E3 Conferences Round-up – Sony

E3, or the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is arguably the biggest and boldest annual video gaming convention ever to grace the planet. Held in sun-drenched Los Angeles; the big guns of the gaming industry including Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony showcasing brand new hardware and games. The event is a pantomime of lights, music, noises and good old’ fashioned video games. Held exclusively to the press and industry members, the entire convention is streamed online for all us norms to watch at home. And that’s exactly what we did. People from all around the globe watched with bated breath waiting for what the next big announcements were coming to PC’s and home consoles over the next few months and beyond. This is a list some of the notable games and software that hooked us to spend all our hard earned money on the most expansive and by far best consumable media there is.

Once upon a time, Sony was unknown as a games console manufacturer. They fought off the likes of Sega’s Saturn and they tussled with Nintendo’s cartridge based N64. And this suit followed in the next console generation. With the release of the original Xbox and the Gamecube, Sony went from strength to strength. Even with more recent efforts when the Wii and the 360 started to catch up, Sony still went hell for leather and provided some amazing experiences. The PlayStation, PS2, PS3 and now PS4 has allowed Sony to keep Nintendo and Microsoft in check as it never fails to deliver. Last E3, Sony alleviated themselves above the rest and although this E3’s contributions weren’t on the same scale as before, they still know how us gamers tick and they feed off that to create something a bit different and a wholly satisfying.

Ah, LittleBig Planet; cute, simple and full of joy. The first instalment was and still is impressive. Whilst the main story was great, the game was used as tool for community gamers to create their own unusual levels and share them amongst the world. With number 3 coming out soon boasting the same levels of limitless creativity and three extra characters – named Oddsock, Swoop and Toggle no less – Sackboy’s crazy adventures will surely continue in the zany way the series is known for. Media Molecule, the brains behind the franchise, has added multiple new abilities and items to capture more stickers, bubbles and to solve puzzles in interesting ways. ‘LittleBig Planet 3’ apparently includes all the previous games levels, letting you play through great moments again in glorious hi-definition or merely, if you never got the chance to before.

A heavily block coloured and simply stylized ‘No Man’s Sky’ was shown. A part first person adventure part flight sim with phenomenal visuals and apparent continuous exploration, No Man’s Sky has players dog-fighting spaceships amongst asteroids, delving to underwater realms and walking through luscious landscapes teeming with life. The timed exclusive also features real time dives to planet with mountain peaks and crevasses seamlessly coming into view as the spaceship barrel-rolls through the chasms and ravines before blasting back into space. Each planet will seemingly be procedurally-generated; a common theme that is running with new games. Each world would be different and it’s up to you to make the choice of flying past it or cautiously explore it. It evokes a similar style to the independent game called ‘Eufloria’ but on a much larger scale and an increased colour-pallet. Again, like ‘Eufloria,’ this massive game isn’t made by a huge developer. It’s made by Hello Games; a group of about ten people in Guildford. This proves that no matter how much money or man-power is needed, something special can still be created out of something small and can compete with the heavyweights.

Batman returns in ‘Arkham Knight’. Some information has been known for while on the caped crusader’s upcoming game that was up until recently delayed to 2015. So Sony whetted our appetite and showed us gameplay footage. After Batman elegantly dives and swoops through the Gotham cityscape he firmly lands only to be greeted by an all-new Batmobile that can not only powerslide through the streets but also crab sideways while using some reckless bravado and insane firepower. Gotham is recreated spectacularly and the vibrant neon highlights the structures and landmarks. With an array of gadgets as his disposal, he successfully clears his way through armoured vehicles and escapes by ejecting out of the Batmobile and gliding into a brutal fist fight. The footage shows a lot of atmosphere as Batman plans his approach and attacks before the game glitches. Scarecrow takes over and announces his intentions of bring Gotham down… ‘Arkham Knight’ is not only a game that appeals to the hard-core comic book fans but also those who want to get into the Batman franchise. I for one am incredibly interested in this and I haven’t had much experience with past Batman games. Maybe it’s time to get started.

