Top 10 Multiplatform Titles @ E3 ’08
Titles we know that are coming to the 360 and other platforms
©2006-2008 XboxOZ360-gamer – Aaron Bertinelli
By TWODOGSz
In a sign of how strong the lineups are at this year’s E3, we’re as equally excited about the multiplatform titles as the 360 confirmed and unconfirmed exclusive. What’s so promising compared to previous years is the dominance of new IP’s and reinvented franchises. There are still plenty of exciting sequels, but it’s heartening to see so many developers taking creative and financial risks with their future titles.
So come, join up, sign in, login and generally let us know what you think in the comments below and join us this E3 ’08 as we celebrate our first Electronics Entertainment Exposition with you our loyal readers.
Don’t forget to slip over to our E3’08 Video News Page and check some excellent E3 Game Videos out while you’re here.
We hope all gamers on all platforms enjoy this particular look into the XboxOZ360-gamers crystal ball . . .
10. Dead Space
“`Influenced by two films in particular, Event Horizon and Alien, this title looks absolutely terrifying and the most gruesomely horrific game EA have ever dared to develop. Strategic dismemberment, mutated humans, and an overwhelming darkness of silent isolation leaves the player with only his nerve and his self crafted industrial tools as weapons.
“`It’s already abundantly clear that this is one title to keep well and truly away from the kids… and anybody with weak hearts! If this title goes on stage at E3 and scares the bejesus out of us, we’ll be first in line for the adult diapers and the game upon its October release. This game is shaping up tp be a real sleeper and will catch many by surprise. Not only for its gameplay, but for the sheer atmosphere, or should that be atmos-fear.
In fact we’re getting goose bumps just thinking about it!
9. Prince of Persia
The Prince is back. And much like the critically acclaimed Sands of Time, Ubisoft intends to reinvent the franchise yet again. Despite a bold new “illustrative” art style that mixes highly detailed animations with concept art, along with a story steeped in Persian mythology, the franchise is essentially going back to it’s roots.
Exploration, puzzle solving, and acrobatics have become far more prominent in a multi-path open world that utilises an enhanced version of Assassins Creed’s engine whilst evolving dynamically to a player’s actions. Combat has also been stripped back to be purely dual-based, with the player and an AI sidekick named Elika going two-on-one with far more intelligent and difficult individual enemies that will allegedly utilise the environment to their advantage.
As great lovers of the Xbox trilogy we have high hopes for this title, but we need E3 to remove the reservations we have about an accompanying AI support character and the simplification of combat and puzzle solving to context sensitive buttons (read “quicktime events”).
Don’t get us wrong, it’s great that the Prince is back, we just hope he’s as much fun as last time.
8. Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
“`The first Mercenaries released on the Xbox was a breath of fresh air in a world of GTA sandbox clones. Instead of locating itself in another fictional American city, it took the sandbox to Korea, created a dynamic world to play with, filled it with weapons, vehicles, and warring factions, and then handed the controller over to the player with a cheeky grin and one single request…. Blow shit up!
“`In Mercs 2 the mantra has stayed the same but the graphics, open world, AI, story, weapons, vehicles, factions, and most importantly the destruction have all been turned up to eleven! If a game were to sell on explosions alone, Mercs 2 would win hands down. But thankfully the politically charged setting in Venezuela looks to give some context amongst the madness, as you exploit the surrounding chaos and factions for personal profit and that of a friend in online co-op!
The first game and its largely unscripted environment was a hell of a lot of fun. At E3 we’d just like to see that the extra time that EA gave Pandemic to further polish the title means that we’ll have even more explosive fun the second time round.
7. Alpha Protocol
Obsidian, the always reliable RPG developers for hire that have brought us the outstanding sequels to Bioware classics including KOTOR 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2, have finally got their chance to outshine their mentors with an original IP.
Alpha Protocol is a uniquely modern world, Bourne meets Bond, globetrotting spy RPG where mission approach and gameplay are completely open to a player’s playing style. Whether a player chooses to go in all guns blazing, stealthily quiet or charismatically manipulative the strengths of a player’s attributes and skills will change accordingly as will the future choices open to them, but without the hassle of endlessly off-putting menus and stats screens.
At E3 we really want to see more gameplay in action, and in particular the much touted dialogue system which moves beyond the Mass Effect system and makes dialogue choices emotionally based, time limited and most importantly concrete, so that once you make a choice you’re stuck with it!
6. Street Fighter IV
“`It’s been a long time between drinks but the new Street Fighter is almost upon us in a striking and highly stylised art style that whilst 3D, keeps the franchise’s 2D fighting roots. It’s heavily embedded in its old school origins of six-button combat mechanics and franchise favourites like Ryu, Ken, Shun-Li and Guile, but adds the flourishes of some new gameplay features and a host of new and highly varied characters including Crimson Viper, Rufus and personal early favourite El Fuetre to the mix.
“`So whilst hands-on gameplay and footage would be welcome at E3 (the game really does look stunning), we’re most intrigued about the more recently revealed “campaigns” (complete with anime cut scenes for each character) and the addition of online multiplayer.
