Posts Tagged ‘E3’

E3 2011: Best Upcoming Games

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) was held this week from June 7th to June 9th at the Los Angeles Convention Center. As a quick summary, E3 is a multi-day event for the computer and video game industry, during which developers present their upcoming games, hardware, game demos, and so on. This year’s E3 showcased many new exciting games, however the vast majority of them are sequels to previous blockbusters. Some new hardware was also announced, including the Wii U from Nintendo and the PlayStation Vita, Sony’s next-gen handheld device.

BioShock Infinite

BioShock Infinite is an upcoming first-person shooter and will be the third game in the BioShock series. The game is being developed by Irrational Games for a 2012 release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC platforms. BioShock Infinite is not a direct sequel or prequel to the previous two BioShock games. The story takes place in an earlier time period and different setting, however it features similar gameplay concepts and themes. The main character is a former Pinkerton agent, Booker DeWitt, who attempts to rescue a woman trapped aboard the collapsing air-city Columbia in 1912.

Being the third game in the successful BioShock franchise, BioShock Infinite will have a big reputation to live up to. Irrational Games is promising exciting new gameplay mechanics, new environments, and a highly plot-rich story. In the trailer shown at E3, BioShock Infinite looked to be way above their competition, showing off high-flying aerial maneuvers, action-packed combat sequences, and a handful of jaw-dropping story moments. This game is sure to impress, but fans will have to wait until sometime in 2012 before they can play it.

Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider is getting a complete overhaul. This upcoming action-adventure game will be the ninth installment of the Tomb Raider series, however the game is set to provide no correlation to the entirety of the previous entries in the series. The series reboot is intended to emphasize the reconstructed origins of the culturally influential lead character, Lara Croft. Square Enix will be handling the publishing of the game as well, which given Enix’s history, should make for a better Tomb Raider game than those in the past.

At E3 there wasn’t much revealed about Tomb Raider outside of a very impressive trailer, which introduced the new Lara and outset of the game. In my opinion, the re-imagining will be a good move for the series. Tomb Raider first debuted in 1996, and a total of eight games have since been published. This remake should be able to take the game series in a brand new direction. The new Tomb Raider will feature a much younger and desperate-looking Lara, with the tagline “a survivor is born.” The more human, less fantasy version of the character has gone over extremely well so far with fans. Tomb Raider is scheduled for release in the third quarter of 2012 on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

One game that is at the top of many gamers’ most wanted list is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The demo for the anticipated RPG featured plenty of exciting things, including a Dragon Shout that created a thunderstorm, a revamped third-person mode, and some good ole dragon fighting. The ability to commune with, battle, and ultimately take down dragons is one of the main reasons we play this type of video game in the first place. Bethesda is looking like it might deliver one of the best role-playing games ever with Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

The last installment in this series was the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which debuted back in 2007. Skyrim’s main story revolves around the main character’s efforts to defeat a dragon god who is prophesied to destroy the world. Set two hundred years after Oblivion, the game takes place in the land of Skyrim in the midst of a civil war after the assassination of the king. One of the main features of this game is the open world gameplay, as the player can explore the land at will and ignore or postpone the main quest indefinitely. Skyrim will hit the shelves this November for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

Battlefield 3

Battlefield 3 (BF3) is a first-person shooter that is the eleventh installment in the Battlefield franchise, and the direct sequel to Battlefield 2, which was released in 2005. The latest success for this franchise has come from the “Bad Company” series of games.

Battlefield 3 will feature the maximalist combined arms battles that made the series popular across single-player, co-operative, and multiplayer modes. It will reintroduce several elements absent from the Bad Company games, including fighter jets, the prone position, and 64-player battles on PC. The game will feature locations such as Paris, Tehran, and New York, and combat will usually take place in urban streets, metropolitan downtown areas, and open landscapes.