‘Uncharted’ developer Naughty Dog brought the epic ‘The Last of Us’ to consoles last year and it received global success. The Uncharted franchise has also created the type akin to a summer blockbuster movie. With epic chase sequences and ferocious gunfights, Uncharted has been a main staple of PlayStation since 2007. As the trailer opens we see the main protagonist, Nathan Drake in a spot of bother face down on a riverbank. Looking older and hard done by, a battered Nate eventually stumbles to his feet with a scratched face and an unloaded pistol. He’s been ‘out of the game’ for a while and needs to get back in. The camera pans to reveal he’s on some creepy, doomed island full of gibbets and rotting skeletons as Nate goes off on his next expedition one last time This is only the beginning of ‘Uncharted 4’ but ultimately, A Thief’s End…

Honourable Mentions

Bungie-made (who are responsible for ‘Halo: Combat Evolved’) ‘Destiny’ was shown as an alternative shooter to Halo for the PS4 with exclusive access to alpha and beta gameplay. A new white PS4 with a copy of Destiny included is also available.

More gameplay footage of Ubisoft’s epic ‘Far Cry 4’ showed off an infiltration of a basecamp, a tuk-tuk escape, a truck plummeting off a cliff, flying-squirrel type jumpsuits, elephants, a co-op buddy joining the assault, gyrocopters, machine-guns, explosions, grapple-hooks, drive-by shootings, carjacking whilst in motion and exploding elephants… But something that set it apart from the rest was the fact that anyone can join. As long as someone owns a PS3 or PS4, anyone can join. They don’t even have to own the game itself. I am curious to how that works but it sounds incredible.

Big news! ‘Grand Theft Auto 5’ is coming to PlayStation 4, as well as Xbox One and PC. Yep. Finally, you can experience Los Santos and Blaine County on new home consoles. Many petition signers will be happy.

Sony announced a plethora of hardware news too including information on their camera and VR headset, project Morpheus; they announced a partnership with YouTube for unified uploads from the PS4; streaming service PSNow was also mentioned with many gaming and film/TV titles becoming available for ‘renting’ over the course of the next year or so, and, providing you have a dualshock 3 and a Sony Smart TV, PSNow can also be linked up without the need of any PlayStation console; games can be played through the TV.

‘Mortal Kombat X’, ‘Let it Die’ and ‘Bloodborne’ were probably the goriest of the showing. Broken jaws, huge wounds and much slicing and dicing were all present; enough to turn even the strongest of stomachs to jelly.

Who Was Not Mentioned?

Much to the frustration of press and gamers, ‘The Last Guardian’ never showed light. Announced at E3 back in 2009, the Sony Computer Entertainment exclusive action-adventure game – originally planned for the PS3, no less – is currently still in development. Whether it will be announced at a later games conference or not at all is still a complete mystery. All we know about ‘The Last Guardian’ is it is still a loose cannon. We just don’t know when Sony will take it upon them to spill the beans on this hotly anticipated. Also the Vita’s back-catalogue wasn’t really improved upon. Although selections of games were shown in a montage, there wasn’t anything stand-alone amazing that said ‘this is what the Vita can do’ that has blown minds.

 

Sony had a huge conference; it was almost two hours long. This meant they showed a lot of games but it was also hard to pick a definite unique selling point. With the giants of ‘Destiny’, ‘Grand Theft Auto’, ‘Mortal Kombat’ and Far Cry sharing the limelight with ‘LittleBig Planet’ and ‘No Man’s Sky’, each with something new and brilliant, whittling them down was a difficult objective. Far Cry 4 appears to be a vast open world where, as the trailer says ‘each second is a story.’ ‘LittleBig Planet 3’ adds more cheeky characters to design and build and play away to your hearts content. Batman’s stunning visuals took centre stage with that of an indie developer’s exploration simulator. And for once these games that Sony showed us, no matter how gory, simple, complex, explody or elephanty, felt like they all fitted together for the Players.

