Luckily
today was by far my most productive outing. Although I can't show you pictures of the booths as I either 'forgot' to take them or I was told not to.
To
kick things off we all ventured up to the Titanfall stand where we go to play
the campaign multiplayer. Out team were set out the duty of securing a
prisoner, while the opposition were directed to get him free, in a Deathmatch scenario.
The playable demo featured three classes of ‘solider’ and three others for the
Titans. Honestly I can’t remember the names of the ones I picked but both
versions, for me, had semi-automatic rifles (of sorts).
The
game really has been balanced exceptionally well; soldiers are able to take
down Titans, due to their quick movement speeds and anti-titan weaponry, but at
the same time the giant mechs can crush any opposition not fluidly moving around their
perimeter. The special traits of each Titan came into play as well as the fluid
wall runs and vertical platforms of the battlefield that gave the whole experience a
very unique feeling.
My
favourite feature, if you can call it that, is the multiple animations used for
entering each players Titan. Coming in from above means that your mech reaches
out and grabs you, as the solider, to delivery you directly to the control
seat; while entering from below sees your character climb and flip up into the
same area. These minor, but important, movements are what separates Titanfall
from its FPS counterparts (obviously as well as the Titan). The whole thing adds to the sense of immersion and excellently designed maps – you can get from one end of the terrain
to the other in a matter of seconds, as a solider, if you plan your route
correctly.
Finally
the one feature I wasn’t aware of was the multiplayer epilogue. This is a bit of
a meta game in which the losing team have to escape via a carrier jet. Once a
game has been determined it is up for the winners to halt the opposition players escape.
Again it’s an interesting idea and one that seems almost stupidly absent from
any game that’s come before it – even though it’s so original.
I
also dropped in on The Elder Scrolls: Online. Taking place on in an area called Bleakrock Isle, an island off the north east coast of Skyrim. The foliage included big pine trees scatter in heavy fallen snow and reassembled the areas around Winhelm within Tamriel. You could be fooled into thinking you were actually within a section of TESV if it wasn't for the other players.
My quest started out with a trip to see an injured hunter who had used his boot as a tourniquet after coming worse off in a battle with the Deathclaw he had been hunting (nothing like the version of the enemy from Fallout). He asked me to go and defeat the creature for him and once the, very easy tutorial quest, was completed he gave me a new shield.
The world was also infested with Wolves and Skeletons who led me to Skyshroud Barrow, an old Dragonborn worshipping site. The interior was pretty small but required the full strength of a 6 character team to get past the final dragon priest. Along the way we fought through several small rooms filled with sword and bow wielding Skeletons to uncover three Skyshards (a fish, a snake and a whale - sound familiar?).
Overall I think fans of both MMOs or TES should definitely keep a keen eye out on this title. The graphics were good for such an early build and the functionality, on the PC version I played, remained very action orientated. The first person view was also a pleasantly useful additional that worked very nicely.
...a bit of the old short and sweet to follow, just to save some time...
My other adventures led me to
1) The new Ninja Gaiden looked lovely in it's new art style but was a little too hectic for me.
2) Wind Waker HD was graphically gorgeous and felt very much like the original and brought back fond memories
3) Qube is a little like Portal but with some fairly interesting puzzle mechanics involving coloured 'qubes'
4) Arkham Origins hasn't change much from the excellent Arkham City (even the world looks the same)
5) Mario 3D World is just a bigger version of the 3DS game
Finally I also got some time with the new Pokémon games and Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
I'll start here with the former, although there wasn't much to say as the gameplay demo playable was a very stripped back to the basics (and the gameplay time was a meagre 10 minutes). We did however get a chance to catch a few critters, for me it was Pikachu and Chespin, as well as viewing a new Pokémon called 'Bunnelby' (seen below). My teams started out with Froakie and Sylveon but quickly grew as the long grass and reduced gameplay mechanics gave be a good chance at catching even completely healthy monsters. After the timer ran out the game automatically pushed us to Professor Sycamore who gave me a Mewtwo who instantly Mega-Evolved before he challenged me to a battle - it's suffice to say I whipped the floor with him.
The game felt very much like it's predecessors but at the same time vastly new and 'better'. Animations were noticeably slow, but better designed, and although the overworld did take advantage of the 3D elements of the handheld device the battles lacked a certain 'something'.
ALTTP on the other hand was picked up, I believe at least, a little way into the demo itself. Set within a towering dungeon I had to guide link to the top level. The gameplay gave be a chance to use some of the new tools and experience the dynamic uses of the 3D screen. Hitting a jump block shot Link directly up at the top screen and the platforms gave the whole thing a distinct art style. Even the final boss, which if you haven't seen it, looked very familiar to a good old friend from 'A Link to the Past'. The demo I played look exactly like the version on show at PAX a few weeks ago and this can be seen on various publication or YouTube screens now so I won't bore you too much with the details themselves.
It is however easy to recommend this title to any Zelda fans and especially though looking for a fix of the old top down style. It's very much the sequel we were all hoping for.
I'll let you know what happens tomorrow but it'll be much short, and probably less sweeter, than today.
Adios Amigos!
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