UK Spotlight Visits Eurogamer Expo
Street Fighter 4 | Banjo & Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts | Mirror's Edge | Gears of War 2 | Left 4 Dead | Biohazard 5
The chance to participate in Gamer conventions and expos in Europe are few and far between. After GDC in Germany, it's really only this year that the United Kingdom has begun racking up its own Video game based events. Ranging from the now cancelled Ghostbusters centric Play.com Live, to the new kid on the block "The Eurogamer Expo", and this is where I ventured on Wednesday 29th October in the hope to try out some of this year's hottest games including Gears of War 2, Mirror's Edge, Left 4 Dead and many more. Not only this but I also wanted to lend my hand to the guys at Eurogamer by helping out on booths, and getting to see what gamers' are really excited for this year. So without further ado, let me show you what games' impressed and which ones left a sour taste behind.
Street Fighter 4
It's been a long time since a new Street Fighter hit the consoles, we have been treated to Street Fighter 2 on Arcade and the soon to be released Street Fighter Turbo HD, but never a fully fledged retail game, with new characters, animations and the like. But Street Fighter 4 really brings a true return to form with this incarnation, bringing players back to the child like glee of the action and control of Street Fighter 2 on the Super Nintendo, with greatly improved graphics, characters and options. Entering into the foray this time is the usual suspects, everyone's favourites Ryu and Ken, alongside the likes of Chun Li, Guile etc. But Street Fighter 4 brings a whole host of new characters, that seem to me, like instant classics, Rufus, the big, fat and agile competitor, La Fuerta, the Mexican Lucha Libre wrestler and French Muscle man Able, to name but a few. These new characters have all been built from the ground up and seem to play just as easy and as natural as any of those standard competitors. My time spent with Street Fighter 4, certainly whetted my appetite, all the controls and simplicity are back from Street Fighter2, with the scope to go deeper into the gameplay, by using specialist combos and move sets, for those hardcore beat-em-up players.
The game sports impressive cel shaded-esque graphics, with impressive lighting and particle effects. Capcom have mastered a great way of displaying a 2D fighting game with impressive 3D graphics and interactive environments. For me, I wasn't looking for this game at the Expo, it wasn't anywhere near top of my list for games I wanted to play, but after seeing how it plays, and having some time to get to grips with it, I couldn't help but walk away impressed. I have March next year ringed on my calendar, I guess Street Fighter HD will fill the gap until then.
Banjo & Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
By now some of you would have had the chance to download the Nuts & Bolts Demo, and the Demo presented at the Expo was fairly similar. Stripped down is the opening sequence, character introductions, and you are left with, what is simply a challenge selector, making this a whole lot easier to get to grips with, and really learn what this game is about. If you have ever played Banjo and Kazooie on the Nintendo 64, at first you will feel right at home, the familiar faces, the Jiggies, it all seems like a trip down memory lane. But during my time with this game, I walked away unsettled, gone are the platform elements of yesteryear, jumping from rooftops, hitting switches and laying down heavy blocks on buttons, replaced with vehicle creation and racing challenges. If you are a fan of the original, then you may leave disappointed from this, the vehicle learning curve is steep, even the smallest niggle or bump, will send your creation flying into a crumbled mess, that needs rectifying to get back into the race, and gone seems to be the usual, see Jiggie, perform action to complete puzzle, retrieve Jiggie, rinse and repeat. This has now been replaced with mini games and races that utilise varying vehicles creations from vehicles that have faster engines, car carry large objects, or the ability to push certain objects.
This is not to say Banjo is bad, Rare have taken the familiar faces and put them into a different surrounding, one that may be a little hard to swallow at first, but after a good 30 minutes with this game, you will begin to realise...it works. The childish kitsch of the characters, the usual colourful expansive environments, it's all there, if you can get your head past the non-ability to platform like before, and put yourself into the mindset, that this is a new Banjo game, utilising a whole new way to play, then I have feeling, everyone will begin to enjoy it.
Mirror's Edge
Everyone has seen the videos, the pictures, the comics...yet one thing everyone keeps asking will this work? A simple control system, relying solely on a few key button presses timed to perfection, will hopefully have your protagonist, Faith, leaping from rooftop-to-rooftop and making leaps and bounds against her enemies. Mirror's Edge at first may seem like your standard Action FPS game, but after scratching the surface, suffice to say, this is not the case. Mirror's Edge is a new IP, and in turn, it's a new way to play, using a simple mechanics scheme, which utilises only a few buttons on the 360's pad, you are put into the shoes of a 'runner', whose sole purpose is to get from A to B, delivering packages safely, and not getting killed. My time with the Demo, put me straight into the action, at first it may seem daunting, but as soon as you have made your first jump, it's so intuitive and easy to pick up, you'll be "free-running" like a pro. You approach fences, pipes, blocks and obstacles with a variety of differing moves to bypass each one lending to the world of 'parkour' and each having their own unique action, which will affect your timing and approach to each upcoming section. For example, you may be about to hit a low pipe, you can either slide underneath, being the quicker option, but losing a small amount of momentum, which is key in the world of Mirror's Edge, or you can vault over the top, taking a slightly slower approach, but giving you the ability to project yourself much more quickly into the next upcoming impediment.
As with all jumps and moves, there are ways to perform them better and more effectively, rolling after large leaps, by holding the L Trigger just before landing allows you to take out the impact of the landing, and allowing Faith to more efficiently move forward. However even with these extra moves that allow you to quicken the pace, there is then the route you take which is all important. The level I played had several routes which I could have taken, some vaulting over the top of large structures, and leaping further onto the next roof, whilst other allow small hops and leaps between lower sections, which at first may seem quicker, but hindered my progress later on, when I needed to be a tad more vertical.