Words by Jimmi

E3 Conferences Round-up – Ubisoft

E3, or the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is arguably the biggest and boldest annual video gaming convention ever to grace the planet. Held in sun-drenched Los Angeles; the big guns of the gaming industry including Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony showcasing brand new hardware and games. The event is a pantomime of lights, music, noises and good old’ fashioned video games. Held exclusively to the press and industry members, the entire convention is streamed online for all us norms to watch at home. And that’s exactly what we did. People from all around the globe watched with bated breath waiting for what the next big announcements were coming to PC’s and home consoles over the next few months and beyond. This is a list some of the notable games and software that hooked us to spend all our hard earned money on the most expansive and by far best consumable media there is.

Oobisoft? Yoobisoft? Maybe it’s something totally different, like ‘Ewbisoft.’ Whatever you call them, they’re a fantastically, quirky games developer. From action adventure epics to tactical shooters and beautiful platformers, Ubisoft are reliable for providing the world with ‘Assassin’s Creed’, ‘Far Cry’ and ‘Rayman’; making software for casual, dip-in gamers, to the hardest of core gamers; Ubisoft has everyone catered for and they do a good job of it.

With ‘Watch_Dogs’ taking centre stage in the past couple of E3’s with mind-blowing visuals and stunning gameplay, and it was released a few weeks before the presentation. It was going to be interesting to see what they could show off this year and to see if they could create a tornado of hype from other, more established franchises. They didn’t fail to deliver.

After a slightly bizarre introduction from the ‘Rabbids, Ubi went straight for the jugular. Litterally! ‘Far Cry 4’ had been announced before E3 but only a few sparse details were known. This gave Ubisoft the chance to show the first five minutes of the new instalment to the Far Cry series. As our character, Ajay Ghale, is ambushed whilst riding a bus through the Himalayas, we get thrown into a tirade of gunfire and bullets at an unannounced spot check. Ghale is fired at by the militia and manages to escape the mayhem of the bus only to be greeted by an armed guard and an ominous, black helicopter at his feet. The dark figure that creeps out of the chopper is the games villain, Pagan Min, who graces the recently released box art. Dressed to the nines with his pink flares, he oily says “I distinctly remember saying ‘stop the bus’ […] not ‘shoot the bus.’” Although, calm and collect, rage is evidently building up in the swishly, dressed villains eyes and voice as he pulls out a pen knife and goes for the injured guard furiously, ruining his shoes and splattering his face with blood in the process. This man is clearly mentally unstable and not a force to be reckoned with. He however does recognise our protagonist and starts conversing with him, like they’re old friends and even finds time to take a selfie with Ghale in true 2014 fashion. Ghale looks evidently perplexed as to who or why he has been picked up on. Is he in trouble or his he safe? We’ll have to play it to find out…

‘Just Dance’ is a funny old series, starting back in 2009 on the Wii with roots in ‘Rayman’s Ravin’ Rabbid’s’ game. Now in its sixth iteration, the worldwide mega-seller is back for sillier dance moves at your next alcohol fuelled family gathering. A trailer featuring a number of elaborate groups of people dancing to their on-screen leaders to Pharrel Williams’ sickly infectious ‘Happy’ is shown before moving on in true E3 form by getting a load of actual dancers on stage to rave to the newly announced ‘Just Dance Now’. An app and tablet/smart TV based that allows gamers to play Just Dance with their smartphone. The app is connected to a bigger screen to show the players what to do whilst the phone itself uses the power of the built in gyroscopes to recognise the movements as you do your dancy thang with an infinite number of others. This interesting concept will get regularly updated with new songs and dance moves in the future.

