Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3)

[Ragdollmaster]

Then your standards are hellish Honestly, at this point I consider you a semi-Yahtzee Croshaw. You're a trial of fire by which I can pass games through. If they get a "meh, above average" or "I'm slightly interested" as a response, I know that translates into "fudge awesome" for the general populace, me included.



Concerning the color issue: since it's overcast/rainy in that footage, I think it makes sense that the lighting is more of a greyish tint.


I'm personally liking the visual style so far. It doesn't have the best quality in comparison to other recent releases or other announced releases, but generally speaking, I think the game is showing a natural evolution/progression from previous titles, with certain details, textures, animations etc changing to be better, and others staying similar to the previous games but being sharpened and enhanced, following the formula of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"- it makes me happy to see that Insomniac are not trying to innovate out of their asses in a last-ditch effort to sell more copies. They're making the game as they want, and it's always good when the developer can do what they originally intended to.


General summary -> Shooter mechanics seem solid, visual aesthetics are a bit greyish but, again, that may be due to the level lighting, and the graphical style in general is pretty good, though not as spectacular as it could be. All in all, I'm on the fence about whether or not to buy this when it comes out. I'll definitely play it at some point, but I might get a used copy if critic and user reviews aren't excellent. Not because I don't think it will be a good game- so far, I'm thinking it'll be at least a 7 or 8 out of 10 for me- but because there are a slew of games coming out that I know will be awesome (Skyrim, Battlefield 3, Assault Horizon, Mass Effect 3, and so on) and I'm going to be spending plenty of money on them as it is. I don't know if Resistance 3 can stack up to, let alone beat out, the competition. We'll have to see, I 'spose.

[Renegade_Turner]

And/or a Killjoy. Or Buzzkill. You're a dramatic buzzkilljoy.

First you steal his lines, now you're stealing mine...when will this senseless thievery end? Get your own personality, mine is taken...I have it somewhere, I've just lost it.

On one of these rare occasions I agree with Zhukov, the Resistance games in general seem shitty, poorly written and overall unfulfilling. He is generally overcritical, but this time he makes sense.

[Ragdollmaster]

Note: This response is a little lengthier than I intended, so I shrunk the text size down a bit. If you could care less about the little Resistance discussion, skip down to the video link at the bottom, unless you could care less about an Assassin's Creed discussion.

As someone who's actually played the games, I'd disagree with you on those points. Firstly with the story: The story was pretty well written in both of the games I've played. It wasn't at any point revolutionary, but it wasn't sub-par, either. It exceeds the average quality of an FPS story, so it's hardly fair to call it 'poor'. What it does is present an alien attack scenario that's by no means original in of itself- viruses infecting hosts and mutating their genes to create new creatures, led by an intelligent over-mind, is reminiscent of things like the Flood from Halo. However, the content within that general structure is fairly unique, and there's actually quite a bit of explanations about what's going on told in the form of collectable documents and other secrets throughout the games, which are all relatively straightforward. They don't add in a lot of convoluted bullshit that leaves you questioning what's going on and generally doubting the sanity of the writers.

So to sum it up: The concept is ultimately not unique, but the execution of it is unique enough to make Resistance's story stand out.

The shooter mechanics within the games are, in my opinion, pretty well done. Guns act as you would expect them to. The selection of weapons is streamlined and designed so that you have everything you need without overloading you with guns that you'll never use (ohai Call Of Duty), and each weapon feels uniquely designed, reminiscent of Insomniac's Ratchet & Clank games, in a way. The graphics were great when the games debuted, and although R3 doesn't seem to have hugely improved, they're still far from bad. There's a wide variety of enemies which force you to switch up tactics now and then as opposed to charging through levels holding down the fire button, occasionally breaking the monotony only to press the reload button or stab some poor guy who happened to stumble too close to you, but they don't force you to play in any particular way. Some methods are more effective against different enemies, but it's not like "Oh fuck, there's enemy X and I have no ammo for weapon Y, I guess I have to go hide in a corner." The bosses in Resistance 2 were particularly cool; their huge size and general sense of danger are something rarely seen in the FPS genre. The closest thing I could compare it to would be like playing against a boss in God Of War or Shadow Of The Colossus.

