intriguing, and allows for a little more customisation of preset characters: easily a feature to see more of.
The combat itself is somewhat reminiscent of Dragon Age and many other RPG’s. Each character has an energy gauge as well as health, and each combat ability uses up a set number of energy points. Energy gradually refills with every blow landed, and another limited ability can refill the bar every so often. It’s more unusual in that hitting the space bar doesn’t stop time but only slows it, so the strategy involved remains pressurised. Attacks have to be planned, not only with regards to their energy consumption, but the weapon type being used, the armor being attacked and the status effects in play. An enemy wearing heavy armor will fall fastest to a blunt weapon, and Mor’s dog can rip away an enemies shield only when they are in counter attack. Combatants can be stunned, terrified, set on fire, knocked down, immobilised and more. There is plenty to go on in this system, even if strategy is more about how quickly you can kill the bad guys rather than if you can kill them, at least until later levels.
Each character also has a unique ability that can be used out of combat. Mors can shapeshift into his dog to follow scents and reveal secrets and treasure, whilst Alester can use his Red Priest abilities to discover hidden doors and mechanisms. Mors certainly has the better deal here, as the dog can be used to sneak up on enemies and rip their throats out, which if not that satisfying thanks to a dodgy animation and limited stealth mechanics, is at least useful. The odd basic puzzle rears its head, but gameplay is all about bashing people’s skulls in, lengthy discussions, negotiating the nigh on useless map and doing it all over again. Quests do avoid the nonsensical nature of some games and slot nicely into the plot, so kudos to the developers for integrating even the side quests so well with the story.
And it is the story that drives nigh on all of Game of Thrones’ success as a game. The combat system may have a good depth to it, but ultimately its promising framework is let down by shoddy execution. There is a complete lack of polish to the game despite the claimed seven year development period. It’s obvious in both technical and logical things – combat animations are clunky and doors swing straight through characters. Mors’s dog can chew through plate armor, people recognise Alester despite the fact he’s wearing a helmet as part of a disguise…it goes on. The soldiers in a particular house must all be stone deaf because several were slaughtered without alerting the guy looking out the window just metres away. Enemy soldiers supposed to be actively searching for the protagonists completely ignore them because they are coded to talk to a merchant. The story and characters are forced to fight against a backlog of facepalm moments, and towards the end they struggle to win.
Audio and Visual
Whilst the ‘last gen’ label being plastered on Game of Thrones may be a tad unfair, it certainly isn’t entirely wrong: the game needs a warning label of some sort. There are some impressive suits of armor to be found in Westeros and the overall design certainly channels the Game of Thrones universe, but it’s low res and it just feels dead and flat. Mors, Alester and a few other key players have detailed character models that are very distinctive, but equally every soldier and merchant is the same, and the less said about Mors’ unimaginably hideous dog the better. On the surface things don’t look that bad at all, but inch a little closer and parts of Westeros could have been forged a decade ago. Wandering around one marketplace (in what should have been the hive of activity that is King’s Landing), out of four merchants, three have the exact same character model. Look into the boxes at the stalls and their wares are flat, lacking in detail, or just rendered like something from the 90’s.
Combat suffers under the thumb of clunky animations, and there is no sense of impact to a blow visually or audibly. Sound effects are cookie cutter and the music (despite a few appearances from themes from the HBO show) struggles to lift itself out of generic. Alester’s voice acting fares little better, and although he channels noble lord fairly well it as at the cost of any emotion. “Silence you soulless whore!” has never sounded so dull. Mors is a bit difficult to take seriously at first with his vocal cords made of rubble, but he hits more of the emotional notes and is certainly the more interesting character.
As a package Game of Thrones just stumbles with its presentation. The devil is in the detail with RPG’s and fantasy worlds alike, and this game just can’t bring Westeros to life.
Overall
Fans of the Game of Thrones universe are the only people that need even think of playing this title. The story is the only thing that keeps the game afloat and those who aren’t versed in the intricacies of Martin’s universe will be left utterly bored. The combat system has a lot of potential, but is crippled by a low level presentation that destroys what could have been a decent game. It has obviously been made with love for the source material and the story will hook in fans desperate for some fresh Ice and Fire action, but wait for a Steam sale before hitting that buy button.