‘Assassin’s Creed’ opened up a new world of possibilities for me. As I was stuck playing mostly racing and driving games, I got immense satisfaction soaring into haystacks, traversing high walls and plunging hidden blades into enemies. ‘Unity’ is the new offering. Although Microsoft showed a multiple player co-operative mission of Unity in their press conference, Ubisoft gave us a glimpse of a solo objective. After short atmospheric trailer, the gameplay began at the very top of Notre Dame. Our Assassin swiftly and bravely dives off the tower, catching every other wall, gargoyle and protrusion on his way down. This assassin doesn’t care much for haystacks it seems but his decent is quick and nimble. He reaches a vastly populated terra firma and objectives pop up as he blends in with the Parisian crowds. He encounters a restricted area and promptly uses his hidden blades on a couple of unaware guards. This follows with familiar swordfight. Sparks fly from sword blades and the finally the guard is taken down with a slice to the throat. Our assassin now searches for potential targets and proceeds to hunt them down. He slinks down behind cover, staying out of view of potential foes and silently creeps from one crate to the next. The man he is after is not where he thinks he is but gets word of the actual whereabouts. As our assassin darts out of the window and across roofs, icons pop up. As there is no map, this could possibly the new way how we as players find missions. He now scuttles through houses and crowds and back up wall with acrobatic finesse, getting to a higher vantage point to find his prey. He finds the man he is after and follows him via rooftops to a guillotine. He picks his moment and pounces from the guillotine itself, forcing his hidden blade into the Captains neck. The guards around rear up as our assassin is joined by his fellow co-operative brothers, ready to take on the ensuing onslaught. Unity is on good form. ‘Assassin’s Creed II’s’ Italian setting defined it and going back to a similarly stunning location and time period rather than the later colonial America of III is going to be favourable with fans. I for one cannot wait to see how this develops.

‘Battlefield Hardline’ has a new competitor it seems. A new Rainbow Six had been in the works and was overdue. The most recent utterance of a new Rainbow Six for consoles and PC after ‘Patriots’ was cancelled was 2008’s ‘Vegas 2’. This multiplayer pre-alpha level features a bunch of good guys planning and taking out the bad guys in a hostage situation, showing its mettle in a five versus five match. Again like Ubisoft’s ‘The Division’, it unrealistically gave us this heavily acted interpretation of an online multiplayer match. But cheese aside, the elements that were shown provided enough coverage into how ‘Siege’ can bring something interesting to the table. Gun shots can fire gaping holes into the wall that players can then shoot through themselves to take out the enemy. This type of procedural destruction adds to the immersion and realism. Battlefield may have had its ‘levolution’ moments that drastically altered the map but the smaller details on something like a house falling bits when a player blows a hole in the floor to get past barricades may not be the same as tumbling buildings but using the destruction adds a tactical approach. The footage ends with a one on one cliff-hanger.

Notable Mentions

Ubisoft’s open world multiplayer racer, ‘The Crew’ was shown in a time lapsed compilation trailer of races that span over two hours filled with high powered supercars bursting through urban jungles, sand-filled canyons and winding hills.

‘Valiant Hearts: The Great War’; a touching UbiArts side-scroller inspired by events from the First World War. With a cartoony animated style but also a heavy message, it expresses an evocative atmosphere that is aching to be played, just to see and hear the stories it can tell.

By the looks of things, ‘Shape Up’ uses the Kinect to its full ability. With crazy push ups and ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ inspired challenges, this is bringing motion controlled games up to scratch.

Who Was Not Mentioned?

Where to start? ‘Rayman’ was not present; his fury yet crazy pests the ‘Rabbids’ were relegated to the introduction; so we can’t expect any of that ridiculous fun from previous instalments on newer consoles just yet. The Driver series could have also been touched upon but, alas no. I think that last year’s ‘Watch_Dogs’ being a similar open world game with driving might have become a bit repetitive which is a shame because after ‘San Francisco’, Driver proves that it can still provide hours of joy and entertainment.

The French company did well this year. We’ve seen the next instalment of the ever-popular Assassin’s Creed; we’ve met psychopaths and are intrigued by their motives in Far Cry 4; we can dance with as many people as we want to with just an app and a fancy TV; and we can use our Kinect’s for something half decent! It’s hard to pick a firm favourite because these titles all have something that appeals; which is what Ubisoft (‘Oobisoft’? ‘Yoobisoft’? Actually, it might also be ‘Ubbisoft’…) is all about.

