Once upon a time, videogames were really horrible at depicting romance and sex. Plot twist: that time is now. Dragon Age: Origins, however, holds the dubious distinction of having some of the worst sex scenes in gaming, not to mention many relationships that ended in BioWare’s patented(ly pernicious) “give gifts until sex falls out” method. On the upside, the developer has been promising much more robust romance options for Dragon Age Inquisition – much more so than in Dragon Age 2, even – but it hasn’t offered much in the way of details. I asked producer Cameron Lee, and we took a ride on the loooooove train – by which I mean we mostly talked about Saints Row IV and also animal genocide in Inquisition. Also I saw Inquisition’s E3 demo and I… have some concerns.
I’m always keen to see what Brendon Chung, the one-man Blendo Games, is up to next. From Flotilla to Thirty Flights of Loving, his games tend to reveal systems and stories in fascinating flashes and leave players the freedom to figure it all out, and they always have such a sense of fun. Apply all of that to low-fi cyberpunk and oh my, yes please.
So far Quadrilateral Cowboy had seemed to be about a lone hacker breaking into buildings with their electronic mastery, but now Chung’s revealed the hacker is only one part of a team, which also includes including a “Greaseman” with an ability horrifyingly named “jellybones.” They all work together in a sort of time-rewinding single-player co-op.
Another E3 has come and gone, and even during a year of Microsoft (once again) committing to PC as another arm of its gaming assault, its showing was largely dedicated to Xbox One. Dead Rising 3 is bringing its massive, undead-infested toybox to our city of towers and power, but not much else is really happening. So, what gives? Well, while Microsoft’s Phil Spencer acknowledged that PC is blowing away a lot of console stuff these days, he argued that E3 isn’t for PC gaming. It’s Xbox’s time to shine, which raises the question: what is PC gaming’s place, by Microsoft’s standards?
Games, games, games. There were so many of them, and then all of a sudden there were none. None being screeched and broadcast from the LA convention centre, at least. Another E3 is done and dusted, and now we must ruminate upon what we have seen, what we have enjoyed, and what we truly believe. Having already held forth about the initial flurry of big-publisher announcements, Adam, Alec, Alice and Graham now reconvene to celebrate and pick apart what the rest of the enormo-event yielded, and to name their favourite games of the show. Discussed: The Sims, Elite, Rainbow Six, Homefront, GTA V, Dreadnought, Applying For A Mortgage Simulators and even that company that makes videogames about plumbers. Read the rest of this entry »
We’ve had the portentous “the world is ending and flames and demons and things” trailer for Dragon Age not-III, but perhaps more useful is this ‘stand together’ one, which shows off some of the party members you, as a titular Inquisitor, will be travelling/fighting/beast-with-two-backing with during the Bioware RPG. After all the recent hoo-hah about you-know-what, it’s rather heartening to see that Bioware/EA has gone with narration and perspective from the woman version of the player-character for this video. Strange to think how familiar that currently-novel voice will likely to sound to my ears in a few months’ time. Read the rest of this entry »
Oh, I do so love a good disclaimer. Why, I think I see one galloping over the hill right now! Look at it go, diving in to interject just as I was about to say something ill-conceived/stupid. So: I largely think The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt looks excellent. I got to watch (though not play, sadly) a new 45 minute demo of it during E3, and it encouraged me to peel off another layer from my carapace of hardened skepticism. There were bustling towns, bizarre characters, and beardly moments of derring do. In the spirit of SENSATIONALIST FEAR, however, I did notice a few cracks in the game’s lovingly rusted witcher armor. These are they. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the things people were most excited about at this year’s E3 was getting new information about the Oculus Rift. It’s turned out news of the virtual reality headset was fairly thin on the ground, other than a reiteration of things we already knew: a consumer version likely won’t come till the end of next year, and that the company continues to use Facebook’s billions to hire every living engineer.
If you were disappointed there wasn’t more, then comfort yourself with this new trailer for EVE Valkyrie. The Rift game from CCP is set within the EVE Online universe, is about quick, arcade-style dogfighting, and is being co-published by Oculus. Find that new trailer below.
Movies don’t really ‘get’ video games. Their adaptations are dreadful, and the idea that anyone would even adapt these games into movies is a bit daft. Video games within movies are rarely better, real games played weirdly to make clear to viewers that they’re video games or bombastic fictional games. One I would actually play was in Spike Jonze’s Her, a walking simulator with a sweary alien child. That fictional game’s creator, David OReilly (also behind Adventure Time episode ‘A Glitch Is A Glitch‘), is making his first actual game and it’s pretty novel too.
“Mountain is a mountain simulator,” he’s explained. “You play as a mountain, and you get to do all of the things that a mountain does, which I’m sure appeals to all of your darkest and most disgusting fantasies.”
It’s more or less over. In the wake of E3’s publishing behemoth mega-rumble, Los Angeles lies in ruins – buildings stomped flat like ant hills beneath the feet of roughhousing children. Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft, EA, and Nintendo have all taken their rooster-like struts down the stage, and now millions lie dead or worse: in some sort of physical retailer, placing pre-orders. But that’s not everybody. One major player has yet to roll out its cavalcade of announcements, demos, and trailers. Last year Venus Patrol’s Horizon, the “alternative gaming conference,” quietly stole the show with wonderfully charming games ranging from Double Fine’s Broken Age to Capy’s Below to hole-based puzzler Kachina which is KILLING ME BY STILL NOT BEING OUT, DAMN IT. What lies in store this year? Horizon will begin streaming at 10 AM PT / 6 PM RPS time. Let’s find out together.
