For the past five years I have taken all three days at E3 to carefully analyze as many games as possible. This year, because of a number of factors, I only spent a single day. While this meant that I spent less hands-on time than I would have liked, I did get to see and try many huge titles. So rather than compile a day-by-day post, I am compiling both my thoughts about everything I saw at the show. This list is not comprehensive. I have limited it to games that I either managed to try at E3 or ones where I received some sort of gameplay-related demonstration. I made an exception for Fallout 4 and Doom, since the amount of “gameplay” they showed in their presentations is enough to start formulating opinions, but I didn’t manage to get to a number of major titles (i.e. Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate).
THE DIVISION I started my day with the one game that I believe I needed to play. Ever since its presentation last year, I was 100% sold on this game. Then, the total disaster of a presentation this year threw me on the fence. Forget preordering (something I have sworn off doing), I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to get this game anymore. I didn’t want to be stabbed in the back every time I walked through the world. I am a very anti-social gamer, so those games where I feel I need to have human teammates to survive are games that I avoid like the plague. This is especially true if my human teammates can stab me in the back at any opportunity. My faith was restored upon playing their demo. The dev team had us play through the same PvP scenario they showed in this year’s demonstration. While that still leaves me questioning the story present in this game, I at least know that the general idea will be much more interesting and potentially complex than Destiny. The dev team assured me that the only PvP areas in the game were the “dark zones”, and while the most powerful items were locked behind those dangerous walls, they were not a required part of the game. The gunplay was smooth, even if the guns did feel a bit underpowered. The powers were unique and relatively easy to manage. The only downside was the cover system in the game, which I hope they fix before launch. I’m used to the “Gears of War” style system where you click A to attach to a wall, press forward and A to vault it. But for some reason in this game you hold A to attach to the wall, then press B to vault it. It felt unnatural. But I had a great time playing it, so it’s back on my “yes” list. RAINBOW SIX: SIEGE The shooter that showed so much promise last year has systematically chipped away at its awesomeness until I’m left with almost complete apathy. It won a lot of points with me for bringing back terrorist hunts from the Vegas games (something I spent far too many hours playing), but as I expected the destruction in the game has been turned down significantly. The cartoonish character titles they have been promoting has made me think of this less as a “terrorist-hunt, breach-and-clear simulator” and more of a slower Counter Strike clone. The destructibility is still awesome, but I found fewer places to use it in the level we played. There was a lot of concrete and few walls to shoot through. I think I’ll enjoy this game a lot more than Evolve, but I’m not nearly as excited as I was last year. RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER In a year when Lara is competing for attention with Nathan Drake, I don’t think Tomb Raider really brought enough to the table. I definitely enjoyed the previous game, so I expect to enjoy this one as well, but I never felt like there was enough of a hook to compel me to pick this game over Uncharted 4. And that’s not even beginning to discuss the other, big-name action/adventure games like Assassin’s Creed. I have no doubt that I’ll play this game eventually, but it’s not high on my list. STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT Given that this game was developed on the Frostbite engine, it should come as no surprise that it feels a lot like Battlefield 4. While infantry combat has never been the main focus in Battlefield, Battlefront seems to have improved upon the formula significantly. I played the split-screen PS4 coop map on Tatooine and enjoyed fighting the AI. It was difficult but a lot of fun. I am extremely disappointed that space maps won’t be making an appearance in this game, but hopefully that shows up in a DLC later down the road. It would be a shame to miss out on the space combat from Battlefront 2. PLANTS VS ZOMBIES: GARDEN WARFARE 2 The original Garden Warfare was a disappointment on so many levels for me. I so desperately wanted split screen and bought an Xbox One copy just to make sure that I had it. Then I find out that the second player can’t use their own account, they have to use a guest account that only has player 1’s unlocks. So if you haven’t unlocked everything, your guest will be stuck using the same classes as you. It was heartbreaking, and ultimately enough to make me stop playing the game. The devs of Garden Warfare 2 have fixed all of that. All modes can be played on split-screen, both players can use their own account and have their own progression, unlocks from the first game can come up into the second game. I played an abbreviated horde mode for this game and loved playing the Imp. Calling in his Titan and then nuclear ejecting to kill the boss creature was almost as much fun as it is in Titanfall. UNRAVEL If you can get over the obvious visual and gameplay comparisons to Little Big Planet, this game has a ton of potential. The graphics look great, the story is interesting, and most of the time the gameplay was fun. It’s a simple indie title with the graphics of a AAA adventure game. Hopefully the developers have enough time to iron out the difficulty spikes (I was unable to finish the demo because I got stuck in an area), but I expect this to be entertaining for a smaller title. That being said, it made me want to pick up the Little Big Planet games