 

 

Words by Jimmi

E3 Conferences Round-Up – EA

E3, or the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is arguably the biggest and boldest annual video gaming convention ever to grace the planet. Held in sun-drenched Los Angeles; the big guns of the gaming industry including Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony showcasing brand new hardware and games. The event is a pantomime of lights, music, noises and good old’ fashioned video games. Held exclusively to the press and industry members, the entire convention is streamed online for all us norms to watch at home. And that’s exactly what we did. People from all around the globe watched with bated breath waiting for what the next big announcements were coming to PC’s and home consoles over the next few months and beyond. This is a list some of the notable games and software that hooked us to spend all our hard earned money on the most expansive and by far best consumable media there is

Electronic Arts are known for their prowess when it comes to the best and most loved sports games; epic racers; superb shooters and massive hits. EA may have been voted as one of the worst companies for two consecutive years but you can’t overlook their sheer scope and outlook and how it continues to make some fantastic games. From the Sims and the ‘FIFA’ series, to ‘Need For Speed’, to ‘Battlefield’ and ‘Dead Space’ and ‘Mass Effect’, EA know how to create a good franchise that will sell and please.

After a short teaser of a new, hotly anticipated ‘Star Wars: Battlefront’; a woman with a cello on a moving plinth came out to open with a trailer for the action role-player ‘Dragon Age Inquisition’ that showed off sprawling scenery and a seemingly endless world. This segued into demonstrations and a behind the scenes looks at the new ‘Mass Effect’ detailing how the improvements BioWare have made for the new consoles.

One of the most popular EA games, ‘The Sims 4’ showed the infinite creation tools in making your Sim and ultimately their stories and adventures. The showcase was a bit cringey but at least it covered all the bases of the new Sims, there is still that traditional Sims element of being to create whoever you want – be it yourself or as the trailer showed, President Barack Obama – and whatever house you want and how the life and death of a Sim pans out.

Criterion are responsible for some of my favourite games in the past. I loved smashing cars off the road in ‘Burnout 3: Takedown’ and ramming Lamborghini’s in an Aston Martin police car in ‘Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit’, so seeing new content from Criterion got me excited. In early stages of development, this new game is built around extreme motor sports. From launching speedboats off waterfalls; flips on an all-terrain quad bike or blasting through snow-covered trees on a skidoo; full of crashes and smashes and those sort of adrenaline pumping moments that have come from the Burnouts and the Need for Speeds albeit on larger scale with a wider scale of vehicles at ones disposal. Although not a lot was shown, this is going to be one of them games to watch closely to see how it comes on and what it does exactly that splits it apart from other games with element like this in them.

‘Mirror’s Edge’ was teased at last year’s E3 so it was slightly disappointing that it was still in early stages of development. Regardless of this, ‘Mirror’s Edge’ was a game that has a impeccable sense of speed, momentum and weight that I haven’t really seen done elsewhere. ‘Mirror’s Edge’ is going on six years old now and along with some inconsistencies (as well as pretty poor gun-play), it’s showing its age. It still looks fantastic and when you’re in the swing of things, plays like a dream, so when sequences of new and improved game-play and graphics was shown in another one of these ‘behind the scene montages’ the next ‘Mirror’s Edge’ looks like it’s on form to being what it originally set out to be. The clean utopia is back with the stark red hints is back and brings in elements that play out the best approach for combat; keeping everything that Faith does fast and agile without ever stopping.

