Bodycount
Bodycount is from the designer of Black, a PS2 and Xbox game I (sadly) missed out on. The game has a humourous side to it, the gameplay footage has a light-hearted nature thanks to the disembodied voice you hear as you play through (“your life expectancy has suddenly dropped”). The enemies are “class-based,” meaning different enemies are basically designed with different functions in mind – such as the canon-fodder enemies (typical dumb FPS enemies), soldiers (use cover well, good aim), and scavengers (they run around the battlefield picking up intel, the in-game currency, which is used to order airstrikes and such). Additionally, one of the top priorities for this game was getting a good multiplayer mode implemented! The game has very destructible environments – which affects how you play overtime. Environments start off very close-quarters, but as the firefight ruins the environments weapons with larger range are more advantageous. The goal is to give the player the ability to improvise how they’ll go through a situation.
Stuart Black’s approach for story telling appears to be more episodic in this game – a move itself which is not too terribly noteworthy. After all, Alone in the Dark and Alan Wake used this gimmick, Telltales Games’ design philosophy is based around this, and Valve is attempting to finish the Half-Life story in this way. However,what is noteworthy is the reason for this in Bodycount is because Stuart Black feels that too many action games pad out a two hour story into ten hours. This is a sentiment I agree with. Well, except for the ten hour game bit; where is this guy finding new shooters that long?
So far, the expected release is sometime before next summer.
Crysis 2
Crytek’s new game, Crysis 2, showcases the new CryEngine. Now, PC fans will cry a river now that even Crytek, developers of FarCry for the PC (but not the console) and Crysis, have decided to develop a game on consoles and PC. However, once diehards wipe the tears away, they will be pleasantly surprised with what Crytek offers. Crytek is known not just for being somewhat lazy with naming, but also for being capable of creating some really good looking games. FarCry was a benchmark for years and I know someone who, when he bought his new PC, bought and installed Crysis to test its limits. Crytek makes pretty games for the hardcore shooter fan. Crysis 2 appears to be no different. Crytek’s CryEngine 3 is efficient enough to run on consoles without sacrificing too much and offers 3D graphics. Now, normally this would seem somewhat gimmicky. However, CryEngine 2 was a showcase for DirectX 10, but was never gimmicky about it and I’m confident enough that Crytek would not throw something into their engine if it was merely a gimmick. These developers seem to pride themselves on being on the cutting edge of graphics, so 3D may not be the future, but it will almost certainly be well-thought out.
Crysis 2 is supposed to hit shelves before the end of this year.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
“Another Deus Ex game is coming out,” if you had said that a few years ago fans would have been indifferent, at best. Invisible War was not a success with fans. The role-playing elements that made the original beloved were toned down, universal ammo was just a bad idea, the interface did not work well on the computer, and the game was unpopular enough that Project: Snowblind was stripped of any overt Deus Ex references. Well, Square Enix is bringing a prequel to the series and, somehow, fans are excited. The trailer shows a lot of cool moves and tricks that the new player character can pull off. By all accounts, it’s flashier than the original game, a lot more style, and a lot of detail is being put into the game. The new protagonist, Adam Jensen (who reminds me of our very own, and stunning, Joe), is one of the first people to get the augments that are a staple of the series. He’s not as pretty and discreet as JC Denton, but he can punch through walls and take cover. This entry will show you how the world of Deus Ex became what it is. It will show the starts of human augmentation, will show the player how the important players of the universe got to where they where, and promises to offer up a new conspiracy to unravel.
That being said, I am still cautious in my optimism about this new game – I remember the hype machine around Invisible War. It made many promises and didn’t live up to many of them. Edios Montreal is a studio that has yet to prove itself, it has yet to release a game and is working on Thief 4 (another game franchise beloved by PC gamers that saw a mediocre sequel last generation). Now, the last time one studio decided to make a Thief and Deus Ex game went under in short order, both games got mixed reviews, and failed to sell. Plus, as an English-speaking Canadian, I’m not sure if I can trust those damned French-Canadians!
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is expected to be released in 2011.