Trailers of Battlefield 3 at E3 showed off best-in-class graphics and a large sense of scale. This game is expanding on the Bad Company games, with more detailed destruction in multiplayer battles and more natural looking soldier animations. Battlefield 3 is set to be released in fall 2011 on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

If you’re looking for a gaming experience that feels like you’re watching a movie yet playing out all the action sequences, look no further than Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. In 2009, Uncharted 2 delivered one of the most seamlessly cinematic gaming experiences ever. Two years later, Uncharted 3 is looking to top its predecessor with more action and epic adventures. Just one catch though, this will be exclusive to the PS3.

Uncharted 3 will see protagonist Nathan Drake and mentor Victor Sullivan traveling around the world in search of the legendary lost city, the Iram of the Pillars. Chloe Frazer and Elena Fisher will also return in this game. Uncharted 3 had two blockbuster demos shown this year at E3. The demos exhibited impressive physics technology, outstanding graphics, and action-packed fight scenes that would rival any box office movie hit. This game is the closest thing you’ll find to a summer blockbuster action film, premiering exclusively for the PS3 this November.

Honorable Mentions

In order to keep this post from turning into a monstrosity, I can’t review all of the big announcements that were at E3 this year. Here are some other noteworthy games that look pretty impressive:

• Halo 4
• Final Fantasy XIII-2
• Mass Effect 3
• Gears of War 3
• Batman: Arkham City

E3 2011: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Call of Duty has been the first-person shooter game of choice for millions of gamers for the past few years. Ever since the “Modern Warfare” series was introduced and became so successful for Call of Duty, the franchise has been known for producing a high quality and innovate gaming experience. The next game in line for the series, Modern Warfare 3, was officially announced only weeks ago, but there has been quite a bit more information revealed about the game this week during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).

Activision presented two demos for Modern Warfare 3. The first was a non-playable demonstration of the single player campaign, which introduced players to some of the explosive sequences set on the game’s global stage: New York and London. The second demo offered a close look into the game’s new cooperative Spec Ops Mode: Survival, which is more or less Call of Duty’s take on Horde mode from Gears of War.

In MW3′s Spec Ops Mode: Survival, you and one partner kill waves of enemies, and try to survive as enemies increase in number and difficulty. For example; in the first round, you face a small handful of shotgun-equipped enemies, but the later rounds introduce better-equipped soldiers, dogs, helicopters, and so on. This new survival mode could have the potential to be the most addictive Call of Duty mode yet.

The one thing to keep in mind is that the game shouldn’t stray far from the proven formula of the Modern Warfare series. Veteran Call of Duty gamers can expect a top-notch shooter that will feel fairly similar to the previous Modern Warfare games. Since there aren’t any major changes since the last game, I would expect to see a more polished and stable multiplayer experience. The only question mark about Modern Warfare 3 is that a new studio formed by Activision, Sledgehammer Games, has been co-developing the game with Infinity Ward. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be released for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 on November 8th.

E3 2011: Halo 4 Announced

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) began yesterday with its pre-show press conference. The big announcement of the day was made by Microsoft, when they announced the next entry in their popular franchise of first-person shooters, Halo 4!

Microsoft made the announcement via a cinematic trailer at the end of its 2011 E3 press conference. Halo 4 marks the first proper Halo title created outside of original creator Bungie, who signed off the series with 2010′s Halo: Reach. With Bungie no longer leading development, Halo 4 will mark the first major release from 343 Industries, Microsoft’s internal Halo studio.

To add to the already big announcement, Microsoft also announced that they are making a remastered version of Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game in the series. The remake will be titled Halo: Anniversary, and feature single-player and multiplayer portions of the original game. Microsoft has said that the single-player campaign will feature online co-op, a multiplayer mode that’s fully integrated into Halo Reach’s community, brand new graphics, and the ability to switch back to the original game’s graphics. Halo: Anniversary will be released on 11/15/2011 exclusively for Xbox 360.

