Day one of E3 2012 is done and dusted. So what was crackin'? The Aussie team at the show sound off.
Cam:
My three jaw-dropping, ball-numbing highlights for the day are:
The Last of Us
Wow. Today's demo was nothing short of bone-crunchingly unreal. Sure, it was an expansion on what we saw at the Sony press conference yesterday, but it answered a number of important questions that I had about The Last of Us. Sadly, you'll have to stay tuned to IGN to hear about it, as we're under embargo until Thursday (Pacific) for coverage and, well, let's just say that Naughty Dog's not just a cute name. They actually do have a Rottweiler that they set on members of the press that break their embargos.
Assassin's Creed III
Ubisoft Montreal are showing off three different Assassin's Creed III demos here at E3. (Yes, that's three for III at E3.) No doubt you've already caught the frontier demo from the Ubisoft press conference, which highlighted the series' new lead Connor and his brutal hatchet-led combat and affinity with the forest. The Sony presser busted out the second demo, which was a look at the incredible naval battles in the game. Dynamic weather, tactical movement and incredible water physics all add up to an element that feels integral, as opposed to tacked on. You can't tell this story without naval combat, and Ubisoft wants to get it right. While this aspect is hardly a sim, players will still have to pay attention to things like timing their shots carefully in heavy swells - you can't shoot through that mountainous wave that just reared up. Expect naval combat to come into play during the main story five or six times.
The final demo is set in Boston - one of two major cities in the game. The gameplay mix feels familiar, yet has enough fresh elements that it's clearly going to be a blast. The combat is both flowing and brutal, with significantly improved animations and better use of context. Connor's hatchet really is an awesome weapon too, not that the bow and rope dart (which allows players to string up enemies from on high) don't come into their own as well. The way enemies spin and crumple when hit looks spot on, while Connor's animations are seamless, grounding his agility in the real world. Speaking of which - see an open window? Why not go into it and straight through the house? Coming back to the gameplay mix, the blend mechanics have changed for the better. Now having two people in close proximity is enough to blend in and become unseen.
Similarly, Connor will strike up a conversation with anyone he poses near while avoiding detection. It's also worth mentioning that while the ability to call on assassins from Brotherhood is gone, players can earn the right to whistle for a crew of allies disguised as British soldiers. They'll surround the player - as though captured - allowing you to walk straight through checkpoints. Boston looks quite convincing too. And it should - the team has recreated period versions of both New York and Boston as accurately as they can. All the major thoroughfares and structures of the time are accounted for, only on a one to three scale. Three demos? Barely enough. Good thing there's a kick-ass CG trailer too.
Project P-100
Anyone else every heard of this? After a disappointing press conference, Nintendo had this potential Wii U gem playable on the booth, and it's looking like a whole lot of fun. In development at Platinum Games (Bayonetta, Vanquish, Revengeance, BOO-YA!), the team is calling Project P-100 "mass hero action". Why? Because you're not on your own: you're controlling a colourful team of characters, that follow the player Pikmin-style. From an almost top-down perspective, the enemies you come across on the city streets absolutely tower over your diminutive crew, but you attack like a ferocious pack of rats... if said rats were anime-infused and bursting with life and colour. And if they could team up like Voltron to bust out a variety of over-the-top moves. Players draw in formations on the touch screen, which then let them hit with special attacks or recruit new members.
Another neat touch is when the game switches to an over the shoulder third person perspective on the touch screen, whenever a building is entered. It's not going to set the world on fire, but in a lacklustre lineup, Project P-100 has been one of only a handful of Wii U titles that have stood out so far.
A disappointment?
Batman Arkham City: Armoured Edition
Sorry guys, but it's just too late. You need to come to the table with something exclusive where Batman is concerned. An Arkham City port with a few touch screen bits and bobs? Not good enough. Also - having Rocksteady endorse the Wii U when the game's not even being developed by that studio isn't a good look.