As for them being unfulfilling experiences, that's the one point I could see having some weight to it. I felt that Resistance: Fall Of Man (the first) in particular was striving to do something big and just ultimately fell short of its goal. Resistance 2 was much better in its execution, I think; it generally felt like it improved on the mistakes of its predecessor, but a major improvement I saw was the pacing and quality of the storyline, which was much more fleshed out and felt deeper than that of Fall Of Man.

All in all: The series isn't something that's perfect, not by a long shot. There are a few mistakes throughout there that could be improved upon, and Resistance 3 likely will not fix all of them. It doesn't have an amazingly unique story. But considering the quality of the great majority of games today, I'd still classify the Resistance series as good. Not a must-have, not a game of the year, not a trend-setting innovator in the genre- it's good and fun to play through, at least in my experience, and critic and user reviews seem to generally back that up. It's most certainly not a game for everyone, and generally based on your tastes (R_T and Zhukov) I could tell ahead of time that you wouldn't exactly be heaping praise on it. I just happen to be looking forward to it. Fair enough?

AND NOW ON A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT NOTE: Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Cor.

[Freshbite]

I'm going to say fuck both of you because THEY'RE REMAKING HALO 1 YAY. ^_^

I honestly can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, you're quite a hard read.
However, know that I'm actually quite excited myself.

Oh well, if it turns out to be junk at least people will be able to call it the Wii-on-U. Hurr hurr.

Well, atleast it's good for something.

[Renegade_Turner]

It's most certainly not a game for everyone, and generally based on your tastes (R_T and Zhukov) I could tell ahead of time that you wouldn't exactly be heaping praise on it.

Wait, what exactly are my tastes? I love FPS games, and I love games with a surreal setting, especially where invasions of earth are involved...Resistance is all these things, and still sucks uncompromisingly.

I'm going to say fuck both of you because THEY'RE REMAKING HALO 1 YAY. ^_^

I honestly can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, you're quite a hard read.
However, know that I'm actually quite excited myself.

I'm so super cereal you wouldn't believe me if I told you. The games are just fun, albeit I didn't finish Reach's campaign because I felt like something was missing. Still, the online is immense fun!

*High-five*

[Freshbite]

*High-five*

Although, I actually prefer the campaign rather than the multiplayer. Now, don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the multiplayer-side of the games aswell, particularly the first game for the PC.

I'm much of a story person myself, I love reading up on lore for my favorite games and have a hard time playing a game without knowing What I'm doing (the protagonist) and Why. I love character detail and a very well thought out story progression.

[Renegade_Turner]

...and have a hard time playing a game without knowing What I'm doing (the protagonist) and Why.

Well, if you don't keel THEM, they'll keel YOU.

[Freshbite]

Well, if you don't keel THEM, they'll keel YOU. :P

How easy as that may seem to live in to, I often need more to keep me motivated. I'm a role playing person, and if I don't see a reason for the protagonist to keep himself alive (e.g, to protect or return to his family), I don't have a reason to keep him alive, as morbid as that may sound. I try to live in with the character that I'm posing as.

God of War (The first game) did this good, very good. I could really understand why he turned into a blurring cloud of reincarnated, psychotic rage. "I feel you man", I said.

[Assaultman67]

You take game critique in general a bit too seriously.

The term you're searching for is "standards." ...

It just dawned on me that I would like to hear Zhukov pitch a game idea. Simply because I really would like to see what comes out of that head.

[Zhukov]

I like that Assassin's Creed trailer. It lets the visuals do the work and doesn't feel the need to ruin itself with a crappy voiceover. (No, I'm not just referring to the Resistance 3 trailer here, a lot of them do it. Examples one and two.)

But as for the game itself... eh. Not feeling it. I'm sure it will be good, or at least decent, but I've had enough of the series. Assassin's Creed II shat itself inside out at the conclusion and by the time I finished Brotherhood I was begging for it to end. I'll probably get Revelations eventually, once the memories have faded.

...

