YARS at Eurogamer 2012 (ARTICLES)

Americans may have E3, but each year us Brits gets a chance to experience just what will be sucking up our savings over the next few months. Eurogamer 2012 hit Earl’s Court last week and provided us with blockbuster titles, a few avoidables and collective migraines thanks to hours upon hours of constant gaming. Having just recovered from ‘PixelPain’, here’s a collection of highlights and lowlights from the show.

YARS at Eurogamer 2012

As soon as I entered, a pretty impressive queue formed for one particular game. A double dose of dispatchery was on offer with Assassin’s Creed III, in stealthy and somewhat less shifty ways. What impresses me the most about the newly overhauled Animus simulator is the fact that it seems to have taken advantage to its colonial environment, starting new ancestor Connor off on a fully detailed cliff edge before shifting him into more homely surroundings. Nothing much felt essentially different from past instalments, but the new era and simplified HUD certainly made everything feel a lot more refreshed and refined. Though love for Ezio is strong, his adventures were becoming somewhat dreary, and a new lick of paint was just what the series needed. Turning the corner, I found that there was an extra demo for us lucky early goers for the naval battle system shown at E3. Donning a captain’s hat at staking the wheel of a lumbering , yet elaborate ship, I have to say I certainly did have fun commanding minors to fire weapons and smashing up other vessels at high speeds. However, with only a brief amount of time to play, the gameplay felt kind of clunky and needed a lot more getting used to. It was good, but only mini-game good, and certainly nothing to write home about compared to the main game.

 

A somewhat more mind-bending take on stealth came in the form of Dishonoured. Despite all the press surrounding the game providing an insight into what looked like a dark and glorious insight into a SteamPunk universe, actual gameplay painted a picture of a comic inspired stealth-fest. It certainly didn’t lessen the impact of gameplay. Going in crossbows and magic powers blazing, I was quickly turned into swiss cheese by even the dopiest of guards. The level design and stealth gameplay feel like they’ve merged to take advantage of those who like various outcomes from their sleuthing experience, and hopefully this’ll translate into the main game.

 

Ever since I saw Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, I’ve been excited but sceptical. Excited because I absolutely love mash-ups, and PASBR’s cast is filled with unexpected surprises, sceptical because…well…Smash Bros.. Throughout my time with the mega mash up, I was confused, bedazzled and perplexed as to what was going on, but I still had fun. A quick swig of beverages at the bar…didn’t help explaining the rules, but it certainly did help things when playing with some pals.  Even a quick browse on Wiki didn’t help matters. It was never truly clear when my character had died, lost a point or even respawned, and regular attacks felt slow and clunky, emphasising the importance of each character’s ‘Super Moves’. My enjoyment was sparce and not exactly consistent, mainly because I have seen this done before in Smash Bros., and if you’ve even played 5 minutes of Nintendo’s bash-‘em-up, that thought will linger in your mind no matter how big a Sony fanboy you are. As such, it seems your enjoyment of this game will depend on how many friends you can gather and just how much you love the odd assortment of characters put together.

 

Yeah, sure, I thought I’d try and scout out for a Dead Space 3 stall, however still slightly tipsy from my Sony based brawl, I accidentally found myself at Lost Planet 3 and didn’t realise my error until half an hour later (Professional, moi?). I think I can be forgiven though, as everything from the brooding atmosphere of desolate bases to the holographic HUDS scream that it’s following in the footsteps of EA’s slaughterfest. The problem is, it certainly hasn’t nicked the series’ greatest aspects. 10 minutes of time was spent in a dreary ‘Drilling’ tutorial, and the rest of the demo lacked any real phenomenal moments worth mentioning. The series’ ‘Giant Bosses’ perk returns, but seeing as every game these days attempts to shove in a monster that rivals the London Gherkin, it can hardly be called a trademark anymore. Taking the plot back to the origins of the series seems to have moved everything in the franchise back to square one, and there’s such little heart in this that you can’t even call it a rip-off.

 

E3 may do a good job generating hype for some of the industry’s biggest releases, but it can also leave quibbling doubts in my mind. Fable:The Journey didn’t exactly wow anyone when it was first shown a couple of years ago, and it really failed to look like anything more than a fancy arm flinging simulator when I got to try it out. It feels like it has been made for two particular people in mind; kids and die-hard fans who must own every piece of Albion based narrative. That’s certainly not to say that it looks bad (in fact it looks gloriously polished), but the Kinect based gameplay doesn’t feel at all engaging, and that’s a real shame.