Pure stealth.
Luke:
Highlights:
Forza Horizon
It's probably no surprise Forza Horizon is one of my biggest highlights for the day; at least, aside from some of the stuff you guys have already covered. My biggest concern about Forza Horizon, the handling model, was immediately put to rest. Forza Horizon's handling model has been lifted straight from Forza Motorsport 4. Not only that but, with many of Playground Games' staff hailing from Codemasters, it's been honed to suit Horizon's many dirt roads by some of the most experienced off-road developers in the business.
Colorado seems like kind of a random choice for an open-world at first but once you see some of the incredible stretches of road Playground has built you'll realise why the team chose it. Rocky mountain passes, winding country roads, straight-shot freeways – it's terrific.
It's bordering on fascinating just how comprehensively Forza Horizon succeeds where Test Drive: Unlimited 2 failed – and we've only seen a very thin slice of it.
Watch Dogs
Watch Dogs remained as impressive as it had been at Ubisoft's press conference yesterday, although the demo's climax was played out in a slightly different manner. I felt even more impressed by it after this session; as amazed as I was yesterday I did feel the massive firefight in the intersection that resulted in several civilians being killed in crossfire was quite grim. It would appear you can tackle this encounter in different ways, however. In this demo main character Aiden Pierce engaged the enemies at the scene from the elevated rail line above, rather than street level. We also saw a short snippet of the driving model, as well as the ability to interact with the city from inside your car. While being pursued by the police, Pierce hacked a bridge ahead and began to raise it. He managed to jump over it but the cops behind could not follow. The team also highlighted some of the tablet connectivity for Watch Dogs, using an iPad to view and use a fully-interactive map of the city. Your move, Wii U.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD was great too. I eventually found a free moment to track down a pod and play it, and I did not regret making the time. I selected Ollie the Magic Bum and School II and my ears were immediately assaulted by the sweet strains of Swedish punkers Millencolin's 'No Cigar', easily one of my favourite Tony Hawk tracks ever. It's actually quite cute just how successfully THPS HD made me feel 17 again. It's a little tricky to get used to, after the more grounded nature of EA's Skate series, but it has a real old-school charm to it that I found fairly infectious.
Lowlight?
The Nintendo Press Conference
The biggest disappointment of the day for me has to be the Nintendo press conference. For a little background, I'm not a Nintendo aficionado. As a kid I had a PC; we never had Nintendo or Sega consoles. If you had to choose a word to use to describe my state of mind regarding Nintendo's famous franchises it would be 'ambivalent'. In fact, I've always been slightly put off by the whooping and unwavering adulation that appears to go on at these Nintendo press briefings. However, as this was my first time at a Nintendo conference I decided to go in with an open mind. My body was ready. I wanted to see Nintendo in a brand-new light. I wanted to get excited about the Wii U.
Unfortunately I'm not. No price, no release date and nary a single technical specification. About the only thing we've learned about Wii U from E3 2011 to E3 2012 is that they've finally figured out how to get it to support two controllers. Surprises were lean. Mass Effect 3? I don't really see the point of this. The final part of a trilogy (a trilogy that's most rewarding when built upon the decisions you made and the characters you've met and lost in the previous two games) that launched six months ago? Scribblenauts Unlimited? I seriously admire Scribblenauts, but these days you can get it for next to nothing on iOS. Nintendo Land ? This doesn't interest me in the slightest, and taking the better part of a month to explain every mechanic in one of the associated minigames was probably a bit much.
I get the controller capabilities are neat, but between smartphones, tablets and PS Vita these kinds of experiences don't exactly seem out-of-reach for Microsoft or Sony either. I'm just not sure side-scrollers and minigames are really the best way to showcase the drastically increased horsepower under the hood of your new HD console.
What else did they announce? They announced some kind of karaoke game that literally no-one will play the way the actors in the sizzle reel did, and they unveiled Wii Fit U to a room full of the least-surprised people in North America.
