As it turns out, 2o2p did have a man on the ground during E3. Here's Jetson's take on what he saw.
Introduction
This is my 7th time attending E3 and it's nice to see it back on track. It's still not the behemoth show that imploded back in '06 but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Although it's a little smaller with fewer companies attending, it's now actually possible to navigate the isles and hear the game reps demoing their wares.
Disclaimer
I am a Xbox gamer and for the most part only cover X360 games. Even with only one platform to worry about there is no way I can play all the games at E3, so I mostly choose the titles that interest me, and hopefully some of you. One of the things that keeps me coming back to E3, besides the obvious (to play games) is the chance to talk with the game developers who are so passionate about their games. My brief write-ups for the most part don't contain all of the details found on the major sites, but rather my impressions of the various demos and/or the game developers intent for the final product.
Halo 3 ODST - Bungie/Microsoft, Shipping Sept. 22, 2009
Let me start with one aspect of 1st/3rd person shooters that's never discussed, but in my opinion is an important game design element: FOV (field of view). All shooters (all games, really) have a virtual lens through which we view the game world. Developers like Id (Quake), Epic (Unreal) and Valve (Half Life, Left for Dead) use a wider lens (shorter focal length), which I prefer, while other companies like Bungie use a narrower lens. Then there are companies like Dice who can't make up their mind and go narrow on Battlefield Bad Company's singleplayer and wider on multiplayer.
One of the first things I noticed (and appreciated) during my time with Halo 3: ODST was the wider FOV. It's only 10% according to Paul Bertone Design Director, but it really made an impact with me. Paul said because there is no radar to alert you of bad guys and because the performance of the game engine has been optimized they were able to widen the FOV and still keep the framerate steady. (Wider FOV means more stuff happening on screen).
Microsoft's Tina Wood interviews Bungie's Paul Bertone
The demo I played is a new four-player co-op mode called "Firefight," is akin to Gears of War 2 Horde mode. You and your teammates share seven lives as you duke it out with wave after wave of Covenant baddies. After you expend your lives and the rounds end, you are treated to a scoring screen where you can see who is the winner and loser of your group. Headshots count higher as do multi kills etc. Skulls make a return and in Firefight they are randomly turned on/off thought the rounds.
On the left side of the HUD you can see the Skull icons
In the original Halo game you needed health packs to replenish your health. Now that mechanic is back for your Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. You also have a small regenerative shield, but the only way to get your health bars back is with health packs. You can't dual wield or jump quite as high. Gone are the X button-deployed gadgets. Now the X button turns on a visor setting which brightens up dark environments and helps you locate friends and foes with a tracer outlines around them. I asked if there will be any new vehicles Paul said with only a one year development cycle they would have been too difficult to implement.
Even with those changes ODST still looks, feels, and plays just like Halo 3. I feel any fan of the franchise will want to grab it on day one.
Alpha Protocal-- Obsidian Entertainment/SEGA; Shipping Oct 2009
I went into this demo knowing absolutely nothing about this game and came out the other side very optimistic about it. Billed as a 25-hour 3rd-person action/spy RPG, Alpha Protocol appears to be greater than the sum of its parts. The bullet list of features may not impress you as anything new, but they all seem to come together in a somewhat fresh package. First off, the overall spy network that makes up the game's foundation is just fun to play in. Sure, it's over the top, but that's part of the fun.
The tag line, "Your weapon is choice," was hammered home to us as the developers explained their take on the dialog tree. They mentioned Mass Effect and Fallout 3 as inspiration. In Alpha Protocol there is no good/bad meter, no halo or horns. They call their system, "Stance." Your choices are more about your rep. Your morality is ambiguous. The dialog tree choices are also timed. You have about 10 seconds to pick your response. This is to help keep up the tension. If you don't make a choice the game will make it for you based on past actions, stance etc.
Here you can see your dialog choices:
Like any good RPG, you will have many skills and weapons/gadgets to upgrade. You won't be able to upgrade all of your skills so you need to pick a class like stealth, for example, and upgrade the appropriate skills. There are always multi ways of completing a mission. The gun play action and graphics are not anything special but considering the type of game seem perfectly fine. There were some set pieces that blew up nicely in the demo. There will be no vehicles to pilot but there may be some on rails sequences.
The 50-person development team has been working on the game for three years and has recorded thousands of lines of dialog reflecting all the different paths you can take.
I loved Mass Effect and Fallout 3 and look forward to this game as well.
Rogue Warrior - Rebellion/Bethesda Softworks, 3rd quarter 2009
This will be short. This game is based on real life ex-Navy SEAL-turned author Dick Marcinko. You actually play as him in the game. You have many hand to hand combat moves you can pull off as well as an assortment of weapons. Frankly this demo did not impress me at all. It had generic written all over it. Now that's not to say the final game won't be better, but based on the little slice I was shown it's a pass for now. Doesn't even deserve a picture. Ouch!
Stay tuned for part 2. More games to come including, Battlefield 1943, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Dirt 2, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Homefront, Brink and much more.
