Tag Archives: E3 2011

E3 2011: Asura’s Wrath (E3 Trailer)

Posted on by Arleigh

Asura’s Wrath is a title by Capcom and developer CyberConnect2 and first made it’s appearance at E3 2010. It’s actually a title that has flown way below my radar when it comes to interesting games coming up in the forseeable future. It’s a good thing that Capcom brought it to this year’s E3 once more and showed more details about what the g ame is really about and some of it’s core gameplay.

Let’s just say that from the trailer this game looks to be one over-the-top of an action game that reminds me of the SEGA/Platinum Games title Bayonetta. More people seem to compare this game both aesthetically and spiritually to the Sony God of War franchise and they wouldn’t be wrong. Asura’s Wrath really ends up being a mash-up of both those series with a sci-fi helping from Too Human.

The art design for the game looks beautiful. Looks like developer CyberConnect2 decided to go for the 3D cel-shading that looks quite similar to Capcom’s own look for the recent Street Fighter IV. The game is not flat and actually has depth to all the scenes, but the flat-look of the cel-shading really gives this game a unique look that’s quite uncommon in gaming of this latest generation.

Asura’s Wrath doesn’t have a set release date, but all points to sometime around 2012 (hopefully)

E3 2011: Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (Official E3 Trailer)

Posted on by Arleigh

Namco Bandai is less than 6 months away from releasing the next entry in their long-running and critically-acclaimed arcade combat flight simulator series Ace Combat. This upcoming entry will simple be called Ace Combat: Assault Horizon.

They’ve released a story trailer just in time for this year’s E3 and anyone who has been a fan of the franchise should be very excited about this upcoming game. It looks like new types of gameplay has been added to the tried-and-true fixed-wing aerial combat. Players can now get behind the controls of attack helicopters and even AC-130 gunships. The in-game graphics (used in the trailer itself) looks to have made some major improvements from the last title in the series. If I’m looking at the trailer correctly it looks like pretty much everything a player sees on the screen is destructible whether it’s an enemy vehicle or just a decorative fountain in some African warlord’s palace.

This series has always been good at delivering an extensive and exhaustive single-player campaign. Multiplayer has always been hit-or-miss. The last game in the series made some serious in-roads into multiplayer. Now that this next title will be released not just for the Xbox 360 and it’s Xbox LIVE on-line component, but for the PS3 and it’s counterpart in the PSN, there should be some expectations of a hefty on-line multiplayer component.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon will have a release date of October 11, 2011 for North America and October 14, 2011 for Europe.

E3 2011: Dead Island (Exclusive Trailer and Gameplay Demo)

Posted on by Arleigh

Just a little under four months ago the announcement trailer for the Techland and Deep Silver zombie survival horror title, Dead Island, premiered to much acclaim. The trailer was like a short film and really tugged at the emotions of those who saw it for the first time. The trailer itself didn’t show what the game was all about other than a paradise resort becoming the setting for a zombie survival horror game with open-world gameplay.

A couple more trailers using gameplay scenes came out since then, but it’s now E3 and gamers want more info on just how the game plays. Techland and Deep Silver didn’t disappoint. In addition to a new trailer made exclusively for this year’s E3, the game also was available in demo form for attendees to check out and play. The two-part video below is one such example of someone playing the demo.

From what I could tell from the gameplay demo this game seems to be a much more serious version of the campy and over-the-top Capcom zombie horror title Dead Rising. Weapons seem to be mostly melee types like machete, knives, steel bars and such with the random rifles and pistols to be found during the game. Dead Island looks great from what I could see from the demo. Hopefully, more details about the gameplay and the co-op multiplayer will be released between E3 and the game’s release.

Dead Island is set for a September 6, 2011 for the U.S. and September 9, 2011 for the rest of the world.

E3 2011: Ninja Gaiden 3 (Trailer and Gameplay Demo)

Posted on by Arleigh

This year’s E3 wouldn’t be the same if the folks from Team Ninja (though one that’s somewhat not as awesome with it’s rockstar leader Itagaki Tomonobu having left the studio) didn’t release more cool stuff about the latest and third entry in their Ninja Gaiden action-adventure franchise.