E3 is a bit like a flashbang. In it comes whoosh kersplode then you’re disoriented and confused and struggle to continue whatever it was you were up to. What I’m saying is that Ubisoft announced Rainbow Six Siege during E3 while we were curled up on the floor and armed men shouted at us, so we forgot to actually post about it even though we’ve discussed it.
The FPS (no third-person at all this time) sees baddies trying to fortify and hold buildings before the goodies smash in to come and get them. Emphasis on the smashing, as it has magnificently destructible environments powered by tech some joker at Ubi named ‘Realbast.’ Realbast!
If there was one winner at this year’s E3, it was fans of open worlds. The industry has become so efficient at creating beautiful places that there’s half a dozen games coming in the next year that I want to play in spite of their mechanics, not because of them. Skyforge is on the list. It’s an MMO likely to be a grind to play, but it’s set in the kind of techno-fantasy world that juts mountain palaces up against spaceships and sets it all under a vibrant blue sky. There’s a trailer introducing that world below, alongside another talking through some of the game’s combat and leveling mechanics.
The on-stage presentation for The Sims 4 at E3 was a sinister piece of work. Forget your survival horror games and your gore-tastic third-person monster-choppers, this is the most disturbing video shown at the entire event. It begins with simple marketing buzz-speak – “In previous games you controlled the mind and body of your Sims. In the Sims 4, for the first time, you control their hearts.” This is demonstrated by showing what look like canned animations linked to personality traits. So far, so Sims 3. Then, toward the end of the video, the presenter really takes control of a poor jock’s heart.
The way to solve an adventure game puzzle is, any glib git will tell you, to give a bit of a think, try a few ideas, then tell everyone everything and use every item you’ve stolen together in random combinations until you get it. A little more thought might be sensible in Daedelic’s new adventure game, announced by the Whispered World and Deponia devs at E3. The Devil’s Men (which actually stars two ladies) can have multiple solutions to puzzles, see, and supposedly they might each alter the direction of its spooky steampunk story a little.
Let’s move on from the “huh? But why?” issues around Crytek making a sequel to the THQ-dooming COD rival Homefront, and indeed on from “North Korea successfully invades the US, seriously?” and spend our time instead asking “OK, so what’s it like?”
Going on this footage from straight outta E3, clearly it’s working the occupied city line hard, as well as fun with improvised future-tech. The ‘uprising’ system is intriguing too – potentially moving the game away from Broman Saves The World and into something that’s about co-ordinating a massed resistance movement. Also there’s a scene where a guy has a wee in public while swearing his head off, then promptly gets beaten up for it, which very much reminds me of living in Camden. Read the rest of this entry »
Project CARS may not have the open America and sightseeing adventures of The Crew, but it’s a supremely attractive game. With a variety of motorsports and historic goals, the game sees your driver attempting to take a place in the hall of fame. To do that, you’ll have to drive really really really really fast. Make sure not to crash as well, I guess, but definitely concentrate on going fast. I’ve analysed the E3 trailer, which arrives with a reiteration of the November release window, and you’ll find a complete breakdown below.
I find Sniper Elite‘s fascination with face-breaking slow-motion bullet impacts somewhat grotesque, because I’m exactly the kind of hand-wringing, self-loathing videogame journalist the internet commenters warned you about. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the core idea of hunkering down behind some crumbling buildings, fearing for my life and timidly scanning the treeline for fascists. It only means I’d rather play Sniper Elite V2’s multiplayer, where pace necessitated fewer lovingly rendered shots of severed bollocks and where the presence of other players created far greater tension.
Good news, then! Not only am I getting to the point of this news story, but the point is this: Sniper Elite 3 expands the series’ multiplayer offering considerably, and there’s a trailer below.
Do you struggle to form tears within your eyes and release them from your body to express sorrow, joy, or other related emotions? Good news! A video game may help you. Moon Studios’ Metroidvania-y platformer Ori and the Blind Forest “is going to be one of those games that might make you cry,” publishers Microsoft say, “we can feel that much already.” Big deal; people cry at the John Lewis Christmas advert. Join in the chant: no more tears! No more tears!
The game does look jolly nice though, with a little forest spirit leaping about verdant glades. As well as Metroid and Castlevania and all those, it’s looking to Princess Mononoke and perhaps Rayman Legends and My Neighbor Totoro as influences.
By which I mean, eight minutes. Yes. I’m not entirely sure of the provenance of this video, and how much of it has or hasn’t been seen before because, y’know, YouTube but in any case I am more than down for a decent stretch of footage’n’chat from Firaxis’ upcoming alterna-Alpha Centauri, Civilization: Beyond Earth. Read the rest of this entry »
There was a time when I’d look forward to E3 for weeks in advance. It’s not that the event was better in ye olde days, it’s that it held the possibility of surprises from beginning to end. We know so much now, with daft sites like Rock, Paper, Scattergun reporting on every fart and sigh that emerges from yesterday’s indie sensations. Where’s the mystery? If you’ll excuse the foot-to-ball analogy, it’s like the difference between watching a World Cup in the seventies and watching one now. Back then, every overseas player was an enigmatic bundle of esoteric skills – now, you’re probably wearing underpants with their name on or eating a biscuit in the shape of their head.
In a world with so little mystery, I’m not at all disappointed to find that my favourite E3 trailer so far is for a game I’ve already played. Elite: Dangerous continues to excite.
We gushed a little about Abzû in our E3 chat yesterday but in our fawning, er, hadn’t actually got around to posting about it yet. (The same thing happened with Cuphead.) That may because we don’t much at all about it, other than it’s a gorgeous undersea game and that developers Giant Squid are lead by Matt Nava, who was previously art director of thatgamecompany’s acclaimed console wander ’em ups Journey and Flower. It’s not much to go on, but certainly is enough to pique my interest and fill our heads with fanciful dreams.