The time I spent with Mirror's Edge was amazing, I was sucked in, it's rare nowadays in the world of standard run and gun First Person Shooters, to find such a simple and intuitive game that works on all levels. Mark the 14th November on your calendar, a day we all should become "runners".
Gears of War 2
I don't even need to sell this to anyone, everyone who has an Xbox already knows what Gears is, what it does and the pre-orders are already put into place. I had time to sit down with the Gears of War 2 multiplayer, and walked away with the same feeling I had when I played Gears for the first time. Back are the polished graphics from the team at Epic, the dark tones of Locust hordes emerging from the ground and the usual duck and over gameplay, I am so used to. However this wasn't the same Gears of War, I had played some time ago, the addition of a Shield was the first thing I had the chance to utilise, Press X, and I picked it up, by pressing the L Trigger, I tucked myself behind its cover and poked out my Pistol (sorry, that sounds rude). The Shield is a great addition, giving you additional cover when running between sections of the level, if it does lack the fire power of other weapons such as the lancer. After picking the shield up, mowing down a few Locusts, and losing out to a behind attack (all these innuendos, so little time), I then realised what we actually playing, an intense game of Annex, and I got my capture head on, and headed straight for the objective. Being so used to Gears multiplayer, its difficult to take yourself out of the game, but I did my best and boy was it impressive. For those who love the first gears and its graphical prowess, you will undoubtedly be blown away by Gears 2, weapons strike surfaces, and begin chipping away at the concrete, sparks fly with incandescent light and surfaces shimmer with the dark, bloody tones, set in this grim and lacklustre world.
Gears of War 2 is undeniably a return to TPS goodness, Halo 3 and COD4 have quickly become the height of Xbox Live Most Played, but even they have dropped numbers , quicker than my wallet has dropped notes this holiday period. It's a ride you don't want to miss, with improvements over the first, too many to list. If you liked Gears 1, it's a no-brainer, get it, enjoy it and love it. If you didn't have it, where have you been, jump on the bandwagon and enjoy the ride.
Left 4 Dead
Many a Christmas list feature the standard big players...Call of Duty, Gears of War, Fable and Fallout, some may have missed Valves upcoming zombie FPS, Left 4 Dead. I was cynical at first, I saw the Developer diaries, and walked away with that similar feeling from all Zombie games, same story, same run and gun nature. Yet, when I watched the people before me, sit down and play 4 player co-op over network, I couldn't help but hold back a smile, one that I haven't had for a game, well since Halo 2. Left 4 Dead is an experience, that really has to be witnessed to be believed, the sheer amount of gore, the number of NPC's on screen at any one time, the different variations of Zombie, such as the Boomer.
The goal for L4D is simple, Survive. The demo we ran was simple, 4 players, running through a level helping each other wherever possible to survive. A simple premise indeed, but a hearty one to say the least. The game works very well, you start in a safe room, you pick up your weaponry, Rifles, Uzis, Molotov's etc. then you push out into close knit corridors, to expansive streets with burned out cars and dull lighting. The game started heavy, pushing you against 50+ zombies at once from the get go and never lets up until the end of the level. It's such an enthralling and heart pounding experience, watching team mates scamper across mutilated zombie corpses, spraying hot lead as they do, but this game isn't just run and gun, it's very reliant on teamwork. Communication is key, protecting your fellow man, and this is one of the first co-op games that really takes the co-operative angle to a new level. Utilising the 4 players to their strengths, whether it be controlling certain waves and positions of zombies, to opening doors and pressing switches in a timely fashion, so that your team can deal with the enemies effectively.
I must have been sitting pretty under my rock, when L4D was announced; I wasn't excited, I wasn't even really aware of what this had to offer. But after having a good time sitting down with the game, playing through its challenges, I am hooked. I cannot wait for this, I more excited for this than all other Christmas releases, if you don't know about L4D, or don't care for it, change your mind quick, this game is Co-op, this game is what 2008 is all about, trust me.
Resident Evil 5 (Biohazard 5)
Not out till early next year, Resident Evil 5, is a definite tear away from the standardized RE approach, very similar to Resident Evil 4. I managed to sit down with the first level, and really get deep into what Resident Evil has to offer players. Set in the depths of Africa, RE5 takes a look back at the origins of the virus and its early effects, but it also features a secondary character, Sheva Alomar, who will offer support and ammunition, this really offers a different approach to the survival horror genre, and its usual run-of-the-mill games.
During my run in with the first level, I was mighty impressed with the graphics, it looks amazing, dynamic lighting, adjusting to dark and light alleys, and backdrops, really set the tone for this game. Camera vision adjusts appropriately, character animations are generally immense across the board, and I haven't been impressed by anything so graphical since the apparent in game trailer of Killzone 2. Never being a fan of Resident Evil makes it difficult for me to sit down and have an un-biased opinion, but I tried to put my previous experiences behind me, and I have to say it worked. I liked this...a lot...it played differently than expected, a much more approachable version of the game, it's much more light and airy affair than before, losing the closed, claustrophobic fear inducing set pieces, and replacing them with a much more real life based setting.
It was weird going from L4D, to this. They are 2 different beasts sitting in a genre filled to the brim with more stale slices, than week old bread. Resident Evil 5 breathes new air into a game series that has seriously been asking for a change of pace, one which is welcomed with open arms, from this once Survival Horror cynic.