So that was E3 – another show done and dusted. As usual the focus was mainly on the consoles, especially with all three major platform holders talking about their new hardware offerings – Kinect, Move and the 3DS have all been the talk of the show.
On the games front there was very little that was surprising – most titles having been either leaked or talked about prior to the show – but we thought it would be worth highlighting a few titles that we think are going to be very important to fans of Cyborg products in the coming year.
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Now this is more like it – Treyarch have obviously listened to the outraged cries of PC gamers that resulted from Modern Warfare 2’s dropping of dedicated server support. This feature will be reinstated and apparently the multiplayer has been their main focus from the start (which is not to say that the single player doesn’t look like it will be great – the recent trailer suggests that all will be fine on that front). It will be interesting to see what this does to the competitive LAN gaming scene – will Modern Warfare 1 still reign supreme, or will everyone transition over to Black Ops?
Brink
Unfortunately now delayed into 2011, this still looks like something very interesting from Bromley-based developer Splash Damage, previously known for the superbly balanced Enemy Territory mod for Wolfenstein and the full-blown title, Quake Wars: Enemy Territory.
A class-based teamplay shooter with an interesting setting and a unique look all of its own, this is one that we will be keeping our eyes on both for the single player and the multiplayer aspect.
Their website is updated pretty frequently and there are roundups of the E3 coverage they’ve received here and here.
XCOM
Causing a furore when announced because it was not a turn-based strategy game like the original game on which it’s based, this title still has the potential to be something very intriguing whilst still holding true to a lot of what the original game was about. Coming from 2K Marin, the same studio that brought us Bioshock 2 (well, okay, it’s mostly being worked on by the Australian arm of 2K Marin, which obviously isn’t in Marin, but you get the idea), it’s a first person shooter which is the main reason people seem to be so up in arms about it; well, that, and because it’s from the guys that brought you Bioshock which, while critically and commercially acclaimed, has divided opinion with some gamers accusing it of offering a severely dumbed-down level of gameplay when compared to its spiritual successor, System Shock 2.
Confused? Well just read the above again and then realise that the internet has a very long memory and doesn’t like you trampling on its cherished games of old, something beautifully highlighted by Alec Meer over at Rock Paper Shotgun, with two articles on why he thinks it won’t suck and why he thinks it will. Their exclusive interview with the developers also makes for an interesting read.
Portal 2
The sequel to many critics’ game of 2007, this should be high on anyone’s list of games to watch out for. The folks over at Gameinformer have a pretty comprehensive set of articles about all things Portal, so click here to check it out.
Subscribe