first. Somehow I have completely neglected that series. NEED FOR SPEED Why are there so many “reboots”? Do developers know how annoying it is to have to distinguish between The Need for Speed and Need for Speed? Or how about Medal of Honor and Medal of Honor (2010)? If something is going to be an HD remake, giving it the same name is fine. But if it’s going to be a new game in the vein of the original title, give it an original name. Like Wolfenstein: The New Order. It’s a lot less complicated to keep track of what you’re talking about. This is especially true when you title a game the same as the franchise. When I talk about Need for Speed, I’m now going to have to add on “the game” every time I say its name (or just give it a different name like “New Need for Speed). That aside, I’m pretty excited for this. This is basically Underground 3 (which is what they should have called it, the cowards). I love the customization, the car selection, the setting, and the open-world feel to it all. If it’s even half as ambitious as the demo indicated, I’m expecting to have a good time. GEARS OF WAR: ULTIMATE EDITION My team might have lost our TDM match at E3, but it felt really good to retake control of Carmine and carve up some locust with my lancer. There’s really nothing else that needs to be said. This will be a must-buy for me. If you played the original Xbox 360 version, you should be aware that this version includes the PC-exclusive chapters. They’re both short, but very entertaining. In one you get to kill the Brumak that chases you away from the Fenix estate. (I talked with Rod Fergusson right before watching Tomb Raider, he verified that these chapters would be included). FORZA 6 Having played very little Forza, I can’t say for sure whether this is a significant improvement from Forza 5. I was disappointed by the lack of tracks in that title, since races tended to get extremely repetitive very quickly. If this one has more tracks, I’d consider buying it. But I tend to gravitate more to arcade racing games like Need for Speed over the realistic ones like Forza. XCOM 2 In Enemy Unknown, I created a task force of just my friends and had them go out to save the world. I made sure to keep every one of them alive. While I am disappointed to see that we failed at our assignment to save the world, I think it’s a step in the right direction for gameplay. I can’t wait to remake my team and send them out to take on this new alien threat. FALLOUT 4 While this game’s announcement wasn’t entirely unexpected, the sheer amount of content in this game is unbelievable. The potential for greatness here is crazy. Armor customization, the ability to build and defend your own towns, fully voiced main characters of either gender. I am really excited for this game. THAT BEING SAID, I am certain the launch of this game is going to be horrendous. The amount of different content present significantly increases the amount of game-breaking bugs that will make it through the QA filters. I would not be surprised if this game remained unplayable for months after launch. DOOM I wanted so badly to get a chance to test this game out, but as usual Bethesda hid it behind closed doors. Still, compared to the disappointment that was Doom 3, Reboot Doom brought down the house this year. Hardcore “fans” can complain about the potentially linear level design all they want, the modding tools built into every copy of this game, regardless of platform, are far more powerful and have far more potential than anything the designers could come up with on their own. This game has all of the potential of Unreal Tournament 4, but with a much wider potential user base. I can’t wait to see what people come up with for this game. ROCK BAND 4 I played one song on expert bass and fell right back into the groove. I have missed the good times I had with this series. It felt a lot like Rock Band 2. If I can keep my songs from the previous Rock Band titles, I’m 100% sold. If not, I’ll get it eventually, but maybe not right away. MAD MAX I finished off my time at E3 with what I considered to be a complete wild card. I saw a theater demonstration of Mad Max two years ago. While it was interesting then, I was very curious to see how the game played. Like The Division, I considered this gameplay experience to be a “make or break” for whether or not I would end up buying the full game. And, like The Division, the game did more than enough to convince me to jump on board. The driving is relatively smooth and the chase sequences are exciting enough to get me into the groove. It may not be as interesting as Assassin’s Creed’s naval combat, but the little twists and turns present in the vehicular carnage make this a fairly interesting game. The customization looks cool on the surface, but I didn’t have the opportunity to upgrade very much. It won’t be as expansive as Need for Speed’s but it should be good enough to make the car feel personal. My limited time with the hand-to-hand combat of the game felt good overall but perhaps a tad oversimplified. I may have been fighting the most basic enemies, but after playing Assassin’s Creed and the Batman games this felt far too easy. And while I would rather have that than an unfairly difficult game, it did make me wonder whether this game’s story would make it interesting enough to venture on foot through enemy territory. I will definitely get this game, but exactly when remains to be determined. A lot of it will ride on how smooth the launch of the game is, and whether this company can produce a viable PC launch. I would definitely consider playing this game on a console, but it would delay when I get the game.
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The Legendary Carmine
Andrew Clayton (a.k.a. The Legendary Carmine) is SSG's Executive Editor. He toils at the stone to make sure this site brings its readers valuable content on a daily basis. Like what we do? Want to see more? Donate to the site using the button below!
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