Microsoft closed their conference with the promise of a new trilogy. After showing the CG teaser trailer for Halo 4, Halo 5 and 6 were both effectively announced as future titles. The teaser that was shown features the Master Chief and Cortana, after the events of Halo 3′s Legendary ending. Further details about the game’s storyline weren’t given outside of the short CG trailer. Halo 4 is set to be released holiday season 2012 for the Xbox 360.

E3 2010: Best Upcoming Game Releases

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3, recently took place on June 14th through the 17th.  E3 is an event for the computer and video game industry in which developers present their upcoming games and game-related hardware.  There were quite a few exciting game announcements this year along with new hardware from both Microsoft and Nintendo.  Here are some of the best games that were featured at E3 2010.

Halo: Reach

The latest, and potentially the last, Halo release from Bungie is Halo: Reach.  This game’s storyline is a prequel to all of the previous Halo games.  The UNSC is waging war against the Covenant, and almost all of humanity’s colonies have fallen except Reach.  Players will control Noble 6, a member of a team of Spartans, during the battle for Reach.

We’ve already seen the multiplayer from the beta preview this spring, which was already very polished and exciting.  New features include single use equipment being replaced by reusable and persistent armor abilities such as active camo, a jetpack, sprinting, and armor lock.  From the E3 trailer it was shown that there will be at least some spaceship battles during the campaign, which is a surprising change from Bungie.

As seen in ODST, Reach will feature the latest Firefight version, which has been announced to have matchmaking support.  There will be more customization of what types of enemies and waves can be seen, and a new weapon called the target locator, which allows airstrikes to be called in by the UNSC.  Halo: Reach is set to debut on September 14th, 2010.

Rock Band 3

The latest Rock Band game may be the most advanced music game created thus far.  Harmonix is trying to bridge the gap between video games and real music instruments by creating a new playable keyboard and also a stringed guitar to mimic real instruments and teach players real music skills.  Rock Band 3 will feature a new “Pro” mode, which players will use when playing with the realistic instruments.  The Squier Stratocaster six string guitar will be the featured Rock Band 3 controller.  Players can connect the new controller to PCs and create music on their own, and also it will come with audio outputs that allow users to connect the guitar up to an amplifier and play music.

As for the other details, there will be 83 songs released with Rock Band 3, and all previous content from the first two games and DLC will still be playable.  Somewhat as expected, there are updated graphics and players have more customization over their characters and the game.  As of now exact dates are not set, but look for this game to come out sometime this winter.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Since the release of Modern Warfare, any following Call of Duty game has and will be receiving a lot of press.  The new installment is being developed by Treyarch, which is the less successful of the two CoD development teams (the other is Infinity Ward).  Black Ops is a sequel to World at War which is set during the Cold War.  Players will be involved with missions behind enemy lines in locations such as Vietnam.

Black Ops will feature some new equipment, such as a scoped cross bow weapon similar to the Gears of War torque bow.  The soldiers will also be able to fight with choppers and other types of aircraft.  Treyarch has announced that along with the usual game modes, there will be a four player online co-op mode available.  Black Ops releases November 9th, 2010.

Gears of War 3

The third installment of Gears of War picks up eighteen months after the previous game.  One of the main new features will be a 4 player story based co-op mode.  There will also be new playable female gears.  Anya Stroud, who was the team’s control officer in the first two games, is now joining the battle along with Jace Stratton.  The picture on the right is concept art of Anya.  It’s an awesome picture so you should click it to view full size.  Combat will feature mutating enemies and new equipment such as a double-barreled shotgun, Lancer with a bayonet instead of a chainsaw, and incendiary grenades.

There will be a new mode called Beast, which is the opposite of Horde Mode from Gears 2.  Players are now the fighting on the Locust side, combating the COG.  Killing enemies earns you tokens, which can be used to upgrade your class.  Gears 3 isn’t set to release until April 5th, 2011.

Honorable Mentions

The list of games featured at E3 is way too many than I can discuss in this post.  Here are some other games that were featured and will probably be worth playing once they are released:

• Portal 2
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
• Goldeneye 007
• Fable III
• Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood