Tag Archives: E3

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.

E3 2011: BioShock Infinite Gameplay Trailer

Posted on by Arleigh

Ken Levine, head of 2K Games’ Irrational Games development studio, was on-stage during Sony’s E3 Press Conference to hype up his latest title to the acclaimed BioShock franchise. The third game in the series looks to take the series from it’s failed undersea utopian city of Rapture and into the skies. Like Rapture, BioShock Infinite will have a setting that will be a full-blown city but floating skyward attached to giant balloons and zeppelin-like structures with rails that act almost like rollercoaster tracks for players to move from place to place.

The trailer Levine showed at the Sony Presser looks to be one using all gameplay footage which is always a welcome sight since in year’s past too many games promised too much based on cinematic, pre-rendered trailers. I’m all for CG-animated trailers, but it’s always how the gameplay looks and plays that counts in the end.

One thing that was also announced by Levine during this press conference was how the Sony version of BioShock Infinite will have the option for players to use the Playstation Move motion controller to play through the game.

BioShock Infinite only has an approximate release date around 2012.

E3 2011: Gears of War 3 Gameplay Demo

Posted on by Arleigh

One title that also looks to finish off a trilogy that’s garnered one of the biggest gaming fanbase is Epic Games’ Gears of War 3. This franchise remains exclusive to the Xbox 360 console.

The gameplay demo shown during the Microsoft Press Conference showed some of the new enemies players will end up going against not to mention some of the new weapons deployed by the COG team led by it’s leader Marcus Fenix. Gears of War 3 continues to make great use of Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3.5 as detail between what’s cutscene cinematic and gameplay continues to blur that it’s hard to notice when the transition occurs.

Gears of War 3 still set for a September 20, 2011 release.

E3 2011: Mass Effect 3 (Trailer Deluge)

Posted on by Arleigh

To say that Mass Effect 3 is one of the most-anticipated titles in the next 9 months would be an understatement. The franchise has been one of the most popular and critically-acclaimed video game series of the past five years and this third game looks to cap off a trilogy that many consider the Star Wars (original trilogy) of video gaming. The third game was highlighted not just in the Microsoft E3 Press Conference but also in EA’s own Press Conference which just goes to show how  much this game means not just to EA but to Microsoft (even after the franchise finally became available to PS3 users I still consider it an Xbox 360 franchise).

In both conferences so many trailers were unleashed on those who were in attendance. Whether it were gameplay trailers, more trailers hinting at the story, trailer’s showing the game in demo right up to certain gameplay changes made for this final leg of the trilogy. One piece of news that was interesting was announced during Microsoft’s press conference and that was Mass Effect 3 having Kinect (the hands-free Xbox 360 controller system) capabilities.

One piece of news that every fan of the game was waiting for and finally got was this: Release Date – 03.06.2012. I may end up catching a virulent case of the blahs and call off work on that date and the rest of the week.

E3 2011: Halo 4 Announcement Trailer and Halo: Combat Evolved Trailer

Posted on by Arleigh

Above is the announcement fans of the Halo franchise have been waiting for and below is the second most-awaited one. First, the announcement that a new Halo trilogy being developed by in-house developer 343 Industries was something fans have been waiting for news of and today those wishes have been answered as the announcement trailer for Halo 4 was shown at Microsoft’s E3 2011 Press Conference. The trailer pretty much starts off around the time of the final scene which ended Halo 3 with the iconic Master Chief and his gal pal, the A.I. Cortana, floating towards an unknown planet.

Rumors abound that said planet may be the long-lost homeworld of the franchise’s Forerunner race which created the Halo rings in the series. Just think of the Forerunners as similar to the Ancients of Stargate franchise. I know more than a few friends and acquaintances who have tired of the franchise. I, myself, don’t play it as much as I used to, but I still buy the games since I’m a sucker for world-building sci-fi and fantasy franchises and the Halo Universe is definitely one of the better ones to come out of the gaming industry.

Halo 4 looks set to have a Holiday 2012 release (just in time for the end of the world it seems).

The trailer below is the one some fans of the franchise have been waiting for as well and that’s the news that the very first game in this franchise, Halo: Combat Evolved (first released for the first Xbox in 2001), will be remade using the new graphics engine developed for Halo Reach. So, this game is pretty much just like the very first game millions of gamers ended up loving and obsessing over but with new clothes and fancy things. Here’s to hoping the gameplay and weapon mechanics remains just like the original.

Bulletstorm E3 2010 Demo

Posted on by Arleigh

Of all the shooters profiled at E3 2010 the one which stood out the most and looked to be most fun was Epic Games and People Can Fly Studio’s upcoming arcade-like shooter Bulletstorm. The game is developed by Polish game developer People Can Fly headed by Adrian Chmielarz. The game looks to follow in the footsteps of another arcade-like shooter which came out in 2009: Borderlands.

Bulletstorm takes a different approach from the more realistic shooters like Modern Warfare 2 and Bad Company 2. The game goes the way of over-the-top action similar to past classic shooters like Duke Nuke ‘Em and Serious Sam. They marry this with the XP mechanics of an rpg which helps levels up the abilities of the player and allow them to upgrade/buy better weapons and gear.

From the demo trailer shown above the game also looks to add some very Rated-R comedic dialogue in addition to the gory action. The game definitely looks fun and looks great. Like all Epic Games published titles it looks like Bulletstorm will be using Epic’s proprietary Unreal Engine 3.

The game has a tentative release date of February 22, 2011 for the platforms Xbox 360, PS3 and Windows PC.