5. Call of Duty: World at War
If it wasn’t tough enough to follow up what many consider the franchise’s high point in Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare. It got a hell of a lot tougher when the talented but much maligned CoD3 developers Treyach were assigned the task. Given Modern Warfare’s exceptional success, you have to give Treyach credit for cojones big enough to return to World War 2, albeit in the Pacific and Russian theatres, but perhaps sensing a chance to prove themselves to the fickle hardcore audience that derides them, along with three times the development time and the phenomenal Modern Warfare engine, Treyach by all indications are on track to deliver a surprisingly brutal, exciting and cinematic experience.
But what most intrigues us, are the additions of a four player co-op campaign, new weapons, gameplay tweaks and the addition of vehicles to multiplayer. So at E3 we’d like to see that the title is similar enough to entice Modern Warfare gamers, but different enough for it and Treyach to finally stand out on their own merits.
4. Beyond Good and Evil 2
“`The original Beyond Good and Evil was a stunningly beautiful and immersive adventure released on the last generation of consoles. Unfortunately very few people played it, but those who did were treated to a charming, funny and politically intriguing story about a young woman named Jade. Accompanied by her pig-man uncle Pey’j and her trusty camera, the player took control of Jade in a bid to save her home planet from an alien conspiracy.
“`And then just over a month ago the cheeky buggers at Ubisoft, pulled a rabbit (read “pig named Pey’j) out of their hat and revealed a stunning in-game engine teaser trailer for the sequel at the end of Ubidays ’08. And in an instant, gamers lucky enough to play the first were in a flutter of praise for Ubisoft showing so much faith in a critically acclaimed but financially unsuccessful IP. Everyone else wondered what the hell was going on!
Well having calmed down from the initial excitement, we’re now feeling just like everyone else. We have no idea what the game is about, or where the narrative’s heading. So all we’d like at E3 is for Ubisoft to stop being such a tease and give us some juicy details on Jade and her next adventure.
3. Resident Evil 5
After the absolutely stunning Resident Evil 4, we can’t wait for the sequel to finally take us to the origins of the Progenitor Virus. Almost as exciting is the prospect of the technical leaps and bounds RE5 will achieve by jumping to the far more technically superior 360. The game appears largely the same as RE4, although it’s clear the move to more powerful consoles has allowed the developers to ramp up the detail, size, AI, lighting and destruction on display. In fact IGN, amongst others, is already claiming that Gears of War 2 and the PS3′s Killzone 2 may have some serious competition for the best looking game this generation thus far.
At E3, we want to find out if our suspicions about the new female character introduced in the trailer are proved correct. We’re thinking co-op survival horror, and we’d love Capcom to confirm it!
We would also love Capcom to seriously think about using our very own Resident Evil 5 TVR Speed 12 designed by XboxOZ360 as a promotional tool . . . anyone looking in here from Capcom just send us an email !
Click the image for XboxOZ360’s Flickr stable of cars
2. Mirror’s Edge
“`A hugely ambitious title, Mirror’s Edge seeks to redefine the first person perspective so prevalent in video games. By stretching the perspective and removing the HUD a player should in theory feel that what they see on their screen is actually through their very own eyes. Mirror’s Edge is set in a sci-fi themed totalitarian world where the only way to transfer “free” speech is by “free running” across a futuristic, open-world, urban landscape with government agents always in hot pursuit.
“`Add an equally ambitious protagonist in the form of an Asian female rebel by the name of Faith and an emphasis on acrobatics and evasion as opposed to guns and fighting, and we can only commend EA and DICE for the faith (sorry) they’re putting into the concept.
“`EA really deserve a hell of lot more credit. Their lineup of original IP and quality sequels confirms that their restructuring is really starting to pay huge dividends. We understand as a result they’ll be mightily busy with a lot of titles at E3, but we’d love to see them spend some extra time pushing this one.
Mirror’s Edge looks to be something truly special.
1. Fallout 3
“`Bethesda, famed developers of the Elder Scrolls series including Oblivion, have taken perhaps what is one of the most beloved and influential, isometric franchises and with much controversy shifted it to a first person perspective. Whilst we can be nostalgic at times, we’re willing to back Obsidian on this move with the hope it will increase player immersion and its suitability for consoles.
“`What’s of much more concern is whether Bethesda retain the spirit of the franchise, in a way not dissimilar to 2K’s critically acclaimed success at reinventing System Shock as Bioshock for consoles. And there are lots of reasons to be excited about what we’ve seen so far. The post apocalyptic setting, stunning art design, dark humour, open-world gameplay, and a non-linear story with allegedly over 200 endings all hint at the title fulfilling its potential.
All we want from E3 is for Bethesda to quit the CG trailers and instead give us a whole bunch of hands-on gameplay. We’d like to confirm that this title will be well and truly in the running for game of the year and we’d really like to see first hand what all the fuss is about with injecting morphine, which has lead the OLFC to refusing classification in Australia! which is only a step backwards as far as Australia is concerned and the sooner we get the R18+ classification approved the better.
©2006-2008 XboxOZ360-gamer – Aaron Bertinelli
(Ed Note: Be sure to check out the rest of our E3 Top 10′s and visit the XboxOZ360-game E3-’08 Video News Page when you’re finished here and let us know what you think.)
“
“
“
Click Global Video Icon for more E3-’08 videos
