Another E3 has come and gone and with it some awesome new stuff to look at and some things we would have rather not seen.
Here at the TGA we are going to show you the top 10 the best things that you should look at and the 5 worst things from E3 2012.
10. ZombiU is the title that showcases the Wii U. What it can do, what it will bring to the gaming experience that has never been there before. This game makes the top 10 for this reason at number 10.
9. Being a selective Halo fan when I saw last E3 that Halo 4 was not going to be made by Bungie I was turned off. I thought 343 Industries would be incapable of bringing a hit Halo title to the gaming community, or at least that’s what I thought until I saw gameplay at Microsoft’s press conference. In the short allotted time dedicated to Halo 4 the world witnessed that 343 Industries was more than capable of making a worthy Halo title to stack up against the rest. What the video and see for yourself.
8. Raman Origins brought back side scroll platforming back in a big way last year. The newest title Rayman Legends will be on the Wii U and allow players who use the Gamepad to interact with the game by being more behind the scenes and helping out the characters. But the best part of this game shown at E3 was the crazy speed and rhythm run that was executed with the players running, jumping, and hitting obstructing objects. While that was going on the player on the Gamepad was tapping these blue circles in sync with a rock and roll song playing the background. The end result of the whole experience, platforming gold.
7. Beyond: Two Souls was announced by the Quantic Dream the makers of the smash hit Heavy Rain. What little was shown was enough to get people excited and begging for more. The game has a supernatural and mystery element as you play as Jodie. This girl is hunted for who she is and also has some imaginary force that she can talk to and telekinetic powers. This game will play using the same control scheme that was created in Heavy Rain, and will be a great edition to the PS3 line up.
6. Resident Evil is one of those series that will attract all types of gamers. It has everything that a gamer could want in a series, and Resident Evil 6 looks to deliver that experience on a much grander scale. The infection has taken form all over the world and it is up to Leon Kennedy, Chris Redfield, and newcomer Jake Muller (who is Albert Wesker’s son) to stop the C-Virus.
5. Assassin’s Creed 3 played a major role this year at E3. The world can’t seem to get enough of the new title coming to stores this holiday season, and AC3 was shown off multiple times during E3. Introduced to fans everywhere was some new gameplay and that AC3 was also going to have naval battle as well.
4. Splinter Cell: Blacklist looks nothing like any SC game I have ever seen and that’s a good thing for me. While Splinter Cell is well known for being popular in the gaming community Blacklist at E3 was something to be seen. From the moment I saw Sam Fisher in motion on a massive killing spree I knew this was no ordinary Splinter Cell. Ubisoft seems to be taking the page out of the new fluid motion killing that will also be in Assassin’s Creed 3, and turned it into something to delight old fans and attract new fans to the series.
3. The new Tomb Raider is a juggernaut heading straight for Uncharted as looking to be the best action/adventure game this generation. Everything about this game feels like they ripped the exciting and action packed elements of Uncharted, but looks just as good. This game was showcased at E3, and given how increasingly impressive this game looks with new footage shown everyone wants to get their hands on this reboot.
2. Watch Dogs is to this E3 what Bioshock Infinite was last year. Once unveiled at the Ubisoft press conference the media world went nuts. This is the one of the most watched, talked about, and interesting game showcased at this E3. What little taste you get from this experience is a character that is very good at his job and interacts in the digitally connected world. Any information that you want is at your fingertips and any digital device can be hacked, jammed, or broken. The digital world is your alley in this new IP. If you haven’t taken the time to see this game in action, watch this gameplay video.
1. Every time I watch the E3 gameplay of The Last of Us I almost get goose bumps just looking at what this game can do. The level of detail that went into not just the characters, but the gameplay mechanics as well is absolutely stunning. This is one post-apocalyptic game that really makes you feel like you are working against the odds and will challenge players to use everything they can to stay alive. This game while still linear how you get from point A to point B is entirely different and no two playthroughs will be the same.
Honorable Mentions:
Crysis is a series that can be described as a visual masterpiece. This FPS series shifts from user to user wearing a super suit that makes you a walking tank. Crysis 3 was showcased at EA’s press conference and this time sets you in the jungle in an all-out battle on what appears to be a ship. This game looks just as impressive as the previous titles and looks like they didn’t change the gameplay element from previous titles. Only to just give gamers a bigger and better action packed FPS than previous titles.
What little was shown for Super Mario Wii U was enough to create enough buzz. The New Super Mario Bros titles have brought back the nostalgia of what Mario used to be in the 8/16-bit eras before 3D. Nintendo decided to take the approach of a side scrolling Mario game than go for the Super Mario Galaxy 3D approach, and what we get is a new experience with some impressive looking new worlds and things for Mario to use.
