E3 2012 Day 0 Impressions
So, the first four press conferences are over, and it's ranged from boring to interesting to absolutely incredible. It's been a wild ride so far, and here are my top 10 games from Day 0 of E3 2012.
List items
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Not to be negative, but after Microsoft and EA's press conferences, I was pretty lame on this year's E3, and thought there wasn't much of anything great shown so far. Sure, there were a couple of things that looked alright, but it was all pretty bland and generic.<br> That all changed when I saw Watch Dogs.<br><br>
The demo blew me away. The gritty setting, the dreary atmosphere, near-future cyberpunk awesomeness. All of this was great! Not only that, but the acting was believable, and it was only improved by the stellar facial animation, and incredible lighting. The whole game looked very pretty, actually...<br><br>
They were using an Xbox 360 controller on stage, but if I had to guess, this was running on a high-end PC and will be coming to next generation consoles in a couple of years. It just looks too good to be on current-gen consoles.
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Oh Quantic Dream, you just keep impressing me more with every game you make. I was a big fan of Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy when it came out, but definitely realized that it had major flaws. Flaws which were mostly corrected in Quantic Dream's next game, Heavy Rain.<br><br>
I enjoyed Heavy Rain immensely, all of the gameplay problems of the previous game were gone, and all that was left was exactly what I always wanted out of Indigo Prophecy, except it still had the odd voice acting.<br><br>
Now, Beyond looks to correct that problem as well, by bringing in Ellen Page to play the main character, and (at least in the scene I saw) a cast full of other great actors, and perhaps most importantly, ones who speak English fluently.<br><br>
Really, this seems like the game Quantic Dream has been trying to make all along, or at least the game I've wanted them to make ever since playing Indigo Prophecy. Time will only tell to see if the story lives up to my expectations, but so far... color me impressed.
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Ah, Naughty Dog... you truly never fail to impress. Much like Watch Dogs, I really enjoyed the characters, and the believable acting. Of course, that was to be expected from Naughty Dog, knowing just how great the characters in Uncharted were developed, and the performances they got out of those actors.<br><br>
Something felt different about this, though. Something subtle.<br>
Uncharted is more like your typical "Indiana Jones" pulp adventure type of story, while The Last of Us felt more grounded in reality. These characters felt less like fun Hollywood stereotypes, and more like actual human beings.<br>
It's a small change, but an important one, and I think the actors do a great job of displaying their characters' human sides.<br><br>
One downside to this demo were the amount of scripted sequences, which is part of what made Uncharted so linear. Another small downside to this demo was the sheer amount of violence on display. Everything I had heard about the game up to this point was that it was less focused on action, and more focused on telling a gritty story of survival.<br><br>
Let's hope the full game changes both of those aspects for the better, but despite those two minor flaws, I still came away super-impressed.
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Far Cry 3 had a double impact on impressing me, first at Ubisoft's press conference, I was definitely enjoying the new single player demo (and not just because of the boobs). Then once again at the Sony press conference, when the 4-player co-op was shown off.<br><br>
Despite it's flaws, I still REALLY enjoyed Far Cry 2, and this looks to deliver more of that, except now with a co-op campaign, and perhaps a more robust world & story? where do I sign up?!
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Lara Croft just keeps having a bad day, huh? Well, that may suck for her, but it looks absolutely great in-game! The combat, the physicality, and the graphics are all looking superb.<br><br>
I was already impressed with this game when it was initially shown, but it definitely made a strong impact at this year's E3 as well.
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Assassin's Creed III looks like a great game, I'm loving the combat, and you fucking fight WOLVES in the forest! Another small touch I really enjoyed was the animation while walking in deep snow, that looked really nice.<br><br>
However, compared to the top 5 on this list, it just looks so standard! Don't get me wrong, I'm still excited to play it, but it feels like it's going to end up as another great Assassin's Creed game. It seems like a known quantity at this point, while everybody else is doing something new & interesting.
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Splinter Cell Conviction is still probably on the top of my list of "favorite stealth action games", So it was nice to see them return to that formula and almost assuredly improving upon it, all with a young Sam Fisher, and the return of the Spies vs. Mercs mode.<br>
Okay, Ubisoft, I'm listening.
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Ah, Halo 4 we finally get to see you in-action! The new enemy designs looked great, and the HUD looked really nice & sleek. The gameplay seemed nice & smooth, and everything seemed to be good, but for some reason I didn't get that excited for this one.<br><br>
It just looks like more Halo, which I suppose that's a good thing since it means 343 Studios seem to be getting it right. Do I really need to play more Halo, though? Well, truth is, I probably will when it comes out... just color me mildly impressed for now.
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ALRIGHT! YES! More Rayman is just what I need!<br>
Wait, hold on... I still haven't played Rayman Origins! FUCK! I NEED TO GET ON THAT!<br><br>
Either way, this game seemed incredible.
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This kind of surprised me, I wasn't expecting much from this when they went into the gameplay demo, but what they showed of it made it seem like a well done modern military shooter.<br><br>
The graphics look great on Frostbite 2.0 as well, and if there wasn't such an over-saturation of this type of game in the marketplace currently, I may have been even more impressed with it. What it currently seems to bring to the table is a lot like Call of Duty, but something about it seems better and the features they added seem well thought-out. Not bad, Danger Close... not bad.
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