The biggest hit of EA’s press conference was the almighty ‘Battlefield Hardline’; a new take on the first-person shooter that doesn’t rely on the military backing that happens so often. This is a gritty, urban cop’s vs robber’s simulator that borrows from Battlefields of old. It is invigorating to see a game where you can choose how to tactically take out the enemies in a trade of mayhem from the right of the law for once. But having the choice of playing dirty is always going to win votes. The demo showed team of bad guys against the team of police trying to stop them from running away with the loot in a 32 player melee. And the bad guys do not go without a fight. Played in a similar vein of the Battlefield 4’s demo at the last E3, the demo has explosions, massive gunfights, car crashes, a crane taking out a building; it was just utter destruction. Rocket-propelled grenades create escape routes; debris allows access to other parts of the level, player’s zip-wire onto motorbikes. It looks fast, immense and purely epic. Gun-play is typical of your generic military shooter but it still allows you to use them in interesting ways such as shooting whilst zipping down a wire or out of a car as it hurtles as the police pursue. This type of game hasn’t really been done before and it’s invigorating to see a game where you can tactically plan your battle I And of course, it ends with the bad guys being taken down. ‘Hardline’ was released as an early closed Beta on PC and PlayStation 4 which stalled both EA’s Origin service and PSN. People want this game and like last year, ‘Battlefield Hardline’ will be fighting it out with Call of Duty for the best first person shooter of E3.

Notable Mentions

Bruce Lee is in the new ‘UFC’; ‘Madden NFL15’ and ‘NHL 15’ have been given an overhaul. But the big surprise in these sports game segments was ‘PGA Tour’; described as ‘Golf without limits.’ Yes they showed the simple courses but when a battleship rams through the middle of one course and runs aground, you think “wow. When did golf get so interesting?”

‘FIFA 15’ has again improved the details of strides, ball trajectories and more realistic players. The lists of tweaks that have been added to ‘FIFA 15’ only seem to be the tip of the iceberg. Football games, I find, have a certain level of excitement; the gripping tension of scoring one goal, not knowing when or how the other team are going to fight and claw their way back. These added details will then add to the atmosphere of an already great franchise.

Who Was Not Mentioned?

It was announced earlier in the year that Need for Speed won’t be releasing a game in the coming months. Need for Speed has been one of those franchises that release a new game every year with varying degrees of success. I enjoyed ‘The Run’ but not as much as ‘Hot Pursuit’. And ‘Most Wanted’ felt like a clone of the Burnout game a lot of us felt we needed. This isn’t such a bad thing as developers are releasing racing games over the course of the next year or so that look to fulfill that need for speed. With ‘Drive Club’, ‘The Crew’, ‘Forza Horizon 2’, and soon to be Criterion’s next effort, Need for Speed won’t necessarily be sorely missed. It would have been nice to have heard from a Need for Speed but Criterion’s extreme sports racer will keep me ticking over for a while.

I felt like EA needed more in the press conference. It’s understandable that games are in development and at this time when the PS4, Wii U and XBOX ONE are still in early years of life; progression may take a bit longer as the new hardware is utilized to the best of its ability. But as it panned out, the reveal of ‘Battlefield Hardline’ showed that EA aren’t taking things lying down and it will be one to watch over the coming months. The sheer exuberance of it made it the ultimate highlight of the showcase.

 

 

Words by Jimmi

E3 2014 Conferences Round-Up – Microsoft

E3, or the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is arguably the biggest and boldest annual video gaming convention ever to grace the planet. Held in sun-drenched Los Angeles, the big guns of the gaming industry including Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony showcasing brand new hardware and games. The event is a pantomime of lights, music, noises and good old’ fashioned video games. Held exclusively to the press and industry members, the entire convention is streamed online for all us norms to watch at home. And that’s exactly what we did. People from all around the globe watched with bated breath waiting for what the next big announcements were coming to PC’s and home consoles over the next few months and beyond. This is a list some of the notable games and software that hooked us to spend all our hard earned money on the most expansive and by far best consumable media there is.