Ninja Gaiden 3 returns with it’s iconic ninja-hero, Ryu Hayabusa, and more blood and severed limbs that a gamer can shake a Wiimote at. The series has always been about extreme violence and always been known to cater to the hardcore of the hardcore gamers out there. The Ninja Gaiden series never catered to the newbie gamer. They even  had a hilarious way to help out gamers who could never master the game by creating an “easy” difficulty level simply called “Ninja Dog”. Team Ninja’s newest lead designer, Yosuke Hayashi, mentioned that this latest game will not have it’s difficulty level  toned down for the casual gamers out there who will have some major difficulties getting past the game.

That’s the good news in addition to how the game just looks gorgeous (like all past games in the series), but one thing shown at this week’s E3 really dampened my excitement for this third entry: inclusion of QTE (Quick Time Events) where a player presses a series of buttons to accomplish an event. QTE’s I consider as part of the “pussification of hardcore action games” and games like those in the God of War series (which I love but could’ve loved even more if they got rid of the QTEs) rely heavily on such gameplay mechanics.

Ninja Gaiden 3 should be about testing a gamer’s skill and not how fast they can press a combo of buttons shown on the screen to finish an event. Other than that disappointing news most of the announcements by Team Ninja about this title still will have me dropping some cash to buy and play it. Here’s to hoping that Team Ninja doesn’t drop a ton of QTEs in this game. No amount of severed limbs and bodies or lakes of hot, steaming blood would be enough to balance out a ton of QTE’s in a game that never needed them.

E3 2011: Brothers in Arms: Furious 4 (Debut Trailer)

Posted on by Arleigh

This was one title that caught me by surprise this week as this year’s E3 continues to roll on through. The Brothers in Arms WWII tactical-action series was never one which I really got into, but when I did play them they were enjoyable enough that I wasn’t disappointed. I think part of it comes from the fact I’m not very good in tactical shooters where I have to give orders to team members.

This latest offering in the series by Gearbox Software and Ubisoft looks to keep the series in its ubiquitous World War 2 setting. The major change seems to be in the tone of the game. Brothers in Arms: Furious 4 — from the look of the debut trailer — looks to lighten up the story and I got a major Inglourious Basterds-vibe from that trailer. This may not sit well with the hardcore fans of the series, but with so many action shooters already in the market both Ubisoft and Gearbox Software needed to change things up in a radical way and this “grindhouse” tone may just be what the franchise needed. I will admit that the trailer gave the title a much fun and over-the-top feel and that’s always a good thing.

Brothers in Arms: Furious 4 still hasn’t been given a release date.

E3 2011: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Gameplay Demo

Posted on by Arleigh

One of the titles which I look forward to losing several hundreds of hours playing is the fifth entry in Bethesda Game Studios The Elder Scrolls role-playing game franchise: Skyrim.

I’m proud to say that the previous game in the series I had spent nearly a total of 1500+ hours playing using several created characters over a span of 6 years. I would say that 3/5 of that total time was played within 6 months of buying Oblivion. The developers of Skyrim are promising fans of the series no less than 300+ hours of gameplay (though they didn’t specify if that means just the main storyline or also includes side quests and such) so that’s a comfort to hear.

This role-playing game series has always been known for it’s very expansive and complex world which allows it’s player to roam it’s confines however they want. It’s this open-world gameplay dynamic which makes this game and the series, in general, such a favorite with gamers worldwide.

Lead designer for Bethesda, Todd Howard, gave G4TV an in-depth look at Skyrim. The videos you’re about to watch has Howard showing the extreme and beautiful detail rendered by the game’s new graphics engine in the Creation Engine. He also shows just how some of the changes in combat, skill leveling and the type of creatures the player will end up fighting makes this latest entry in The Elder Scrolls series the best to date.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has a set release date of November 11, 2011.

E3 2011: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (E3 2011 Trailer)

Posted on by Arleigh

What can I say about this game other than….GODDAMN!!

Yes, I am beyond super-excited about THQ and Relic Entertainment’s latest Warhammer 40K title. The two have been doing a great job with the RTS Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War franchise so this third-person action game is a nice change of pace and quite a gamble.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine looks to be similar in tone to Epic Games’ Gears of War series except for two major differences: 1. this game won’t be using any cover game mechanics and 2. the game’s color palette looks to go beyond browns, grays, red and black. The trailers shown at this year’s E3 by THQ look to be using in-game graphics and little pre-rendered animations. Always a good sign when the trailers shows graphics of how the game will actually look when being played.