We sat down with Lucian Contreanti, Product Marketing Manager at Electronic Arts Romania at this year’s E3 2012 to discuss the up coming release of FIFA 13 for the Apple iOS. Lucian runs us through gameplay and also explains some of the great new features within the game. FIFA 13 is certainly a very polished game, from the stadium, weather effects, to the player model designs. The game also is very easy to play with simple to understand controls, with the swipe of you fingers you can quickly change the entire formation of your team from defensive to all out attacking formation. The game is also compatible with the console version so by logging in with your Origin account you can earn experience points that you can be used on the console version.
We’ll let the video interview/game play below explain the rest in much further detail. Leave any comments below on what you think of the game.
Will it ever come to pass that PC gamers can look at a titles console release date and say; ‘Hey, I’ll definitely get the PC version then too’?
The curse of the PC platform continues, with the latest game to suffer a delayed release being Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Future Soldier. By the time the game releases on the PC, it will have been out on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 for over a month. At least it’s not as bad as some delays! The title will eventually hit shelves of both physical and digital nature on June 28.
The game has scored strongly in it’s console release, picking up an 8.5 here at Capsule (click here for the review). The PC version will bring the same single and multiplayer experience to the table but with several graphical improvements and obviously, different control options. The chunkier hardware available to this version of the game will allow for enhanced lighting effects, improved post processing and more complex textures. Control wise gamers will be able to opt for the keyboard and mouse combo or plug in a wired or wireless Xbox 360 controller. Th game will support DX11, and if the lack of Windows XP in the minimum specs freaks you out, don’t fret, there will be a patch released for that particular OS shortly after the game is released – no date as yet.
Minimum system requirements:
Supported Operating Systems: Windows Vista® (with Service Pack 2)/ Windows 7® (with Service pack 1), both 32 bit & 64 bit versions. PROCESSOR: Intel Pentium D 3.0 Ghz or AMD Athlon64 X2 4400+ 2.2Ghz RAM: 2GB Windows Vista or Windows 7 VIDEO CARD: 512 MB DirectX–compliant, Shader 4.0–enabled video card based on nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS/AMD Radeon HD 4650 DIRECT X®: DirectX 11 DVD-ROM DRIVE: DVD-ROM speed 4x, dual-layer drive SOUND CARD: DirectX 11 – compliant sound card HDD space: 25 GB
During E3 2012, the director of DmC Devil May Cry sat down for a live commentary of the game. Capcom has since released the director’s gameplay commentary online and it can be seen below.
The commentary video for DmC Devil May Cry weighs in at roughly 45 minutes and shows off a lot of the games features with some insightful commentary from the games director. It seems that there are still some work to be done on the game and the director provides some interesting details on Dante’s new character design.
Check out the commentary video below and let us know what you think of it and DmC Devil May Cry in the comments section.
Warioware games are usually among the first titles on each new Nintendo console or handheld to really demonstrate the possibilities afforded by the new tech. The Wii U continues the trend with the tentatively-titled Game and Wario, a collection of mini-games that has you using the GamePad in various ways.
Nintendo pretty much glossed over Wario’s latest outing at their E3 conference, but several of its mini-games were playable on the show floor.
In Arrow (not sure if that’s the mini-game’s name or just a vague description), the GamePad’s touch screen becomes a crossbow, and players must aim it at the TV screen and fire arrows at approaching enemies. It’s a basic variation on the old arcade-styled lightgun gameplay. If enemies get right up close to the camera, they’ll jump off-screen and into the touch screen. As they begin to march across the GamePad from top to bottom, players must tap them to stop them reaching strawberries at the end.
The skiing game takes place entirely on the touch screen. Players use the controller’s gyroscope to steer a skier downhill in a 2D top-down view, while the TV displays a 3D live feed of the action.
