Well, E3 is finally upon us, and it kicked off today with Microsoft's press conference. Here's a run-down of some of the highlights and my thoughts:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Mehhhh! I'm not shy to announce my disdain for the CoD franchise - I think, while it's big-budget and very nice looking, it's repetitive and severely nerfed (especially in the case of online). Also, being released every friggin' year doesn't help matters. Enough already!
The gameplay of MW3 shown today looked pretty slick, showing an underwater assault on a submarine, but it's just more of the same in my opinion. Of course, if you're into that kind of thing then more the power to you. Also, it was re-confirmed that Xbox will be getting all of the DLC for the game FIRST.
Tomb Raider
Now this looks promising! With a more fluid action system and a much more cinematic and gritty approach, this reboot of the beloved franchise looks like it could see Ms. Croft taking on Nathan Drake in the action/adventure stakes. New gameplay included a jaunt through a collapsing cave system - very intense!
Mass Effect 3
One of my personally most anticipated titles. The final part of Bioware's epic trilogy looks set to amp up the action with a much faster paced combat system if today's gameplay demo is anything to go by. Also of note, Kinect usage was featured through the ability to use voice recognition to give orders to your squad mates and navigate speech options.
Minecraft
The biggest indie game of all time is coming to Xbox! Instant cult-classic Minecraft is coming to the console in full-form with optional Kinect functionality, but no word on what that functionality would include.
Gears of War 3
Nothing terribly new was shown here, but what we did see looked gorgeous and set to deliver more of the action-packed set pieces the franchise is known for come its September release date.
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
As much of a cash-grab this is... I can't help but be interested. What we have here is the original Halo title fully remade using the Halo: Reach engine and featuring online co-op and full online multiplayer. It's scheduled to drop on November 15th at a reduced price of £30/$40.
Halo 4
No details were given on this besides the fact it'll feature the return of Master Chief and be the start of a new trilogy when it comes out during the holidays, 2012.
Kinect Games
What the hell, Microsoft? I mean, WHAT THE HELL?! After the backlash of last year's conference and its focus on motion controlled games, and the general lack of interest in the Kinect and its software from the gaming community, I really don't understand the huge emphasis on Kinect games this year.
There were a few titles that piqued my interest - Star Wars Kinect and Fable: The Journey were two titles that seemed to be much less about pointless minigames and more about an immersive experience. The former, featured various scenarios ranging from pod-racing to lightsaber battles to X-Wing dogfights, while the latter sees the much-loved action-RPG franchise turn to a 1st person perspective as players use their arms to simulate riding horses and sword fighting. EA Sports also announced that Kinect would become a heavily featured in their games in the future - nice to see it used in real sports games rather than just mini-games like in Kinect Sports or Kinect Adventures. Other than that, it was a lot more mindless drivel with mini-games galore in Kinect Disneyland Adventures, Kinect Sports: Season 2, and Kinect Fun Labs (though this does include a rather nifty ability to photograph objects in the real world and turn them into avatar items) and very little to spark any interest.
Verdict
Microsoft's press conference was the very first event at this year's E3 expo, but I hope it's not a sign of things to come. It started off very, very strongly - with focus on real games like Tomb Raider and Mass Effect 3 (I really don't mind minimal Kinect functionality like the voice-recognition in ME3) - but just fell flat once we entered the seemingly never-ending Kinect stretch. It was, for lack of a better word, boring with how much time was spent on shovel-ware. They made a bit of come-back at the end with Halo 4, but by then it was a case of too little, too late.
Here's hoping Sony don't spend too long on the Move.
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