Fallout: New Vegas
I’m a fan of RPGs, which is odd considering how few I play. I made the mistake of starting off on Diablo II, Baldur’s Gate II, and Final Fantasy VII – some of the best RPGs ever made. However, one of the few series of RPGs that have managed to exceed those games, in my mind, is the Fallout series. Fallout and Fallout 2 are some of the best games ever made; I even enjoy Bethesda’s Fallout 3, despite not being a fan of their other games. So, I’m looking forward to New Vegas since Obsidian is taking over for this installment.
I’ll give those unfamiliar a little history lesson before I continue. Black Isle Studios developed Fallout and Fallout 2. They went under while working on Van Buren, a.k.a Fallout 3. Bethesda acquired the rights to continue the Fallout franchise (apparently Bethesda is composed of fans of the franchise). Obsidian was founded by former employees of Black Isle and Bethesda is having this studio make a new entry in the series.
Fallout: New Vegas continues in the footsteps of Fallout 3, gameplay wise. It’s not hard to guess where New Vegas takes place. New Vegas was an area that, surprisingly, wasn’t too hard hit in the Great War of the Fallout universe. It seems to have some inspiration from Van Buren, even if it’s just setting (it’s not known how many elements from the scrapped Van Buren are appearing in New Vegas). In terms of gameplay additions, you can now shoot down the sights of a gun, companion orders have been streamlined, VATS is now flashier (with some weapons having special moves that can only be used in VATS), and the player will have to choose to help certain factions. How the player interacts with these factions will influence the story and how other characters interact with the player (an idea Obsidian has played with before, in their expansion to Neverwinter Nights 2). The game will also include “Hardcore Mode,” which will not only have tougher enemies but give ammo weight (thus limiting what you can carry), make resources more scarce, and require you to drink to avoid dehydration out in the desert.
Fallout: New Vegas can be pre-ordered already. Depending on where you pre-order the game, you get access to different in-game items. The expected release is this October.
Homefront
To me, this game brings memories of last generation’s Freedom Fighters to mind. The communist threat takes over the United States, and you’re part of an insurgent group to throw off the yoke of oppression. This time though, the evil comes from Korea, not the Soviet Union.
My only qualm is the playing up I’ve seen the developers doing for this game – which is expected. However, it’s odd to see them pay homage to Red Dawn in one breath and then comment on how they’re doing something unique by having the insurgents not be professional soldiers. The concept they’re playing up is not unique. Freedom Fighters is about a plumber-turned-rebel and Half-Life 2 is about a scientist leading an armed resistance against an oppressive regime from another dimension. It seems to me like the norm for a FPS game trying to achieve that epic storyline is implement this radical viewpoint of a civilian taking up arms. While my complaint seems silly, it’s odd for developers not to acknowledge any influences aside from a piece of (entertaining) Cold War propaganda and it’s even stranger to see developers ignorant of what is the norm in the genre they specialize in (Kaos Studios’ previous credits are a mod for Battlefield 1942 and Frontlines).
That being said, I love this scenario in a game. I loved it in Half-Life, when I was a lone scientist taking on a military and alien threat by myself. And I hope to enjoy it when I take on some Korean pinkos in Homefront. I just hope what I’m hearing from this new studio is an attempt to hype up their project so they can have a hit on their hands instead of legitimate ignorance.
Homefront does not currently have a release date.
X-COM
X-COM is another beloved cult classic getting some love at E3. Fan reaction to this item, however, has been mixed. The X-COM series is known for being a turn-based tactics game, not a first-person shooter. However, Bioshock 2’s developers think this franchise has a place among the shooter crowd. Now, unlike many PC gamers, I am not attached to this series. I have never got a chance to really get into the game. I have also been unable to play Bioshock 2, but from the positive buzz the game received, I have no reason to be too wary of this game. The game features the retro-50s design that makes alien invasions seem so much scarier (how dare they invade this idyllic vision of society?).
The X-COM reboot has the evidence and intelligence gathering that was required in the previous X-COM games – the methods used to acquire information seems to be inspired by Monolith’s Condemned:Criminal Origins. However, there is an openness to this game that one would not expect from a shooter. You can abort missions – and sometimes this is advisable – and provided you come back with new information on the alien threat, it’s not a total wash. Actions have consequences and the player will be required to weigh the options in their head.
X-COM is expected to be released next year.
