E3 Day One

So like a lot of gamers right now like  I am, are  soaking up all the awesome new stuff coming out of the Electronic Entertainment Expo or E3 as it is otherwise known. There are so many amazing games coming out that it is going to be difficult to prioritize which ones to buy. Since it would take weeks to cover everything going on at the expo, we are only covering those things that are interesting to us, it is our blog after all.

First up on the list is The Last Of Us, the game created by Naughty Dog Studios the designers of the Uncharted franchise. Instead of treasure hunting this game is based in a post apocalyptic world where a new fungi has been killing people and reanimating their corpses.The United States is under martial law and the military is keeping everyone uninfected in the quarantine zone. You play as Joel, a black market dealer who has agreed to watch over a girl named Ellie after leaving the quarantine zone. The style of game play is very similar to the Uncharted series, so any fans of Uncharted should feel right at home. The graphic design of the game is simply beautiful, and watching the video I could not tell whether I was watching a cut scene or actual game play. This game will definitely be on the top of my want list this year.

Game play footage from E3.

Next up is Star Wars 1313, the new game from Lucasarts. It is a third person shooter, where you play a bounty hunter fighting in the deep levels of Coruscant. This will be the first Star Wars game with a mature rating, and there will also be no force powers. That’s right no playing a Jedi in this one. While this does sadden me slightly because I love lightsaber combat, I am still really looking forward to this game. The graphics are amazing and it appears there is a flawless transition from cinematic to game play. As a big fan of Star Wars I can not wait for this one to hit the shelves.

Interview with the game director and game play footage.

Watch Dogs from Ubisoft is next on my list. From what I have seen so far the game looks like Grand Theft Auto plus the ability to hack many things in the environment. This new spin makes the computer geek in me very happy.

Call Of Duty Black Ops 2 from Treyarch, need I say more? This franchise has only managed to get better with every new incarnation. The story in single player is always amazing and the multiplayer never ceases to entertain. I also like the modern style to the weapons and gadgets that the demo has showed so far. I hope we get the C-130 gunship in this version. Not much can beat firing a Howitzer from an airplane.

Also we are finally getting a new chapter in the Halo saga with Halo 4. I have greatly enjoyed this series all the way back to the first game. Great story line for single player and the mulitplayer just seems to suck you in for hours. Like many who have played it I am dying to continue the story with Master Chief and Cortana. I am also looking forward to both versus and co-op multiplayer. Character customization options for multiplayer look pretty extensive too. It is always nice to be able to put your own little flair into games you love to play.

Cinematic and game play footage

I have long been a fan of the Lego series of games. Putting an interesting humor twist to favorite titles like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Batman, and Pirates of the Caribbean has endeared these games to me. This year at E3 we see two more titles coming out in the franchise. Lego Batman 2 and Lego Lord of the Rings. The game play style is the same as we already know and love, but one interesting thing this time around is the characters have actual voices this time instead of the mumbling we have seen so far. While that has never bothered me in the past games I appreciate the added effort to add  voice overs to the characters. I may pass on Batman 2 this time, although the lure of more DC superheros to play sounds awesome, but LOTR will definitely be getting added to the collection.

Lego Batman 2

Lego Lord of the Rings

The last game for today that we will be covering is the new XCOM Enemy Unknown. I have played this series since the first game came out way back when. I have always enjoyed the turn based style game play this series has been famous for as well as the base building and squad outfitting. Set in the not so distant future earth is under attack by alien invaders. Your job as the commander of XCOM is to stop the invaders by hunting them down, dissecting their bodies and technology to use in Earths defense against the invaders. Created by Firaxis and 2K Games, the fine people who brought us Civilization 5, this game promises to be all kinds of awesome. I look forward to kicking the aliens off our planet when this one hits the shelves in October.