by AXIS_of_Reality
©2010 Alex Baldwin:
Onto #2 of our publisher recaps, having a look at each of the games Activision was showing.
This is a discussion of our impressions and thoughts on the games instead of specs or features lists, as we know how difficult it can be to gauge exactly how good or shaky a game is looking at E3 amongst the marketing talk.
This only discusses the games we either played, or went behind closed doors for a media session. Luckily this covers almost all significant Xbox 360 games.
Once again, the game we felt most positive about from each publisher receives the OXCGN Green Light award.
So, onto Activision’s lineup:
Call Of Duty: Black Ops
What we got: Developer-controlled singleplayer gameplay demo
Thoughts: Honestly, none of us could muster up much excitement after this demo. What we saw felt a lot like deleted scenes from Modern Warfare, and seemed to go through the Call of Duty motions with little to get excited about.
While the helicopter segment looked fun, the obligatory stealth section was exactly what we’ve seen before in Modern Warfare 1 and 2, the gunfights felt all-too-familiar and we all walked out the session at the end feeling completely neutral.
It will probably still be another good Call of Duty game, but with the emphasis on ‘another’.
DJ Hero 2
What we got: Developer-controlled multiplayer gameplay demo, and hands-on
Thoughts: Personally, I’m not really into the rhythm-action genre, but DJ Hero 2 did spike my interest.
The new additions seemed solid, the music well-chosen as always and the developers very glad to have been given the opportunity for a sequel.
It’s very difficult to demonstrate the appeal of rhythm-action games, and perhaps a better method would have been to simply have demo pods for anyone to try, but it’s looking good.
True Crime: Hong Kong
What we got: Developer-controlled singleplayer gameplay demo
OXCGN’s Green Light Award
Thoughts: These guys are serous about kicking the franchise back into the spotlight. New developers have taken over, and look to be on-track to provide a great open-world crime game in the interesting setting of Hong Kong.
While the gunplay mechanics need a bit more polish, the driving and hand-to-hand fighting looked suitably entertaining while the green, red and brown colour palette gave it a great look.
The executions were also unexpectedly brutal along with the frequent (perhaps unnecessary) language that may need to be toned down to get through Australia’s censors.
Looking very promising, and the highlight of Activision’s slightly lackluster showing this year.
Overall Activision Thoughts
A bit disappointing this year. True Crime was interesting, but other than that Activision provided nothing to really pique our interest; perhaps the reason they did not have an open show hall exhibit but instead used small private rooms and pre-E3 party.
©2010 Alex Baldwin:
xxxxxx
Filed under: 1st Party Titles, 3rd Party Games, Console gaming, E3 2010, Editorial, Events, Game Impressions, Game Industry News, GameBanter, Industry News, New Game Information, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 3rd Party Games, Xbox 360 News Tagged: | Activision, Call Of Duty Black Ops, DJ Hero 2, E3, Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010, True Crime Hong Kong