 Computer giant, Microsoft had a bit of a tough time last year. They had launched their new XBOX ONE and had been feeling the heat of the backlash from fans who weren’t particularly interested by it always online features, compulsory Kinect, TV connectivity and social aspects. They were then blown out of the water when Sony revealed that its next-generation games console would be cheaper and had none of this. As a result, Microsoft did a 180 degree spin over the course of year that seems very far away from their original idea by removing the Kinect, allowing used games and so on. Never-the-less, Microsoft had to pull out all the stops for this year’s press conference. And they did…

Arguably one of the biggest franchises ever, Activision’s ‘Call of Duty’ kicked off E3 with their upcoming Advanced Warfare as a timed exclusive. Set in the near future, the game features the traditional elements of a first person shooter packed with mech-suits, drones a plenty, jetpacks, fancy, new age rifles and walking robot things; very reminiscent of games such as ‘Titanfall’ and later ‘Killzones’’. Although admittedly, ‘Call of Duty’ is not everyone’s cup of tea, the gameplay demo does look brilliant. It has a high quality of polish that you would expect from a console of this high spec and visually ‘Call of Duty’ hasn’t looked better. Dialogue is bit cheesy and best described as ‘American gun-ho’ (“You gotta go now… It’s okay. I’ll see you on the other side” FOR FREEDOM!!) which I feel is the suit of every military shooter ever made; it was like America was made to win wars but only in fiction. But that aside like Call of Duty’s before it, ‘Advance Warfare’ sets to sell millions again and be just as popular and for that reason alone, it was a worthy opener.

A colourful, over-the-top, somewhat tongue-in-cheek take on the traditional monster shooter. ‘Sunset Overdrive’ doesn’t take itself so seriously and from what we saw, the new first party exclusive is refreshing and exciting. We’re told that energy drink have been polluted and are now turning people into disfigured mutants that are slowly engulfing Sunset City. And the best way to get rid of them is by blowing them to high noon whilst grinding hand rails and zip-lining with a crowbar. If the game is anything the trailer sets it out to be, ‘Sunset Overdrive’ is going to be packed with one-liners, epic combos and comic-book violence. Although not particularly lengthy, the demo was full of quick paced action that emanated a great, chaotic and simply fun tone.

The franchise that started it all for the original XBOX as a console way back in 2001 was announced to be released on XBOX ONE letting owners play the entire Master Chief saga in HD from start to finish. ‘The Master Chief Collection’ starts with the very first ‘Combat Evolved’ right up to the most recent ‘Halo 4’. The collection boasts user-created playlists allowing players to choose which moments of the story they want to play without having to go through the entire narrative first. Maps have been recreated especially for the ONE. Halo was one of those franchises that didn’t move me until I played it. The settings and vistas looked amazing on the older original XBOX and 360 and they are only set to get a lot more attractive in the newly retouched worlds for the ONE. Although nothing new for XBOX fans that have stayed true to Halo throughout its rise, this is surely going to be a big hit for those who want to re-live one of the best shooters ever created whilst keeping them tied over until ‘Halo 5: Guardians comes out in 2015’ or simply get into the franchise.

One of the sure-fire hits of last year’s E3 closed Microsoft’s conference. Ubisoft’s third-person-shooter-cum-massive-multiplayer-with-elements-of-role-playing set in an infected New York shows a co-operative mission that highlights a lot of smaller details that can be missed on first glance. Last year, this insane attention to detail was picked up and this year was no different. From bullet holes in glass windows, the closing of the doors on cars for added protection and the tiny details on the head up displays such as holographic maps and recreations. Although heavily scripted – I as well as the rest of the gaming community know for a fact that no one talks the way the players did in the demo in actual online games – the look and feel of this game looks enticing. Ubisoft came under a bit of scrutiny from players of ‘Watch_Dogs’ for not looking like the E3 gameplay footage and we’re hoping they’re not going to pull the same stunt on ‘The Division’ because it looks incredible at the moment

Honourable Mentions

The next ‘Forza Horizon’ is set to expand on what was created in the original with new weather dynamics, day and night cycle and tonnes of new metal from the likes of McLaren, Lamborghini and Ferrari to create this petrolhead’s paradise.