The third one on show presents players with a street scene populated with cute little characters, some of which are secretly criminals. As a photojournalist, there’s a few mugshots along the bottom that you need to search the scene for and snap photos of them. When you find them, point the GamePad towards the TV screen and it will zoom in on them. Snap a photo, and flick the GamePad downwards to send it to the TV screen, where your editor rates the image.
Obviously this is just a fraction of the mini-games on offer in Game and Wario. These ones do a good job of demonstrating the different ways the GamePad and the TV can interact, and the game possibilities this relationship can create. I only hope that third-party developers will bring as much creativity to it as Nintendo undoubtedly will for their first-party games.
The lack of attention Nintendo have given the game indicate it probably won’t be a launch title, but a guess would put its release in the early months of 2013.
Beyond was revealed at E3, and I don’t really know how I feel about it after it’s own creator yet again used the “M” word during it’s showing. That word of course is “Mature”. We’ll get to that in a minute, but let’s talk about the game. Ellen Page is set to play the title character, and she does a damn fine job of bringing her character to life. We also seen some explosions and a somewhat mysterious plot featuring a special ability this main protagonist has, but other than that, I still don’t feel I have a reason to call Beyond anything other than an interactive movie. Why is this? Because it’s own creator is too fond of his own toys to let us join in with the fun.
David Cage knows how to create, but it seems he still hasn’t learned how to blend his “art” into the video game world. Now, now. Heavy Rain was decent for what it was, but it takes a lot more than interactive cutscenes to wow a good number of gamers, and calling all who follow you’re own titles “mature” is a bit of a slap in the face to those who disagree with your own direction, as you then are labeling them as the opposite. When you create something special, be proud of what you make and let gamers find it, and never try to place your own fan base above others.
With that rant out of the way, Beyond: Two Souls got many talking at E3, and yes, it’s an interesting clip, but it looks to be the same kind of gameplay that Heavy Rain featured, which is it’s biggest flaw. Cage really needs to invite us into his world, rather than just have us spectate and occasionally poke at the characters. More than any other title this year, I want to see what Beyond truly can bring to the table besides cutscenes and “emotion”. I don’t want to feel for a character in a video game. I want to feel as that character, and Beyond’s experience seems like it will only serve as a front row seat for those who pick it up, rather than placing gamers into the starring roles they deserve to be in. Why save a world or a character when it’s not your own world to save?
I know, this is one man’s vision and not my own, but David Cage’s own ego seems to be standing in the way of making something truly special, and if he is able to get over that hurdle, he could craft brilliance. My main point through all of this is that if you are going to make a movie, make a movie. A game involves that invitation though, and it seems our pass is still unable to be found with Beyond at this point as it’s hard to say the whole game is anything other than a cinematic experience..
Mario is just as mature as Journey, Zelda is just as relevant as Call of Duty, and Kirby is just as hardcore as Mass Effect. Remember that time that YOU saved the princess? Remember that time that YOU took on a ton of terrorists and barely lived? How about that time we took Earth back? You see, video games are about bringing one person, no matter what age into a world that they can escape to, and all of the above do exactly that. If Beyond wants to do the same, it will keep it’s riveting plot, stop trying to be a flick, and throw out a welcome rug for us all to be a part of it. Beyond wasn’t made for you, it was made for David Cage. Yes, you may like what you see, but are you really going to play it, or just be a guest passing through? That is the question I would like to see answered.
Watch the clip down below and tell us what you think. Is this a video game? Do you feel as if Beyond needs to shatter it’s viewing glass?
Following the biggest annual event in gaming, E3 2012, the events organisers have released statistics of the events attendance, revenue and more.
As it turns out 45,700 people where in attendance, from over 103 countries, including industry professionals, journalists, analysts, retailers, investors, etc. The event brought in roughly $40 million U.S. Dollars for the City of Los Angeles, which is a colossal amount of revenue for one single event. There was also approximately 200 exhibitors at the event, showcasing the latest in the world of technology and gaming.
Michael D. Gallagher of the ESA had the following to say on these amazing statistics for the event:
“E3 2012 focused and harnessed the passion, energy, and excitement for video games and propelled our industry into the global spotlight. Thanks to our members and exhibitors’ remarkable vision, billions of consumers watched and learned about our industry and this incredible intersection of creativity, technology, and content. The world’s top publishers, developers, and stakeholders converged at E3 to unveil the latest global trends and most exciting new products for the year ahead. We look forward to building on this great momentum for 2013.”