I’ve known about this game since it was first announced at last year’s E3 and have kept up with all new info that Relic and THQ have released since then. One piece of news that was quite a surprise but also awesome to learn is that British actor Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes, Kick-Ass, Green Lantern) will voice the main playable character.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine has a release date of somtime around September 2011.

PS: For those who have no idea what the Warhammer 40,000 fictional universe is all about the video below gives a quick idea of what some of it is.

E3 2011: Darksiders 2 E3 Debut Trailer

Posted on by Arleigh

In 2010, THQ and Vigil Games released what ended up being one of my favorite games of that year in their roided-out homage to Legend of Zelda with the post-apocalyptic action-adventure title Darksiders.

It wasn’t just the Zelda-like platforming and puzzle-solving gameplay that made it fun, but the wonderful art direction the game took by designing the characters and creatures from the original artwork of Vigil Games founder and all-around badass comic book artist, Joe Madureira. The first game was all about taking on the role of War (one of the Horseman of the Apocalypse) as he tries to clear his name after he’s set-up by evil forces unknown into initiating the Biblical Apocalypse too soon thus destroying humanity. The game ended with him finding out who was at fault and getting his vengeance medieval-style, but his name is still not cleared which leads up to the story of this sequel.

This time around players will control one of War’s brother Horsemen in the form of Death. There’s still not much details if there’s going to be changes to the Zelda-like platforming and puzzle-solving gameplay or will Vigil Games just tweak some of the complaints about it from gamers both supporters and detractors. All I can say is that if it was a blast to play as War I’m wondering just how badass it will be to play as Death.

Darksiders 2 is set for a release around 2012 (maybe around 12.21.12?)

E3 2011: Tomb Raider Trailer and Gameplay Demo

Posted on by Arleigh

One of gaming’s elder franchise which has seen some tough times the last couple years has been the Tomb Raider series. The franchise was one of the most popular ones during the late 90’s and early 2000’s but since the latter half of this new millenium’s first decade the games for the series has been lackluster at best and awful at they’re worst. Part of this downward could be blamed on the two films adapted from the game starring Angelina Jolie, but I like to believe that the series was already on it’s way down before those two films came out.

This latest entry to the Tomb Raider franchise looks to revive the series by rebooting the character and making the game an origin title which would put Lara Croft in her early 20’s and still quite new to the tomb raiding and worldwide adventuring game. Crystal Dynamics remains as the game’s developer with Japanese game publisher Square-Enix doing the releasing of the title.

From what was shown at Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference this latest Lara Croft looks to not just be younger but also design with realism in mind. While she still looks quite curvaceous there’s also a more athletic look to her physique which previous Lara Croft designs never truly had. Those past Lara Croft pretty much took the concept of a “teenage boy’s ideal woman” and gave it shape.

I have some hope that this latest title in the franchise will look towards Sony’s and Naughty Dog’s own action-adventure franchise, Uncharted, as a blueprint to bring Lara Croft back to prominence and relevancy in the gaming industry.

Tomb Raider has no definite release date other than sometime around Q3 2012.

E3 2011: Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Trailer and Gameplay Demo

Posted on by Arleigh

I’ve never been a big fan of Ubisoft’s tactical shooter franchise series. I know many who absolutely love the Ghost Recon franchise and I’m sure this latest entry in the series will be a hit with them as well. Ghost Recon: Future Soldier was first announced at last year’s E3 and some of the advanced tactical gameplay shown by Ubisoft were interesting enough that I was intrigued.

I’m not sure if I’ll be buying this title on it’s release date, but the gameplay demo shown during Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference really built on some of what interested me in the first place. The game looks to make use of the Xbox 360’s Kinect motion controller and it’s voice recognition capability. The important thing is that the player doesn’t have to stop using the regular controller, but just use the Kinect as a nice option and complement to the regular 360 game controller.

With the game still months from being released there’s still ample time for Ubisoft to continue to try and win over non-fans of this series such as myself and from the past year since they first announced this title they’ve done a good job. The only problem this title may run into is the glut of war shooters (first-person, third-person and tactical) that will be flooding the market from now til early next year that it may not find a place for itself. There’s only so much money a gamer has to spend at any given time and with the economy the way it is even gamers like myself with jobs may still have to forgo titles like this to get those were more fans of.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier has a tentative release date around the Q1 2012.