OXCGN – Breathing Life Into Gaming

by GrathiusXR

© 2010 Arthur Kotsopoulos

I’m a full-on gamer so when it comes to sequels and gaming events I usually get worried that I’m easily sucked into the hype bandwagon that ultimately ruins any hope I have for enjoying a title. It happened with GTAIV, it happened with Gears of War 2, Fable II and I feel it will surely happen with E3 2010.

E3 2009 returned to form with booth babes, all out advertising and no holds barred gaming mascots walking the floor, but still I feel that E3 2010 will follow the same trend as EPIC’s Gears of War 2. It will be bigger and better than its predecessor but will ultimately fail to live up to its own hype.

So, will it deliver?

That’s not to say it won’t give gamers what they want though!

Yes it will be filled with everything E3 2009 had and more but too much of one thing surely can’t be good right? E3 2010 is full of sequels much more than last year and as of late I’m not really impressed with many sequels that have made their way to my console.

Yes Assassins Creed 2 performed, but it felt like it was missing something. Splinter Cell: Conviction, after so many years of delay, finally produced but to me it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping it’d be. Guitar Hero = meh, Modern Warfare 2- well that was a real 50/50 game with great scripted moments but a storyline and multiplayer that were a shamble, and Left 4 Dead 2 which, while a nice surprise, wasn’t exactly revolutionary.

Last years fare weathered the storm.

The standouts from last year though were games such as Alan Wake, which now that I’ve finished, is a game that was well worth the wait, and has that great replay value which upon playing again will uncover more truth of the story.

Batman: Arkham Asylum was for any Batman fan and it was a great adventurious game, regardless of the repetition found in those walls of Arkham Asylum. And of course there was Mass Effect 2. Well, despite being a sequel, I don’t think needs any more praise it was that good. Brutal Legend which was an absolute cracker of an original game.

The Metal soundtrack, the characters, the creatures, the epic trailers and the comedy was pure gold. It was a shame that the gameplay wasn’t what everyone was expecting btu overall as a new IP that had been in the works for quite some time Double Fine delivered a metal game that I feel needs a sequel.

E3 2009 had that balance that I feel is missing from E3 2010. Last year we had some great sequels everyone had been waiting to get their hands on, like Uncharted 2 and God of War 3 for the PS3 and new IP’s such as Alan Wake, Homefront, Batman:AA and so forth.

E3 2010 games: mostly deja vu?

What I feel really hurts E3 2010 is the fact that most titles that were shown last year that haven’t been released are back again this year. There’s plenty of games that we’ve seen too much of already and there’s not enough of the games we’ve seen nothing of, unless of course there are some surprises.

Halo: Reach had the BETA and already a few developer diaries so Single Player is the only thing on show and it needs to be BIG to impress! Little Big Planet 2 already had a debut trailer but it’s more of LBP with the ability to make games within games. CoD: Black Ops well we haven’t seen anything outside of a trailer but we ultimately know that its going to be the usual Activison Kick Ass shooter.

Gears of War 3, well I’ll take whatever is said about it with a grain of salt after Gears of War 2. Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock no thank you, Fable III is just Fable II but this time around you are the King of Albion so more of the same but just more power to do anything you want, and Killzone 3 will be virtually the same as Killzone 2 but with many improvements.

As compared to last year there are only a few stand out games that I’m interesting in finding out more information on. Vanquish, Brink, Bulletstorm, Batman: Arkham Asylum 2, Red Faction 4, Half Life: Episode 3 OR Half Life 3 or something in the Half Life Universe (If the recent buzz points towards anything), and maybe the next Deus Ex. Off the top of my head those are the only titles that I want more information on. There are some titles that regardless of what gameplay is shown or information is divulged I know I’m going to buy them, so don’t need a show for them.

To be honest, I’m already looking forward to E3 2011.

It most certainly won’t be dominated by sequels. All the sequels and trilogies will be out the door this year and next year will be a flood of new IP’s and a few sequels that I’m more excited about that the latest Halo, Killzone, Gears or Fable.

But I’ll say this again, E3 2010 will deliver the goods but in terms of any wow factor or high levels of excitement as compared to E3 2009 it just won’t be there. I know what to expect and I know exactly when to expect it.

(2IC’s comment: I feel a bit the same, but I’m still hoping to see the unexpected, like say the next Elder Scrolls.  I’m also very curious about Natal and Move and if they really do offer anything different to Wii. I have to say, though, I’m very sore that Eidos is focusing on Deus Ex and apparently not bringing Thief 4 to E3!)

© 2010 Arthur Kotsopoulos

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Filed under: Console gaming, Demo impressions, E3 2010, Editorial, Events, Game Impressions, GameBanter, Microsoft Games, New Game Information, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 News Tagged: | Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Batman Arkham Asylum 2, Bulletstorm, Call Of Duty Black Ops, Deus Ex, Deus Ex 3, E3 2010, electronic entertainment expo, Fable 3, fable III, gears 3, Gears of War 3, GTA 4, GTA IV, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, Half Life 3, Killzone 3, R.U.S.E, Red Faction 4, Tom Clancy's GHOST Recon Future Soldier, Uncharted 3, Vanquish