These are some truly great stats for E3 2012. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
E3 2012 has certainly been one to remember and as such we here at Capsule Computers thought it productive to compile our opinions on the Best and Worst things that this years event had to offer. Some things wowed us, others made us cringe, some made us want to go on a murderous rampage and others made us want to engage in sexual acts with our hands (okay maybe that was just Linkage), but it was without a doubt a show we won’t forget any time soon. So without further adieu here is our Best and Worst of E3 2012:
Ben ‘Linkage’ Webb:
Best Game: Watch Dogs (Ubisoft) – This game took me completely by surprise. I mean, at the time, not a single significant new IP had been shown at the entirety of E3 and it was beginning to look like a another year of shameless sequels and cash-grabs (EA). But instead, the masters of leaks managed to keep a tight-lid on this particular title which seems to be focused on cyber-crime and some kind of mystery. I was completely blown away by the title and am looking forward to seeing more of this game.
Worst Game: Usher (Microsoft) – Why was usher even there? All he did was talk about promoting his single and I am still uncertain as to whether or not he was there to promote a particular game, or his own game. Microsoft, I think this is one franchise you can let go of.
Best Moment: Getting sleep finally – After almost two full days of non-stop coverage and video editing I was finally able to get some sleep. This was important as sleep is a required state for the mind and body for some reason. If I could operate without sleep, I would, But I cannot and so I look forward to those times where I can rest.
Worst Moment: Microsofts Entire Conference (Microsoft) – This has had to have been the worst conference from a developer in years. They completely misunderstood their audience and as a result, they were forced through an hour and a half of what felt like a paid commercial for Nike and Usher. Next year Microsoft, suck less dicks.
Who ‘Won’ E3?: Me. Or Nintendo. Whomever you prefer.
Philip Federico:
Best Game: RESIDENT EVIL 6 (Capcom)
Worst Game: Luigi’s Ghost Mansion (Nintendo Land)
Best Moment: Meeting Jessica Nigri – Lollipop Chainsaw Cosplay model!
Worst Moment: Having to watch 5+ presentation on how Luigi Ghost Mansion worked.
Who ‘Won’ E3? Ubisoft. Best booth and best games. Best.
Jed Bradshaw:
Best Game: Halo 4 – Spartan Ops is part of the revolution of gaming that has been in the process for the past few years. This feature will keep players engaged, and offer meaningful content for awhile after release. In addition, it will unify the Halo Universe and set an example for future games looking to expand their presence after launch. I can only hope that publishers and developers integrate this kind of online pass model in their games instead of the cheap, rip-offs ones that are so prevalent in EA games.
Worst Game: NBA Baller Beats – Really? Who is going to bounce a basketball in their living room on the carpet. To be fair, I didn’t play the game, and I don’t know if you can play without a B-Ball, but from what I can tell, this game is so flippin’ weird and awkward.
Best Moment: Tomb Raider Demo – This was undoubtedly one of the most amazing demos and trailers to come out of E3. Laura is a completely awesome character and I can’t wait to experience this amazing, mature departure from her traditional gameplay style.
Worst Moment: Wonderbooks during Sony Conference – This was so awkward: watching a grown woman continuously failing to get the Move to work right while everyone in the audience cringed. The entire Wonderbooks presentation was so awkward and forced.
Who ‘Won’ E3?: Microsoft – Halo 4. Call of Duty. Tomb Raider. South Park, with freakin’ live appearances by Trey Parker and Matt Stone! Dance Central 3 with a live performance (the dancing was a lot better if you were in the audience). Smart Glass is something really cool for techies.
Michael ‘Spike’ Marr:
Best Game: Unfortunately alot of potential titles I had HOPED to see were not present, but I have to give my thumbs up to Fall of Cybertron and Halo 4. Both are the next instalments in franchises I have alot of faith in, and all of the information shown on both have peaked my interest.