 

Time for the (possibly soon to be yearly) section of the Eurogamer article that deals with series refreshing reboots, starting off with DmC. It’s somewhat ironic that the new ‘emo’ take on the character has caused moaning and whining from the community, but Ninja Theory have decided to give the iconic demon-slayer a more baddass attitude…probably for the best, seeing as even inanimate objects are coming for his soul. The quick demo available showed the traditional button mashing mix-up of acrobatic combos and school grade system scoring, whilst environments attempted to crush the young demon slayer in spectacular fashion, and tore apart at the seams in a bid to plummet him into endless nothingness. If fans have not been deterred by the refreshed protagonist, there’s something remarkably familiar, and yet aesthetically amazing about DmC that makes even me, a man severely disappointed with the likes of Devil May Cry 4, say that it’s one title to keep an eye on.

 

A more ‘Square One’ approach has been taken when it comes to the now hopeless Lara Croft, as a playable demo of Tomb Raider showed us just how much of a mess she is currently in. Stuck on an island infested with deadly pirates, horrid animals and ridiculously terrible weather conditions, it’s easy to see why the iconic adventurer’s younger self is so God damn terrified. Rather than focus on Lara’s plight in detail, the demo gave us an insight into just what she’d have to do to survive on her own. Parkour segments masterfully merged quick-time-events with traditional gameplay, forcing you to keep on your toes in the games’ most cinematic moments, and an encounter with an innocent deer proved just what Lara would have to do to survive. What did surprise me throughout my playthrough was just how much emphasis was put on that need for survival that went beyond simply swapping bullets. Finding a camp and food proved challenging enough, and with each attempt made to stay alive Lara grew in XP, hoping to improve skills as time goes by. Towards the end it seemed that I’d actually opened up some of the island that appears to be a free-roaming deadly pl
ayground, so I’m hoping that this constant fear of immediate death from ANYTHING in the area is kept up beyond the main storyline itself.

 

With the hankering for more maniac infested island exploring in mind, I headed straight for the Far Cry 3 booth. Although I had played this at Rezzed and had been impressed with the E3 demo it offered, I wanted to have a look into the open world magnificence of the game that’s bragging about madness overflowing from its brain. I wasn’t disappointed. Rather than being placed in a linear mission, I was free to roam the psycho infested island for as long as I was allowed to, and take in the sights, raid enemy camps or just tip over a few cars for the Hell of it. A ten minute trial of open-ended buffoonery was enough to excite me into just what I could get up to on the island(s), and appreciating the development of ‘Roads’ after attempting to drive on bare dirt. Even when I screwed up, it felt incredibly fun and my hype-o-meter is newly rejuvenated for this.

 

Although I had fun being isolated and stalked by the insane, I needed a good laugh afterwards. Enter The Cave, Ron Gilbert’s new pet project being worked on by the illustrious Double Fine. Strongly influenced by Gilbert’s first game Maniac Mansion, players take control of three bizarre entities of their choosing through an adventure in…a talking cave. Yes, it has that traditional Gilbert flair and it is very, very funny, mixing up traditional platforming with point-and-click elements. Good to play alone, but better to play with a friend, it’s an enjoyable side scrolling romp that will have players relying on each other’s brain power…and their inability to die. Really enjoyable stuff.

 

I wasn’t quite ready to head back into more gore infested parts of the show, so stopped off at Little Big Planet Karting, dubious about how Media Molecule would handle the jump into the racing genre. Answer? Very well indeed. The game felt like a conventional karting title, yet had all the cutesy flair of the series that brought it to life throughout and is certainly enjoyable to play. I just look forward to seeing how others use its assets to create their own tracks and karts…as well as holding out hope for Stephen Fry providing live commentary for each race…

 