Where are the Nintendo heavy-hitters? I don't care about them but I know plenty of dedicated gamers most certainly do. Where was HD Zelda, or HD Mario Kart? You know, the kind of stuff that really would've sent a shockwave around the place.
I think this image pretty much sums up the entire Nintendo conference.
No Zelda announcement? Link is sad...
Luce:
Alright, another 'day' done and dusted. I use quotation marks around 'day' because I think we've been at this for 15 hours! That's the same amount of time those medical students spent at the hospital in the first season of Grey's Anatomy, and we all know they worked really damn hard! It's been a day of ups and downs, hits and misses, and sub par coffee we like to call 'dirty water.' Here are my highlights - and a single lowlight - for Day One of E3 2012:
Beyond: Two Souls
David Cage presented an extended action sequence in Quantic Dream's latest game, Beyond: Two Souls. The action-orientated demo acted as a counterpart to the onstage presentation at Sony's press conference yesterday, playing out like a thriller evocative of some of the more Fincher-esque moments in Heavy Rain. Indeed, the demo felt very much in the spirit of Qantic's previous game, but its narrative - the heart of any Cage project - is far more ambitious. In fact, Cage stated that the game "doesn't belong to any existing genre," and later that its perspective on death had "never been seen before in movies or games."
The demo saw protagonist Jodie and her invisible spirit companion Aiden eluding the cops through a series of action sequences, beginning with a tense escape from a train and ending in all out body-possession carnage. You'll hear our fleshed out thoughts on the demo later in the week, but suffice to say Beyond is another momentous effort from Cage and team to circumvent traditional video game storytelling and gameplay in the pursuit of the emotional journey. The plot is intriguing, the motion capture not too weird, and Ellen Page seems to be hitting the right notes for Cage's vulnerable character. And of course there was the passionate presence of Cage himself as he lead us through the demo - no wonder the guy sells Sony this nutty stuff, he's one of the most charming guys in the industry.
PlayStation AllStars: Battle Royale
I've been hearing a few grumbles here and there from fellow journalists who believe this to be unworthy of time because of it's clear 'inspiration' from a certain other Melee title. I say, screw that! By that logic, we should all have boycotted every single FPS ever for its similarities to DOOM. Having some hands on time with AllStars proved to me that Sony CAN get this balance right - much of it comes down to well-balanced characters and compulsory offensive fighting, and much of it comes down to Fat Princess. No seriously, watching her being bounced around the screen like a fat pink marshmallow by ripped Demi-Gods is really amusing. Plus, a co-op game looks as seamless on the Vita as it does on the TV, a genuine success story amongst all the other mixed-platform efforts that seem to be so in trend this E3.
Super Mario Bros. U
With its lack of any announcements to distinguish itself from last year's conference, Nintendo's presser was not met by much love this year. In fact, Super Mario Bros.U probably punctuated it with its one and only 'wow' moment, and even then the charming Lego City Undercover gave it a run for its money. But Super Mario Bros. U, or at least its co-op - the only mode I tried - works beautifully in practice. As a Wiimote-controlled-Mario rockets himself across the screen, the omnipresent player with the Wii U gamepad is able to build platforms for Mario to reach difficult heights or leap over gaps. While not riveting on paper, it's satisfying in practice, thanks to the traditional speedy pace of Mario gameplay which insists on a steep co-operative learning curve. Communicate, practice, and eventually you'll achieve an intuitive synergy, baby.
That Wii Fit U Trailer
Nintendo's Wii Fit U E3 debut trailer was like a couple of white-toothed stock photo 'I love salad' models awkwardly met 5 minutes before being tasked with pretending to 'work their core' by pretending to luge down a pretend mountain in a pretend living room. Oh hey, that's what actually happened! Watch at your own peril; you may regain your virginity.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering who won the battle of the press conferences this year...
Source : ign[dot]com
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