Worst Game: 3 games in fact: Fifa 13, Madden 13 and Cod BlOps 2. Same as usual re-releases from EA and Activision that add absolutely NOTHING to either the franchises and the wider gaming industry. And yet they’re still best sellers…
Best Moment: Trey Parker and Matt Stone stepping up onto the stage to present the South Park game, all whilst taking the piss out of Microsoft’s entire conference beforehand. That little bit of humor in an otherwise dull presentation brought a little bit of life back to the conference and restored some of my faith in the industry.
Worst Moment: Worst 45 moments more like in the whole time it took for Microsoft to go through all of the integration features and dashboard updates before another quality title was even mentioned. NO EA SPORTS GAMES DO NOT COUNT.
Who ‘Won’ E3?: The super-casual gaming audience… -_-. But in all seriousness, Nintendo, because they showed actual GAMES in their 2 conferences.
Matt Vella:
Best Game: Wii Fit U – As much as I loved Pikmin 3, Zombie U and Watch Dogs, the game that probably impressed me the most was Wii Fit U. Wii Fit U sets a perfect example of what a sequel should be – not just improve on every aspect, but to take everything you know about it another 10 steps further. The use of the new Gamepad now means not only more different types of exercises but also now you can exercise with out the big screen, which will open up the market to many more people. Nintendo took yet ANOTHER step further with Wii Fit U by also including a pedometer, which means you can play Wii Fit U and record data for it even when not playing the game. It’s the same ideology Microsoft has with the iPhone stuff – take the game outside the game. But Nintendo is doing it much more effectively here for Wii U Fit. This may not be a hardcore game, but this will definitely sell A LOT of copies and do exactly what Nintendo’s Wii U is meant to do: bring people together.
Worst Game: Shootmania – Why the hell was this game shown at a conference? Graphics look like a PlayStation one and the gameplay is nothing new, original or even interesting. The only reason they had people playing the game to show live game footage was because it’d be impossible to make that title appear even remotely interesting in a trailer. This game looks like shovel ware, why the hell is this being pushed so hard is beyond me.
Best Moment: Matt Stone & Trey Parker promoting South Park. Unlike so many confrence speakers you really felt liek you could relate to these guys. Best of all, Parker wasn’t afraid to let Microsoft know that nobody gives a damn about their dumb sync-ing crap. “How many times have you been watching an episode of South Park and thought I would like to watch this on my television while hooked up to my mobile device which is being controlled by my tablet device which is hooked up to my oven all while sitting in the refrigerator?” Come on, that’s the best question ever asked at an E3. Ever.
Worst Moment: EA’s disappointing showcase. All they announced was DLC which just means we have to pay more money for games we already own and Smartphone applications which while interesting, aren’t going to take my breath away. What frustrated me most however is how Medal of Honour now looks like a Battlefield 3 clone. EA, please calm down on the First Person Shooters, your over doing them mate. The most impressive thing EA probably did this year was the Kinect features for the latest installments of FIFA and NFL, but that wasn’t even mentioned at their own conference. Instead, they left their most impressive announcement to the Microsoft conference, making theirs seems pretty lackluster compared to what we know EA is capable of.
Who ‘Won’ E3?: Ubisoft easily had the most engaging conference this year. They let the games sell themselves and cut the crap with the talking. Ubisoft had a number of entertaining jokes and cut out all the boring stuff we didn’t want to hear such as social media crap, tablet/mobile crap and sales crap. They used celebrities but didn’t milk them and displayed a number of unexpected and impressive titles. Splinter Cell rules, Assassin’s Creed rules, Rayman rules, Zombie U rules, Watch Dogs is freaking amazing. I’ve probably missed out on other amazing titles but that just goes to show how awesome Ubisoft’s conference was because my brain simply can’t handle it all.
Michael ‘Irvo’ Irving:
Best Game: ZombiU – Although pre-E3 I had a lot to be excited about in Nintendo’s lineup, the game I’m all of a sudden keenest for is ZombiU. The trailers make it looks like a classic zombie survival-horror game, with fantastic visuals and gore galore. It’s so far out of Nintendo’s comfort zone that those accusing the company of focusing on the casual market can eat their hats.
It makes very interesting use of the GamePad’s capabilities: the touch screen can become a motion scanner, a door hacking device, your inventory, a sniper scope, and anything else you’ll need to survive. The multiplayer mode has one player with a top-down view of the level on the GamePad, who can spawn waves of zombies to send at the opponents, who are fighting them off in split-screen first-person mode on the TV. This is the much hyped “Asymmetrical gameplay” at work.
Also, the tagline “How long will you survive?” is more apt than first expected: if your character dies, they’re gone. You lose all your stuff, and start over as another character somewhere else in the city. If you want it back, you have to hunt down and kill the zombified version of your previous character. That’s just awesome.
Being the first “hardcore” game available at launch should entice many to pick up a Wii U on day one. I know I will.
Worst Game: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 – Does anyone still give a rat’s arse? At all? I’m serious, it’s completely beyond me why these games still sell.
Best Moment: Trey Parker & Matt Stone’s surprise appearance. I love South Park, and the new RPG had me crazily excited. But for some reason I forgot about it when E3 started, so it was a huge and pleasant surprise for me when Matt and Trey walked out to promote the game, The Stick of Truth. Their banter was refreshingly casual, after all that seriousness of the presentation so far. I can’t wait to get my hands on the game: if only it hadn’t been delayed till March 2013.
Worst Moment: Why the hell was Usher at Microsoft’s conference? Having him “perform” a full song (the term “perform” is used lightly: pretty sure he was lip-syncing anyway), it felt more like an ad for his new single than an ad for Just Get Up and Dance Star Party Central 43 or whatever the game was. Gamers don’t care about Usher. In future, Microsoft need to research their celebrity guests before handing them the ol’ dollar-sign sack.
Who “Won” E3?: I loved what Nintendo had to show. Go ahead, call me a fanboy, but remember: everyone’s guilty of rehashing franchises. Whether Nintendo are unveiling a “new” Mario, Microsoft are struggling to explain why Call of Duty 8: Modern WarGuy 4 is different to the previous 27 CoD games, or Sony are bragging about including twice as many ways for Kratos to eviscerate his enemies, all of them release entries into popular series on a regular basis.
So it comes down to what you’re into: I found I was forgiving of Nintendo because their games appealed to me – pure fun. None of their announcements were particularly surprising (as welcome as confirmation of Pikmin 3’s existence was, it’s been suspected for years), but that makes them no less delightful.
And then there’s the Wii U itself. Not only is the console a fascinating device, but Nintendo’s game design principles for it are perhaps its most understated feature. Their concept of “Asymmetric Gameplay” (where players with the GamePad are playing a different game, within the same game, to those using the TV) is incredibly exciting, even in as basic a game as the Luigi’s Mansion tech demo. Happily, this seems to be a core design element, so we should expect to see it appear in some form in many future releases.
The mark of a great game trailer or tech demo is when it shows off a few of the capabilities, and these get your mind reeling with the possibilties of how they can be used. Every game showcased for the Wii U did that for me. Even during the Luigi’s Mansion demo, we found ourselves already strategizing how best to play the game.
So although not everyone did, I found Nintendo’s rehashed ideas to be the most exciting. And the new ones, like ZombiU, P-100 and the Wii U itself, sealed the deal for me.
Jahanzeb Khan:
Best Game: Both Castlevania Lords of Shadow games that were shown at E3, although I am still more inclined to simply call them ‘Lords of Shadow’ because I still can’t seem to stomach the idea that a whole new studio has taken charge of the Castlevania franchise and rewriting the book on it. I have a very love and hate relationship with the original Castlevania Lords of Shadow, it just wasn’t the Castlevania I grew up loving. No Michiru Yamane, no Ayame Kojima, and say what you want about Koji Igarashi but he carried the franchise really well despite some awful spin-off titles.
That said, I was actually pleased with Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate for the Nintendo 3DS. It’s closer to the true Castlevania formula and is making better use of the original lore and characters. Lords of Shadow 2 looks interesting, I want to see more of it. I still have very mixed feelings about the direction that this franchise is going, but I hope down the track I warm up to it.
Worst Game: Whatever Kinect dancing games they showed there, especially the one that had Usher doing some product placement. On that note I don’t what’s worse, seeing Usher endorse awful games, or having Snoop Dogg in Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
Best Moment: The booth babes of course, and special shout out to the Darksiders 2 ladies, they were just lovely. Congratulations to Philip and Travis for getting some hands on time with Jessica Nigri!
Worst Moment: The fact that I wasn’t there to get some hands on impressions with Jessica Nigri.
Who ‘Won’ E3?: Philip Federico, congratulations on your hands on time with the lovely hardworking women at E3 2012. I’m sure they appreciated their jobs alot more when they were being gawked by your smug bald face. Also, you were holding a much bigger chainsaw than Jessica Nigri, I hear she loves a man who can handle his big chainsaw with ease.
Dustin Spencer:
Best Game: It’s really hard to choose between The Last of Us and Tomb Raider, as both look like instant contenders for a Game of the Year trophy already. With that said, I won’t choose either. My game that stuck out the most was a remake by the name of Trine 2: Director’s Cut. Yes, Trine 2, an older game was my game of show. I loved Trine already, but Nintendo taking the risk and releasing it at a retail price for the Wii U is just too noteworthy to ignore. If Nintendo want to show off the visuals for the console, there is no better way than to show off the gorgeous worlds and characters of Trine in HD, and with extra content no less.
Worst Game: It’s hard to say the “worse game” of E3 as I haven’t put any of those games through their paces, but if I had to pick one, it would be something that isn’t a game at all. Microsoft’s Smartglass. Yeah, I have a tablet and could use it to play Halo 4 and other titles, but moving back and forth seems like a hassle and as a whole, and the entire idea seems to be one that was whipped up to compete with the Wii U. What MS forgot was that the Wii U allows players to use the Gamepad WHILE playing with the SAME controller. Smartglass requires a $400 tablet to be bought unless you already have one, and then you can sync up to your multiplayer experiences if everything runs right. If you’re going to compete, well…compete. Don’t just try to do something small because you want to beat out a competitor.
Best Moment: After the Last of Us, and throughout Sony’s entire event, Jack Tretton looked like a proud parent up there, showing off all of the games that Sony had to offer. He was humble, he was kind, and it just seemed like he cared much more than any other suit at the event this year. E3 isn’t a boardroom meeting, it’s a worldwide event where you bring your best, and Tretton did bring his best this year, which is what made him appear so giddy.
Worst Moment: EA. ALL of it. When you open up a show and the very first thing you try to do is justify your terrible DLC practices by saying complete games at launch are a thing of the past, you look like a money-hungry ass. Each “marketplace” that EA showed off were underwhelming enough as it is, but seeing that smugness and raw corporate trying to chuck games was a sad sight to see and yet another reason why EA truly deserved that Golden Turd.
Who ‘Won’ E3?: Sony. They brought games, showed them well, and were endearing and focused for their show. Ending with The Last of Us was a brilliant move, and reminding us that video game consoles are made for video games is why Sony deserve to declare themselves champions of this year’s E3.
Luke Halliday:
Best Game:
There were many games that impressed me, but none more so than Project P-100 for the Wii U. For some reason Nintendo chose not to show this title in their presser instead revealing it afterwards. That very decisions boggles my mind because this game looks absolutely awesome. It is developed by Platinum Games (Bayonetta, Mad World, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance) and will be published by SEGA, the game is set to be exclusive for the Wii U. What impresses me so much about this title is how freaking unique it is. The game is like a cross between Viewtiful Joe and Pikmin, if you could imagine it. The action was incredibly fast paced and the concept mystifies and excites me. This was indeed the only game I saw at E3 that left me salivating like hungry puppy looking for his next taste. I want to see more of this game, make it happen SEGA.
