OXCGN’s Gamescom Report
EA: Es ist im Spiel!
by Chris Fox
©2012 Chris Fox
OXCGN staff writer Chris Fox files his reports on Gamescon continuing with EA’s offerings.
EA, not to be outdone, opened their press conference with…
A load of games!
Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel
A big Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel trailer kicked things off with a very literal bang.
Powered by Frostbite 2, environments were crashing down all over the place as a live co-op demo was shown. ‘Overkill’ rewards players for working together and racking up kills. Once engaged, even more damage can be done, if you can believe that.
Alpha and Bravo are the names our heroes and we saw them ignite their way through enemy territory featuring gratuitous door breach and helicopter sections. Frostbite also has uses other than pure destruction like creating pathways with environment for the other player.
The Devil’s Cartel releases March 2013.
NHL 13
Dean Richards (developer for the NHL franchise) skated onto the stage in full hockey gear next and challenged Peter Moore to a fight.
No, seriously.
Moore scampered away quickly after that. NHL 13 features GM connected. Through this mode, 750 people can play in their unique 30 team dynasty.
Upcoming smartphone apps also let you carry the experience with you, obviously.
Finally, the True Performance Skating Engine drastically changes how players move and increases authenticity.
… Wow, I really just wrote a whole paragraph about hockey. Grab NHL 13 on September 13 2012.
Need For Speed Most Wanted
To create a truly accessible experience in this latest Need For Speed, all cars are unlocked from the start. This gives the player the freedom to drive any car they want in the same way they have the freedom to explore the open world of Fair Haven.
We were promised that the first hour of play in Most Wanted will be unique to every single player. Not wanting to be left out, the title features Auto Log 2. Auto Log 2 tracks your performance and compares them to your friend’s.
For instance, if they drive the furthest after smashing through an in game billboard, their face will then be displayed on that billboard until someone else tops that score.
Cloud complete continues the Most Wanted experience through, surprise surprise, smart phones. It is so easy to drive up to a car and switch to it instantly or start an event competing against our friend’s high scores. Everything is so fast in Most Wanted, and not just the racing.
The whole experience looks highly polished and you can grab it on November 1st.
Meal of Honor: Warfighter
In the latest addition to the Medal of Honor franchise, gamers can, for the first time, represent their own nations online.
Almost every country represented featuring many different classes resulting in hundreds of possible match ups.
Very exciting news for residents of Russia who have always wanted to take on the Jamaican army, no doubt.
The pre-order bonus for Warfighter was revealed to be access to the Battlefield 4 beta. You can become the soldier of your choosing on October 23rd, 2012.
The Simpsons: Tapped Out
The Simpsons: Tapped Out is a free-to-play game featuring micro transactions which is making its return to the App Store.
Springfield is destroyed by a nuclear meltdown caused by Homer’s incompetence,and you must rebuild it to earn XP in much the same way as titles like Snoopy’s Street Fair.
This title is available in Germany as you read this.
SimCity
The new SimCity allows players to choose their own economic structure. Want a Vegas style party city? You got it.
Fancy your own University town? Academic.
Powered by the Glassbox Engine, SimCity promises to deliver a deep single player experience but one that’s always connected to other players through SimCity World. Your city will affect the economy of this connected world.
SimCity fans have been waiting a long time for this and it looks like the wait has been worth it. SimCity arrives in February of 2013 to PC and Mac.
Crysis 3
A live demo of the very exciting Hunter Mode was shown to the audience as well as all of us at home in their pajamas next. Hunter mode features two teams: Cel Troopers vs Hunters (who wear Nanosuits and are armed only with bows).
Hunters must prevent Cel Troopers from evacuating the area. Every time a Cel Trooper gets killed, they respawn as a Hunter. It’s good old virus mode from Time Splitters 2!
Following the live demo came an exciting trailer, also based on Hunter Mode. This mode and the game as a whole look incredible.
I’m absolutely stoked for Crysis 3. If you can’t either, mark February 2013 on your calendar.
Dead Space 3
Jesse Abney from Visceral showed us new locations in which our old friend Isaac can get his limbs torn off in. We were reminded of seamless drop in/drop out co-op play and we were told for the first time about weapon crafting through finding raw parts and scrap in the game.
It sounds a hell of a lot better than the upgrade system we’ve seen before, with new flexibility such as a rivet gun being combined with a grenade launcher. The real question: can Isaac duct tape a pulse rifle to a flame thrower?
The live demo began with Isaac mingling with a new crew. All of a sudden, their cabin loses pressure and Issac’s team are sucked out into cold, dark space. With the gravity gone, Isaac could then walk on the walls and ceilings before leaping out into space to catch up with his helmet.
Isaac’s luck doesn’t improve at all in Dead Space 3, then. As Issac flew through space, avoided debris and entering a planet’s atmosphere, my fears that Dead Space, like Resident Evil before it, has fully crossed over into the action genre have pretty much been confirmed.
Nevertheless, we’ll see if this really is the case in February 2013.
FIFA 13
FIFA’s highly successful Ultimate Team will return – building and managing teams in the game’s own social eco system of connection and competition is improved this time around.
Since Ultimate Team began, Fifans have spent 92 Billion coins, made 30 million trades and played 380 million games. And you guessed it, Ultimate Team will be accessible on your phone.
A new first touch control system, attacking intelligence and complete dribbling mean that this pro soccer game continues to evolve. Match Day mode parallels the real world season i.e real world injuries and fixtures will be reflected in the game.
Get your next FIFA fix in September 2012.
OXCGN at Gamescom
Stay tuned to OXCGN for even more Gamescom coverage!
Make sure to check out our other coverage, listed below.
Gamescom
- OXCGN’s Capcom Report – Read More
- OXCGN’s EA Report -Read More
- Sony – EUvita! OXCGN’s Gamescom Report – Read More
©2012 Chris Fox
Filed under: 1st Party Titles, 3DS, 3rd Party Games, Console gaming, Demo impressions, Game Impressions, Game Industry News, Gamescom, Gamescom 2012, Gaming Videos, Handhelds, Hardware News, Industry News, Microsoft Games, Mobile Gaming, New Game Information, New PS3 Games, New Xbox 360 Games, PC News, PC Previews, Press Release, PS3 Game Previews, PS3 News, PSVita, Racing, Software News & Updates, XBLA News-Reviews, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 3rd Party Games, Xbox 360 Game Previews, Xbox 360 News, Xbox 3rd party exclusives Tagged: | Army of two the devils cartel, crysis, Crysis 3, Dead Space, Dead Space 3, Electronic Arts, February 2013, FIFA, Fifa 13, fifa 2013, Frostbite, Isaac, medal of honor 2, medal of honor war fighter, Medal of Honor Warfighter, Most Wanted, need for speed, Need For Speed: Most Wanted, new army of two, new sim city, new simcity, nfl 2013, nhl 13, sim city, SimCIty, the simpsons tapped out, the simpsons: tapped outt
