E3: Review

Before I begin this article let me tell you a bit about myself.

Who am I?

My names Shaun Kellett, I’m a 21 year old gamer from Solihull, West Midlands. Technically, I’m an ideal target audience. I’m old enough to buy all the games and I’m old enough to be able to afford a lot of the games too.

So what do I play?

Well, I own all 3 seventh generation consoles and the 2 latest handholds, so surely I play everything? Well, not quite. If a game is multiplatform I buy it for the 360. I would buy 360 over the other consoles. Why? Simply because it’s my biggest collection, I like owning all my games on one console, plus all my friends play 360 so it’s likely to have the better online community for me, someone who doesn’t like talking to strangers. Down one from my 360 would be my PS3, played more often than my Wii. I own very few games for the PS3 and what games I do own are exclusives. I plan to own more over summer, titles such as Heavy Rain, God of War 3, Uncharted 2, and so on. Last but not least, my Wii, which I’ve played quite a bit but nowhere near. I can’t help but be disappointed with the Wii when it comes to third party help but they always succeed with their exclusives.

Why tell you all this?

I figure you need to know, you’re going to think “What makes his opinion different?”, “Where do his loyalties lie?” and most importantly, “Why should we listen to him?”. Truth is my loyalties probably do lie a little with Microsoft, but that’s because I use it most. I like to think I am opinionated but can offer an objective opinion, unlike a lot of fan boys out there. If you read my future reviews, you read my future articles, or you just read this E3 coverage you should know, I am always thinking about the game and the hardware; I am always fairly comparing it. There will be no ‘This is better on the 360 because...’ unless there’s a solid reason, there will also be no ‘PS3 is the better console because...’ unless, again, there is some reason that makes it so.

So, with no further a due, I am going to try and summarise my thoughts, my feelings, and my views of the E3 2010 Conferences into one article.

Its every gamers dream to attend E3

E3

E3 is a big, major, event for all gamers. As such its quite hard to cover in one article, there’s a lot I was impressed with and also a lot I was less impressed with. I’m going to try and focus on the individual conferences for each major developer. That means I won’t be mentioned the awful, awful laser tag from the Ubisoft conference, or any games displayed outside of the conference slots. Still, let’s see the highlights. (I've tried to include links to most of the new games and some links to Videos I think you should see, or just generally support my info!)

Microsoft - Xbox 360 and Kinect (Natal)

The biggest news from the Microsoft conference must have been the release of the new Xbox 360 250Gb, or an ‘Xbox 360 Slim’. There were rumours about its development and here it is, a smaller, edgier and apparently quieter console with a bigger hard drive and an in-built WiFi connection. It only took them how long to install this? While a big announcement its hard to be too excited about the new console. If you don’t already own a 360, now is the time to get one, but if you do then the chances are you wont be looking to upgrade too soon.

The second biggest news Microsoft had this year was actually a name change. Natal, Microsofts new motion sensor add-on, has been renamed Kinect. Obviously they’re going for ‘Kinetic’ ‘Connection’ and, whilst a clever name, it makes the system sound far too gimicy and, in my opinion, like a new brand of Lego toys.

While the name isn’t great the adapter actually is. The show went on to show that Kinect actually brings what Natal originally promised. The motion sensing appears solid and the games, while still just pointless mini-games, do appear to be a lot of fun. Ubisofts ‘Your Shape: Fitness Evolved’ looks to be a Wii Fit killer. If the on stage demo is to be believed, which obviously we assume it is, then Your Shape appears to deliver a whole new brand of fun fitness activities designed to keep up the pace and, hopefully, increase your fitness. One of the most impressive features, for me, was in the smaller touches. Kinect was able to determine height and body mass by watching the female presenter. It was truly impressive technology.

Alongside ‘Your Shape’ there were other games displayed. Sadly all appeared to be mini-games but I doubt anyone was expecting otherwise, due to the new software. There will be 15 launch titles all together and some titles with Kinect added features. It seems the games will have us riding rafts, dancing, and looking after virtual pets. The content may not be new, we may have seen it all before, but the way access the content is what is truly unique. Whats more is Kinect doesn’t just get used in game, it can be used to scroll menus by moving your hands, or by using your voice. Kinect hasn’t failed to impress me, despite its reasonably poor gameplay lineup. Kinect is something that is new, unique, and original, so it’ll be awhile before the truly great games are released. 2011, for example, we will see the arrival of a Lucas Arts partnership and ability to weild a Light Saber in almost virtual reality! (Though, in my opinion, this would have worked better with the Playstations: Move) (Video)

Kinectimals was just one of the Kinect exclusive games on show

Exclusives were also on Microsofts agenda, hosted by the gaming communities version of household names. People such as Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski and Lionheads Peter Molyneux took the stage to deal out some details on their next titles. While both Gears of War 3 and Fable 3 look to be impressive, nothing was as near anticipated as the release details of Kinect. Fans will have lapped up the Halo: Reach footage also on display, but it looks like just another Halo game but with added flying, to me. Perhaps more shocking in terms of games exclusivity was a Microsoft and Crytek deal, showing a new game ‘Codename: Kingdoms’ to release. While its still unsure what this will be, Crytek hasn’t fallen short yet, so it will be sure to be a big title.

Microsoft didn’t just hit us with exclusives though, in fact they opened up their conference with Call of Duty and followed it with Metal Gear Solid: Rising. While the latter does look literally breath taking, and the former is yet another Call of Duty game, I believe that these conferences should focus on Exclusivity and, stooping to selling Multiplatform games, isn’t exactly the way forward.

Microsoft Breakdown:

The Good:

• Kinect looks more awesome and impressive than ever.
• Details on Reach, Gears of War, Fable 3.
• A new exclusive Crytek game.
• The new Xbox 360 250 gb.

The Bad:

• No ‘real’ games as of yet for Kinect
• Time wasted on Multiplatform Titles

Nintendo

What to say about Nintendo?

Before E3 I had little time for my Wii. I was planning to get Mario Galaxy 2 sometime next week, but other than that I had no plans to touch it, and haven’t done, for almost a year. I thought the Wii was failing. It could no longer hold its own against the other two systems and, with Kinect and Move on the way, there was no place for it. I was wrong.

While Kinect blew me away at the Microsoft conference Nintendo just blew me away with software. Nintendo were the only company to talk purely exclusives. They didn’t have to stoop to games that were on other software, to beg you to buy them instead, but they had many, many first-party titles to wow and impressive. I was giddy with excitement and Reggie Fils-Aimes was ready to deliver the news in his usual, slightly intense, but enjoyable style. The Wii seems to be going back to its routes, doing what it did best, and appeasing the fans left right and center. There’s a new Donkey Kong Country, titled ‘Returns’ and there is a new Kirby game, Kirbys Epic Yarn, both of which look utterly fantastic and simply charming and both of which are, surprisingly, side scrollers. Its what Nintendo do best over and over again. I was also surprisingly impressed by the new Disney game, Epic Mickey, which, not only looked to be taking a new twist but is also being created by Deus Ex’s Warren Spector. The game saw Mickey ‘painting’ the environment to bring it back to life or using ‘thinner’ to delete things and even characters. It looks to be a darker gamer with some choices, just like Warren Spector is known for (Video)

Reggie was on top form like every year.

Perhaps the most impressive announcement for the Wii, by far, was the new details on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Miyamoto showed that, finally, Links sword moves 1:1 with the Wii remote, just as it should have done from Twilight Princess (Video). As a Zelda fan boy this is what grabbed my attention and this is where I began to drool. If that wasn’t enough my nostalgia buttons were also pressed by the announcement of a new, completely redone, Goldeneye. Only for the Wii. It was clear that Nintendos conference was designed at fans.

The biggest news for Nintendo were the details on the 3DS. (Video) Capable of delivering games in 3D on the move and without the need for graphics is certainly impressive, in fact I would be tempted to put it up there with Kinect. It was also specified that a slider could control the amount of 3D in a game, another impressive feature! There was little in the conference to show exactly how all this played out, but Twitter has been a-buzz with excitement from those who have had some time with it. I’m guessing it must be played to be believed. It debuted with a Kid Icarus game which, older fans, will probably be pleased to see. Its expected that the 3DS will have a lot of launch titles to support it.

Nintendo breakdown:

The Good:

• A lot of games coming out to appease the fans.
• Some SOLID titles on the Wii for a change
• Some third party games that actually look half decent
• The 3DS is sure to be an amazing piece of hardware with a lot of support.

The Bad:

• Unable to really tell what the 3DS is like

Sony

Last but not least came Sony. This was my least favourite conference. Many people will say I am biased towards Microsoft, but I feel my Nintendo coverage proves that I am willing to see things a tad more objectively.

Obviously Sonys big announcement were the Move details. It looks more responsive then Kinect and it will hit shelves sooner, and cheaper, than the Microsoft product. However, I think Move is a very ‘safe’ option. Kinect, I feel, delivers us something new and exciting whereas Move is merely an improvement on an existing games technology, the Wii-mote. That said, however, I think the Move has a lot of potential too. The game, Sorcery, looked great, but is sadly due a 2011 release. Another exclusive mentioned was ‘Heroes on the Move’, a game involving Jak, Daxter, Ratchett, Clank, Sly and Bentley; All of whom are well known names for the Playstation platform. Though the game looked little else than just slashing the Move around, it still looked quite a bit of fun.

The games people really wanted to see for the Move were also shown. SOCOM is going to have full move support, as is Killzone 3, both of which are pretty much are looking to be aweomse games. Most of all, however, most of them are going to be full games. Not gimicy party games, but full games. In line with this announcement older games will be patched for Move Support, included in which are Little Big Planet, Heavy Rain and, multiplatform game, Resident Evil 5. While I don’t think the Move seems as impressive as the Kinect in terms of Hardware they definitely have a better foundation of games to support the new controller.

Sony spent little time dealing with exclusives and, more so even than Microsoft, talked a lot about multiplatform games. Sony seemed to be trying to one-up the other consoles with ‘unique’ content which was only going to be in their version. It wasn’t impressive when Microsoft paid Rockstar, it’s not impressive now. Personally I’d rather see exclusives at these conferences, it’s the whole reason I watch. However, that being said Gabe Newell, of Valve fame, took the stage and went on the record to say that Portal 2 on the PS3 would be the best version and that the PS3 would be given plenty of Steams features (Video).

When Sony did talk exclusives they talked Little Big Planet 2, a title I think separates the PS3 from the other consoles. Little Big Planet let players create their own levels, Little Big Planet 2 aims to let players create their own games. The footage showed games developed within 24 hour periods, all of which looked unique, fun, and nothing like the original Little Big Planet. It definitely seemed to be taking creativity to a new level. (Video)

Sackboy is back to delight PS3 owners.

Hardware news, besides Move, Sony were heavy on the ‘3D’ capabilities of future games. There are already films out and a few games, James Camerons Avatar the game springs to mind, but Sony seem to be pushing to make it a norm. It does make you wonder though just how many people have, or in fact care, about stereoscopic televisions and, again, they used Multiplatform games, to show this off.

Other news from Sony involved a partnership with Coka-Cola, and a new PSP advertising campaign with ‘Marcus’ off of Rolemodels which, while funny, really wasn’t all that exciting (Video). Sony seemed to be fighting to change their ‘business’ look and become quirky and funny. I must admit, I enjoyed the presentation at their conference. Kevin Butler was a little cheesy but also enjoyable to watch in, what I think, might go down in E3 history. (Video) I am still left with the feeling that Sony try that little bit too hard though. It wasn’t as bad as the Ubisoft conference though but, obviously, I’m not mentioned just how cringe worthy that was.

Sony breakdown:

The Good:

• Move Support for Older titles.
• Move support for future titles.
• Valve are behind the PS3. That must stand for something. Actually that must stand for A LOT.
• 3D for many future games.

The Bad:

• Way, WAY too much time spent on Multiplatform Games.
• Move still hasn’t ‘wowed’ me.
• Almost Petty ‘one-up-ery’ on behalf of Sony against Microsoft.
• 3D is still very new. Not many people like the idea of A: Upgrading their TV’s to a stereoscopic one and B: playing games with 3D glasses on.

Break it down!

So there you have it. That’s my coverage and that’s my feedback. Its the longest game article I’ve written and there was a lot to say. I’ve missed out a lot of it because, well, I simply could waffle on for ages. I tried to restrict it to just the conferences, but my memory has become a little blurry so a few extra details might have slipped in and out. You’re probably going to think I’m bias and you’re probably going to disagree with me, but I don’t really mind. Personally I think every company really shone this year, everyone had something to show. I think the coming few years are going to be really strong for gaming companies.

Red Dead Redemption

N.B.: This review was written using a 360 version of the game and therefore cannot necessarily be applied to all other versions. As always reviews are subjective and the thoughts and feelings of the reviewer.

Red Dead Redemption is Rockstar Games’ spiritual successor to Red Dead Revolver in 2004. Over the course of its production the game has received a lot of a hype and a lot of backing from prospective fans, all hoping to see, what they thought was to be an amazing sandbox experience. Rockstar not only deliver on this promise but they take it ten steps further making Red Dead Redemption not only the best game you will have played this year but one of the best Sandbox games you will have ever played. Period.

The story of Red Dead Redemption is not your traditional quest for revenge. You fill the spurred boots of John Marston a man who is hunting down his old friends and comrades who, years previous, left him for dead. While initially this all sounds straight forward the game quickly reveals that he only does so due to his orders from the corrupt government who are currently holding his family members as prisoners. From the opening few cutscenes and the first few missions it is clear that Red Dead Redemption is going to keep you hooked in and it’s a trail well worth following. No story mission in Red Dead feels out of place, there’s the right amount of action missions, the right amount of escort missions, and the right amount of cattle ranching, to keep you playing on and on. While the story missions progress the main narrative you will run into 18 Stranger missions which present other stories within the world. These stories are much shorter but break up the game nicely, with the only criticism being they sometimes end a little unsatisfactorily.

The characters in Red Dead are befitting of the time and the story and they are all welcome guests in your tale. John Marston is one of the best new characters to grace our screens. He is the archetypal outlaw cowboy, morally ambiguous and mysterious, but above all else, he feels real. This is something shared with all the characters throughout the game. While still keeping with Rockstars usual style, of being slightly over the top and characterized, all the characters you meet feel like real people, they act and talk how you would expect and never break character. Red Dead Redemption deserves top marks for its story and characters alone before even beginning to mention the gameplay.

Keeping in sync with the story and its motley posse the sound and the graphics also befit the time and place of Red Dead. The characters are all voiced superbly and believably and each weapon sounds exactly as it should. Each explosion and each animal call also blend in seamlessly. The graphics of Red Dead are not the most attractive up close, but when surveying the land from the back of your horse you are still sure to be amazed. Where Red Dead really shines is, again, with its characters. Their interesting scripts and superb voice acting would be hampered if it wasn’t their superb graphical design. Each character you meet looks unique and distinguishable but they all fit nicely into the western scenario. No characters you meet through a sandbox game really stick out in memory as much as the gang from Red Dead Redemption. Along with the characters all the animals, from the horses to the birds, look and act just as you would expect.

Enter John Marston, Rock Stars best character to date.

The gameplay in Red Dead is as you would expect from a Rockstar game. There’s an assortment of action, freeroaming and mini games to entertain yourself with. There is plenty going on to keep you busy. You can progress with the story at your own pace, either quickly trekking through the narrative or meandering through stranger missions or jobs. Among the jobs are bounty hunter missions and horsebreaking tasks, to earn extra income.

Red Dead handles superbly. The gunplay provides the right amount of difficulty, making it occasionally too easy but always enjoyable. There is also the ‘Dead Eye’ mode, allowing you to slow down time and select your targets, adding to your cool gunslinger look. Controlling the horses is well designed and for the first time you will actually feel an emotional bond to your mode of transport.

Red Dead also houses a multiplayer mode, similar to that of Grand Theft Auto previous, however this time it’s a little different and a lot improved. You now have the option to free-roam, forming a posse with your friends and doing different side quests. If this wasn’t enough you’re also able to enter different death match and team based games, which separate a part of the map for you to shoot your way through. The multiplayer also has some challenges for you to meet to increase your level which in turn allow you to change your character and your mode of transport. Whether you’re into roaming around with friends, or slaughtering strangers online, the multiplayer will have you hooked.

While not the biggest Game Map, definitely one of the most epic

Red Dead Redemption does have a few nameable flaws, an obvious one being its hefty supply of glitches. Though Rockstar are said to be releasing a patch in the coming weeks at the time of writing Red Dead Redemption has almost as many glitches as it does people. None of these glitches are truly game altering though. On a few rare occasions missions may be failed because of them but overall they serve to be humorous rather than annoying.

There’s also an issue with the money. As with many freeroaming games the use of money in Red Dead can feel slightly redundant. If you balance your jobs, your missions, and your looting you are rarely out of cash. You can hunt and skin animals, providing additional income, and there are hidden chests across the world. At times it would be nice to have something extra to buy besides stock up on ammo you don’t often need or buying a new horse simply for a change.

There’s also a problem when it comes to Jobs you’ll do for the mission. While at first they seem unique and open a lot of tasks begin to repeat themselves. After about the third guy in an hour asks for a lift back to town, you begin to know that these guys are just going to take your horse. It would be better, and not too unrealistic, for Rockstar have made a few different interactions whilst you’re out and about, and a maybe a few extra jobs to while away your free time.

With all this being said, however, Red Dead Redemption really is an incredible game experience. Whether its the near perfect story and characters, the multiplayer and free roam, or just its sheer epicness that draws you in. Quite often it will be too easy to a seasoned gamer, and if you plow through the story it will be gone all too soon. However if you treat it right, and juggle the sidequests, the free roam, and the missions you’re bound to have an unforgettable experience.

Authors Comment:
At the time of writing this Red Dead Redemption has been my most played 360 game. I have racked up over 50 hours worth of gameplay time and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I can’t sell this game enough. While I don’t think its flawless, and there’s some bits I really think Rockstar missed out on, it is still my favourite game of 2010.