Worst Game:
Now here is a category that’s hard to answer, considering there was so many bad games on show this year. If I had to choose just one that made me cringe significantly more than others, it would probably be Dance Central 3 due to the fact that it seems no different from the last 2 Dance Central games and that it appears to be simply an advertising platform for the pathetic likes of Usher to sell their singles. But for a more broader answer, anything that Microsoft said was ‘Better with Kinect’. Honestly it’s like they took random activities of every day life and said ‘Life is Better with Kinect’. No Microsoft, nothing is ‘Better with Kinect’, nothing.
Best Moment:
Bit of a toughy, but I’d have to go with the Pikmin 3 confirmation. It was a long time coming and seeing Nintendo open their show with it was a great moment, especially after long time fans such as myself have been waiting years for this moment. The game looked great and the presentation of it was just spectacular. The only other moment of E3 that I’d consider a great moment was when Matt Stone and Trey Parker from South Park came out and flogged Microsoft verbally for their horribly shit ideas and conference. But yes, for me personally as a huge fan of Pikmin, seeing the reveal and footage of Pikmin 3 was a really great moment.
Worst Moment:
Every single bad moment of E3 I can think of originated from Microsoft’s Conference, excluding a few outliers in Sony and Nintendo’s conferences. But as a whole Microsoft’s Conference was just the worst show I have seen in years. The entire thing was more product placement than it was a conference. For example there was a point when someone was showing off some Movie and TV app coming to the Xbox 360, instead of simply showing us it, he began to play advertisements for Prometheus and Game of Thrones – ‘Catch Prometheus in theatres across North America now!’ and ‘Be sure to check out Game of Thrones entire second season on HBO GO now!’. I mean come on… how blatant do they want to be? Oh then again there was the Nike Kinect Training game which went a little like, ‘Here is a new game for Kinect sponsored by Nike and now here is 4 minutes of advertising about Nike’s new line of shoes’. To make matters worse we had the whole Usher debacle, with Usher performing his new single ‘Buy My Single’ for some reason, oh wait was it meant to be about Dance Central 3? No idea, because all he was talking about was his new single. Just a horrible horrible showing by Microsoft, their entire conference was the worst moment for me.
Who ‘Won’ E3?:
Look we all like to discuss about who had the best conference or the best games on show, but at the end of the day, each and every year the real winners are us gamers. We are the ones who have a whole new world of games waiting ahead of us and this year was no different. It’s times like this when I am proud to be a gamer. But let’s just forget Microsoft’s conference happened yeah? Deal.
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Well that’s it for our Best and Worst of E3 2012, what do you think was the Best and Worst of this years show? Let us know in the comments section below what you think of this years event and who you think ‘won’ E3 2012.
First it was “Later This Year”. Then came Fall. Now we know. Today Aksys revealed that Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward would be hitting the PS Vita and 3DS in October. Yes, October ___ isn’t the release date we all craved, but if E3 brings anything out of a publisher, it’s almost always a solid date.
For those unfamiliar, Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward is the follow-up to 999 for the Nintendo DS, which featured nine characters trying to escape a mysterious serial killer before meeting their doom. This title of course features a similar premise, but has a brand new cast and platform(s), expanding the growing series even more. Once an exact date drops, we will be sure to enlighten you, but for now, you can plan to celebrate Halloween with a suspenseful yet satisfying sequel from Aksys.
The Humble Indie Bundle V is growing! Those who have paid more than the average price will now also get Braid, Super Meat Boy, and Lone Survivor. This brings the grand total of games for this blockbuster indie bundle to eight games. Braid is a 2d puzzle platformer originally featured in Humble Bundle 2 that has been released to critical acclaim and many awards. Super Meat Boy is a tricky platformer originally featured in Humble Bundle 4 that boasts 300+ levels. New to indie bundles is Lone Survivor, a 2d psychological survivor horror that stars a hero that has survived a terrible disaster and now must survive his own sanity fading away.
At the time of writing, the bundle has raised over 3.5 million dollars with Notch of Minecraft fame donating $9999.99 in a fierce donation war with the HumbleBrony Bundle team at $9000.01. The Humble Bundle V is supporting the EFF and Childs Play. Still haven’t purchased the Humble Indie Bundle V? Get it here.
