Three conferences down and we’re now half way in to the E3 media
shenanigans… Here’s my coffee and sugar induced thoughts so far:
Did EA really need their own show? I was not a fan. Not that
anything they showed looked bad but there was definitely a feeling that they
were stretching out what little news they had. They even hinted at Star Wars
games for 2018. Who fricking cares about 2018?
TitanFall 2 and Battlefield 1 had some nifty trailers and if
you’re in to shooters then I’m jealous. I’m truly rubbish at them, the guy at
the bottom of every online contest. Apart from Splatoon. Back on point: They
both impressed and despite not playing the genre I’d be more excited for these
than the next COD.
FIFA looked like FIFA, apart from that random new story mode
that had a mate asking “why does FIFA look like GTA?” Jose Mourinho showed up
on stage with all the charisma and excitement of a man who really didn’t want
to be there but got a nice cheque for doing so.
Conference 2: Bethesda.
Opened with Quake, another shooter but hey it looked alright
and it was a surprise at least. Announcing a Doom demo put a grin on my face as
I hear great things and I’ll probably get on it after I’ve typed this malarkey.
Skyrim remaster makes sense. Prey looked ok but we didn’t see gameplay.
Highlight of that show; Dishonored 2. I am all kinds of
hyped about that game. Only played the first game this past Christmas but what
an experience that was. The sequel looks prettier, bigger and those new powers
look fun as all flippery. Excited.
Conference 3: The first of the big ones… Microsoft.
Other years I’d call it the Xbox conference but as they were
keen to stress about 50 million times the future for these guys is Xbox and
Windows 10 combined. Buy a game for Xbox One and you can also play on your
Windows 10 PC. It’s been coming, and along with the new hardware announcements
it made up the main talking point of the show. Xbox is on the road to becoming
a platform, a competitor for iOS and Android rather than a box under your TV.
The futures not here yet though, so for now you can choose between your Xbox
One, the new S model (which is pretty sexy to be fair) or 2017s 4K/UHD/6
teraflop (I don’t know?? Games will be purdier?) Project Scorpio.
Games made up the rest of the show and I’ll just pre-warn
you here that I don’t currently or have ever owned an Xbox. So there’s probably
some bias…. I was bored.
The indie real was cool and probably my favourite part.
Cuphead is gorgeous, Below and Inside looked intriguing. We Happy Few looks
like a good game, but it did not make for a good mid-conference demo. Maybe one
of the few examples were a trailer would have been better. The same could have
been said for Scalebound. Damn I was disappointed. Platinum games made some genius
fast paced action titles with Bayonetta and Wonderful 101 and I assumed this would
be the Xbox equivalent. That demo just looked so slow to me, shooting a bow and
arrow at a giant crab monster when I just want to let fly with a sword and some
fisticuffs in its ugly face.
Dead Rising 4 looked like chaotic fun. Recore was one that I’m
unsure about, with some elements of the gameplay looking fun but what little we
saw along with that September release date make me fear it’s a low budget schedule
filler. Sea of Thieves was another doubt raiser. I love how it looks and reminds
me of Rare from the N64 days... But a big online team thingy? I’m too
antisocial for that begubbins.
Gears of War 4: I’ll get some hate for this one but that
didn’t really look like a good time. Visually ace, but everything else just
seemed uninventive. And what the feck was with the giant turret gun that had the
aiming prowess of… well me, playing shooters online. Oh and that Minecraft bit.
I caught up on Twitter during that and had to turn the volume down due to those
chirpy, annoying presenters.
Biggest fail for me though? The lack of surprises. Partly
down to the leaks that started yesterday but also because maybe Microsoft shouldn’t
have splurged their line up for this Christmas and 2017 at last year’s show.
Too early.
Next up: The PlayStation show at 2am UK time. I’m staying
awake for it this (got it spoiled last year when trying to find a stream at my
breakfast) and 5pm tomorrow we have Zelda. Snacks are ready, geekiness is
embraced, bring it on….
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