On a completely unrelated note, somewhere out there exists the full length E3 demonstration of Bioshock Infinite. I know this because I have read the reports of several people who have seen it. However, nobody has uploaded the damn thing. This makes me grumpy.

[Freshbite]

Their complete presentation can be found here:
Sony Press Conference - E3 2011: Part 2 (at 28m15s), continued at
Sony Press Conference - E3 2011: Part 3

Individual clips:
Bioshock Infinite: PS Move and PS Vita Announcements
Bioshock Infinite: Combat and Design Interview
Bioshock Infinite: Gameplay Trailer
Ken Levine E3 Interview

That was all that I saw them present during the E3 event, and all that is to be found about it on the E3 website. I could not find anything from their booth, if that were what you meant.

On another another note, am I the only one that actually think that this looks interesting, aside from the display of female flesh?
Dragon's Crown debut trailer

[Grayswandir]

The only games that really caught my eye on that list were Battlefield 3, Arkham City, Bioshock: Infinite, and Street Fighter x Tekken.

As much as I like the idea of a fancy looking original Halo, they're supposedly going to try and sell the Halo Classic remake for $40...so, yeah, no.

The new Ace Combat should be fun, but I'm still wary about the new quick time events for some of the combat.

I like that they're expanding the multiplayer aspect of the new Assassin's Creed game, but I'll probably skip this one until there's an actual confirmed Assassin's Creed III. As much as I liked Enzo, I want new characters and a new setting.

I do hope for good things from the PSVita, we'll see where Sony takes it though.

[Zhukov]

That was all that I saw them present during the E3 event, and all that is to be found about it on the E3 website.

Nah, that's not it.

See that gameplay trailer? The one that starts with "promise me" and ends with Booker jumping out of the blimp? That's made of fragments of a 10-15 minute long gameplay demonstration.

It exists. And I want it. And some scheming bastard is keeping it from me.

[Renegade_Turner]

How easy as that may seem to live in to, I often need more to keep me motivated. I'm a role playing person, and if I don't see a reason for the protagonist to keep himself alive (e.g, to protect or return to his family), I don't have a reason to keep him alive, as morbid as that may sound. I try to live in with the character that I'm posing as.

This is generally what tabletop RPG games are for...I play a bit of d20 modern with a few friends. Nothing too nerdy, just a few beers and a campaign where we play as licensed mercenaries in modern realistic settings. My current character is a Swiss ex-special forces man named Viktor Yakin...I'm the only one in the group who speaks German so I come in handy. Our last mission was a search and rescue of a young American socialite who happens to be the daughter of a wealthy American governor. She was in the centre of Krakow just as war was beginning to ravage Poland (made up, obviously). They're great craic, we don't take them too seriously, but in terms of playing a role as a character it would sate your appetite.

[Freshbite]

It exists. And I want it. And some scheming bastard is keeping it from me.

Gamespot has active Live Cam's as we speak: Gamespot Live Cam 1, Gamespot Live Cam 2

I submitted a question to the first cameraman,
"Does Irrational Games have anything to show off in their booth concerning Bioshock Infinite, or were the new stage trailer the only thing they brought to E3?"

He answered my question in the stream by calling out my real name, which was kind of creepy, and said that basically they had nothing else to show off.

If it does exist, it's shown off-public.
Would you mind linking to those reports you've read? I'm quite interested myself.

They're great craic, we don't take them too seriously, but in terms of playing a role as a character it would sate your appetite.

I've engaged myself in numerous RPG's with a couple of friends. "Mutant" is the one we currently put down the most time into, but we've also started other adventures, such as games of:
- Götterdämmerung
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Dragon Age 2 (We're actually starting this one tomorrow evening)

In these games, I'm always either a tanking class or a Ranger. Concerning my "live in"-treat, I had a problem with Mutant where I was not too certain of my characters motivation to follow along the quest-story. That was mostly due to the fact that my character was an egocentric, sadistic bitch, but I just don't think that sort of questioning should be able to appear.

Nevertheless, we always have great fun, and to those here that has never tried it, try it.
If you have a good DM, you will enjoy it. That's all I can say.