Hitman is shaping up to look like a great addition to the series. Hitman was a series that has always flown under my radar, but this title looks too good not to want. Agent 47 will have to tactfully hunt down and kill his targets using stealth and the world around him looks vastly impressive. This title receives an honorable mention and is worth checking out.
Star Wars 1313 is an adult rated Star Wars games and has created enough buzz. What little was shown from this title shows off very impressive visuals, and a small look into the storyline of you as a bounty hunter and your somewhat psychopathic companion getting into trouble. This game also looks as though it has the WTF feeling that you get from Uncharted when **** hits the fan and you’re faced with a near death experience.
Dead Space is back and was shown at this EA press conference. Isaac is back but this time he is not alone in his battle. Trapped on an entire planet with Necromorphs he and an ally must battle their way to make it off the planet alive. Because Isaac has a friend with him this will be the first title to have two player campaign co-op for those of you who are too scared to play by yourself. You can find this title to hit stores sometime next year.
You’ve seen the best that E3 had to offer now for the things that we easily could have done without.
The top of the list comes straight from the Sony press conference with Wonderbook. This will allow PS Move users to buy books that will be recognized by the Playstation Eye and come to life. When this was presented a 5 minute demo already prepared would have done nicely but instead Sony wanted to have a live demo that completely derailed any momentum that was created prior. This was such an abysmal display that once the conference was over people began to speak more about how horrible Wonderbook was rather than talk about all the amazing titles that were shown.
Next on the list is Usher, a man who couldn’t just tell the world that his choreographed moves were in the new Dance Central 3 but had to come on stage and perform them. My mind became perplexed when I realized that Usher took the stage to give a full performance of his new song while a Dance Central 3 in a completely unnecessary and unwelcome by gamers.
With sales of PS Vita on the low end of predicted sales people needed a reason to be excited to own a Vita. Not only was Vita very absent from the Sony press conference no price drop was announced. The system hasn’t been on shelves very long not dropping the price of the system will continue to hurt sales. I predict that there will be a price drop shortly after the holiday season depending upon if sales pick up or the new Assassin’s Creed Liberation bundle flies off the shelves.
Nintendo dedicated most of the press conference to the Wii U but there was one major piece of information missing, price and date. This system is expected to be out before the holidays only giving 4-6 months before release. Holding onto the information of how much this system will cost and when the expected window for release is a bad move on Nintendo’s part. I expect that the system will run for roughly $350-$400 with Gamepads running for $75 and $50 for the Pro Controller. With Nintendo not deciding to reveal this information means to me that Nintendo isn’t 100% when the system will be able to launch, and doesn’t want to say the price for fear fans might revolt.
Missing titles were abound this year as many of what was at E3 last year was nowhere to be found this year. The top of the list is Bioshock Infinite, after showing a completely breathtaking gaming experience last year they decided not to show up this year. The Last Guardian can’t seem to make up its mind on one hand the game is still set to be released, but on the other hand it is continuously rumored to be cancelled. New footage was shown of this game last year, but was also missing from this E3. Will this game ever hit shelves? After finally seeing Duke Nukem Forever finally seeing a release last year I suppose anything is possible. After Rockstar’s release of the incredible Max Payne 3 they decided not to show up to E3 at all leaving no GTA 5 to be shown at this E3. Other games still on the backburner is Half Life 3, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and still not a peep of Kingdom Hearts 3 ever hoping to see a console release this generation.
Worst Conference:
Now I won’t say that Nintendo had the worst conference out of all of them in black and white, but this year all eyes were on Nintendo and they had very big shoes to fill. Just based off expectations alone Nintendo did not fill the shoes that were needed this year. Showing what the Wii U is going to bring to gamers wasn’t all that impressive and the hardcore community might start to slip for the Big N. With the Wii U release so near it is sink or swim for Nintendo. They are taking a huge gamble making this system and if it doesn’t catch the way Wii did, than we might see more reported losses for Nintendo in the future.
Ubisoft came out of nowhere and was the best conference this year. Splinter Cell, Rayman, Assassin’s Creed 3, and Watch Dogs are just a few of the great games shown at the Ubisoft press conference. They stuck to what gamers really wanted to see and took over the gamer media world with the announcement of Watch Dogs. I could have done without the chick talking about the boners she had and the super purposely annoying gamer guy, but that was a small price to pay for an overall impressive conference.
So that covers The Gamer’s Abstract coverage here at E3, here is everything that you need to see and the things that you could do without. Don’t forget to post your comments below and like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/thegamersabstract
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