Easing my way into more grown-up territory, Need for Speed: Most Wanted was next. In part, this felt very familiar to its predecessor Hot Pursuit, but the Criterion team seem to have matured somewhat. Taking Burnout Paradise as a blueprint for the new Fairhaven City, the game still includes Takedowns and violent car-smashing based gameplay. However, it felt a lot harder to drift, and the game doesn’t feel as arcade as previous entries from the Criterion team. Having to control a tamer beast than I’m used to initially put me off. However, a few minutes in, I was slaying opponents and massacring others in pure joy. It’s set to be brilliant, just don’t walk in thinking you’ll be epically good because you know how the developers construct their racing games…I may have been somewhat arrogant and done this myself but shut up…I won a T-shirt playing this game…

 

A not so surprising ‘Nothing much has changed because it doesn’t need to’ combo now. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is the racoon’s gateway onto this console generation, but looks exactly the same as its PS2 predecessors. With Sucker Punch not behind the wheel this time, that will most likely be a reassuring fact for fans of the series (however old they may be now), and it’s shaping up to be an enjoyable romp. Ratchet & Clank:Q-Force has also taken things back to basics, returning control to the Lombax in more traditional platforming fare. However, rather than being given expansive environments to explore, Q-Force is relying on a more tower defence mechanic this time around. From what I played, it was good, but I need to see more before I can judge whether it can carry a whole game.

 

‘Best looking game of the show’ was something of a no brainer this year. Ni-No-Kuni:Wrath of the White Witch is a traditional JRPG that combines the artistic talents of Professor Layton creators Level 5 with ‘Spirited Away’ masters Studio Ghibli. Sound good? It bloody is. The game looks absolutely stunning, and with a strong, if conventional RPG system, it’s certainly going to be a strong contender for best looking console game of this generation.

 

God of War:Ascension sees the return of Kratos doing what he does best, and for that reason I avoided the single player demo, knowing full well what to expect from it; epic epicness in the class of epic. Instead, I headed for new pastures, namely multi-player. The online component focused on the trials of the Trojans Vs. Spartans, and seemed to be a peculiar blend of Deathmatch and Capture the Flag, yet was pretty solid from what I saw. Bonuses were on offer, however, for the team that took advantage of GOW’s signature ploy; ridiculously gory executions. A towering Cyclops attempted to halt the match as players battled it out, and whoever could group up and slay the beast in insane fashion first got a huge bonus. It’s a good merging of what the series is known for with some new concepts and will certainly appeal to fans. It didn’t that much to me because I’ve never been much of a multi-player fan being a hermit and all, and an over enthusiastic rep was screaming at the top of his lungs every five seconds to the point where I was more focused on the blood coming out of my ears than gameplay.

 

Finally, it was time to take on the show’s highlight in terms of hardware: The Wii U. Approaching this with a team of 5, we set out to see just how well it could juggle multiple cretins at any one time. First up, a trial of Rayman Legends (a game that has now put me in a fury after learning it’s a Wii U exclusive…FOR NOW). As I took the main controller to control a dopey looking Globox, a pal took the fabled touch screen tablet to help me out. Origins had an incredibly strong platforming design, and it seems Legends will be following this trend. The same hardcore elements were trying to kill me at every turn, whilst my friend hovered a finger over collectables to double their value and morphing obstacles to help me on my way. There’s a large amount of co-operation need here, and without it, you’re both left dead in the water…a factor I think is going to play a large part in all of the consoles’ games, as proven with…

 

New Super Mario Bros. Wii U. An absolute powerhouse of madness, this game is hard enough to control with four players, let alone with a fifth supervising. With Touch Screen in hands, I was left trying to parent 4 sugar dosed ADHD inflicted characters on screen, attempting to build platforms to aid the others with a touch of the screen. My input however felt incredibly slight, as the levels seem to have been created without the touch screen in mind. The only reason why you’d need the extra aid is if no one was acting co-operatively, and that creates a weird paradox as then you yourself can’t adapt quick enough to help. It was…frustrating to say the least, and a complete juxtaposition from the Rayman Legends formula which proved that simplicity really is key. It’s certainly a strong bit of kit, and the graphics on the new Touch Screen tablet are really impressive, but I can’t help but feel the life of the console does not rely on its technical prowess, but rather how invent
ive developers will be with the core concept…and only time will tell.

 

So that’s all I got round to doing before collapsing on the floor and needing a quick boost of Pop tarts from a nearby candy stall. I now have to go and work like mad to afford a large amount of what was displayed at Earl’s Court last week. See you next year Eurogamer Expo!


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