Capcom went one further with titles. Their new DLC for the epic zombie-slayer ‘Dead Rising 3’ is called ‘Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX plus α.’ It mixes all of Capcom’s greatest characters and lets you use them to, well, slay more zombies.

Moon Studio’s ‘Ori and the Blind Forrest’ and builds upon what was done by games like Journey and Limbo by looking simple yet gorgeous and full of life and maybe even spiritualism in this side-scrolling adventure platformer. Playdead, who also made ‘Limbo’ also showed ‘Inside’, a game with a similar look and dark feel.

Microsoft also showed off a plethora of independent titles in a montage (Stylized as ID@XBOX) with turn based beat-em-ups such as Aztez; side scrolling platformer ‘Might No 9’; real-time strategy, ‘Plague Inc: Evolved’; and ‘Grave’ which looks to be a horror adventure game.

2012’s Tomb Raider reboot scored highly so it was not a surprise to see a teaser trailer for Lara Croft’s latest instalment title ‘Rise of the Tomb Raider’.

Who Was Not Mentioned?

Erm, the Kinect. After last year’s E3, Microsoft was adamant that the Kinect’s features with the XBOX ONE would make gaming and home entertainment experiences better than ever before. Every XBOX ONE up until recently came with a Kinect camera. Now it has been turned into essentially a peripheral add on, the price of the ONE was slashed and it seemed the Kinect had been all but forgotten about. Without the mention of Disney’s and Harmonix Fantasia: Music Evolved and Dance Central – which primarily uses the Kinect – for a brief moment, then there wouldn’t have been anything at all related to the Kinect. Neither were there mentions of the TV features that littered a good part of the conference last year. Not that this phased anyone as the now-Kinect-less and cheaper console now means that it brings it on par with the PlayStation 4.

 

So Microsoft well and truly turned it around this year. No seething fans, no ridiculous inclusions that some people won’t use and no Kinect. They played it safe and in return showed some epic games excited us all. ‘The Division’ looks fantastic and Assassin’s Creed Unity shaping up to be another classic (more from that on Ubisoft’s conference) but as personal favourite highlight, ‘Sunset Overdrive’ proves that something fresh and exciting can always be a unique selling point.

 

 

Words by Jimmi

Diamonds Are Forever by Ian Fleming: 52 in 52 Book #22

Continuing with my collection of Bond audiobooks, I started listening to Diamonds Are Forever to kick off the beginning of my latest placement and thus the start of long commutes. Every evening for the past week or so I have spent my journey home delving back into the world of espionage and following James Bond through another assignment.

So did I enjoy this instalment? Yes and no. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by my previous acquaintances with Dr No and Goldfinger but I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as those Bond novels. Not to say that I didn’t like it. On the contrary, the excitement and action was some of the most thrilling, especially towards the latter end of the novel with a train chase. The ever changing scenery from London to an American race course, Las Vegas casinos to an old Wild West town and a cruise ship was constantly engaging and ensured you never got bored or dared lapse your concentration or you would miss an entire section of the plot.

I also loved the characters. Felix Leiter, one of my favourite Bond characters, makes an appearance and true to form, makes you laugh and stimulates some of the more interesting action scenes. Tiffany Case, the obligatory Bond girl, is another amazing character. Named after the jewellery case her father left as a parting gift for her mother after the disappointment of having a daughter rather than a son, Tiffany is a changeable, adaptable and interesting character. She has a lot more depth than quite a few of the other Bond girls and you feel genuinely interested in her and her interactions with Bond.

However, having finished the novel, I was left wanting. There is so much action in the middle section of the book that the less than climatic ending seems somewhat odd and ill thought out. It was almost like Fleming got to the last chapter and thought “Ugh, I guess I have to wrap this all up.” And put as little effort in as he could get away with. It is a stark contrast to the rest of the book which lives up to the high calibre of the series.

I would definitely recommend this book, despite the ending. It has some interesting twists and turns and keeps you hooked and wanting more. Just don’t expect that absolutely, mid-blowing epic ending and everything will be awesome!

 

 

Kat