So, how does one follow a busy first day at E3, the biggest gaming and electronics show in the world? Doing even more on day two.
Today started with a personal visit with Venom Snake, the lead protagonist of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Big Boss is back and he’s pissed, having survived the end of Ground Zeroes by spending nine years in a coma. I watched gameplay footage that included a Revolver Ocelot that more closely resembles the man we first met in 1998’s Metal Gear Solid.
The new features for The Phantom Pain are spectacular, and the Fulton system is back from Peace Walker. This time, anything can be sent to mother base, like goats, jeeps, even huge storage containers. The footage I saw was running in 1080p at 60fps and the switch from cut-scene to gameplay was seamless. This is the game to watch out for.
After Konami showed me The Phantom Pain, I stepped next door for an exclusive peak at the new Kraken monster in Turtle Rock Studios’ new hunting game, Evolve. The Kraken is glorious, with hints of Cthulhu peeking out of its later iterations. Turtle Rock even showed off new character builds from the hunters. Evolve is shaping up to be one of the best games of this show, and it is warranted.
After two mega-dark adult themed games, my next appointment had me trying out Sega’s Sonic Boom for the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS. Sonic Boom on the Wii U is an action/adventure, whereas the 3DS game is more of a side-scroller — or in Sonic’s case, a Side-roller — and it feels like classic Sonic games.
The Wii U version has combat and puzzle solving, and the gamepad is used in some unique ways. My time with both games was short — only a level — but I got a good feel, and Sonic Fans will be pleased later this year when the blue hedgehog returns to retail.
Next up was one of my most-anticipated games, Alien: Isolation. Here, I got to see new footage from the campaign, and I was also allowed to partake in the new challenge mode, which is ridiculously challenging. In the campaign, you play as Ellen Ripley’s daughter, who is trying to survive being trapped with one singular xenomorph.
The art direction is taken directly from the 1979 Ridley Scott film, and even the computers and technology looks like it came from the Nostromo. Is it scary, you ask? Yes. Very. And not cheap jump shots, either. There is a sense of dread as you realize that you are being hunted, and that feeling is ramped up in the challenge mode, where you are given a task, like, find the exit, and then set into a very small space with the creature. The time is ticking and you have to realize that you cannot kill this alien. You can only run and try to outsmart it. And I was terrified as I was killed over and over, never in the same way or in the same place, which tells me the game’s AI is running hot. Alien: Isolation is the game fans have been asking for.
After having my wits and nerve endings frayed by an alien, I sat down to see new footage and gameplay from Deep Silver’s Homefront: The Revolution. This sequel to Homefront picks up the fight between American patriots and the occupying North Koreans.
The Revolution takes place four years after the first game, and this time is centered in Philadelphia. The game follows a group of guerilla fighters as they take the fight to the KPA (Korean People’s Army). The Revolution looks great and Deep Silver has done a wonderful job salvaging a game that was sinking with it’s previous publisher, the now-defunct THQ.
Next up was Dead Island 2. I don’t want to spend a lot of time talking about this game, as we were shown a build from last year, complete with outdated characters, plots, and even technology. The developer that showed us the footage was very apologetic and spoke a bunch on what will be coming, but I won’t judge a game on old footage.
Dead Island 2 — if the promises are delivered — could be a great game, taking the zombie battle from an isolated island and moving it to mainland California. Why are they still calling it Dead Island? Maybe that too will change before the game hits in 2015.
My last game of day two was by far the most impressive. Not the best, mind you, but most impressive. And that game was Batman: Arkham Knight. Rocksteady took me through some extensive gameplay that was Batmobile heavy and that was the point. The Batmobile is your partner in this game. It can move Batman around Gotham, it can fight with him and even work in some insane combo attacks. It can launch him high into the dark Gotham night, and it can switch to tank mode and engage in vehicular combat. The additions that I saw will make this the best Arkham Game yet, and let me tell you, that 1080p and 60fps, with new-gen graphics make this one of the best looking games I’ve seen at E3 this year.
Tomorrow wraps up the expo, and my day is the lightest of the three. I’m working on a few things that might come to fruition, but I won’t know until I get to the Los Angeles Convention Center tomorrow morning. Regardless, my final report will hit tomorrow night. Check back again to see what else is new.
