Another E3 has come and gone and, as usual, many surprises came along with it. Here, in no particular order, are my personal biggest surprises and/or excitements from this year’s E3 extravaganza!
Getting Punked by Call of Duty:
In a moment that I will remember for a long time, Jamie and I were sitting in his room watching the Sony press conference. We were already blown away by their game offerings when, at the end of their VR showcase, a game neither of us recognized started playing.
At first, we thought it was another VR shooter. The demo started strong and progressively got us more and more excited. An aerial assault in space leading to a zero-G gun fight. What was not to love?
“We must know what this game is!” we both exclaimed. Activision responded, with what I imagine what two huge middle fingers pointed in our direction, “Call of Duty you fools!”
Yes, we lambasted the CoD Infinite Warfare trailer. Yes, we said Battlefield 1 would wipe the floor with CoD this time around. But dang it if that gameplay didn’t look like a lot of fun. I guess I’ll be playing Call of Duty this cycle.
Metroidvania Meets Tim Schafer:
Headlander may be the single game from E3 I’m most excited to play. I had no idea it existed. It may have been circulating in the game-o-sphere for a while, but my introduction to it was at E3.
Anyone who has followed the show for a while knows I’m a sucker for Metroid and the Metroidvania style of games. Shadow Complex brought the genre into the modern generation in an amazing way.
Now Headlander seems to be taking it to a new and absurd level. The idea of controlling a floating head and taking over a plethora of different bodies, including a chihuahua-sized pup, seems both incredibly fun and ripe for fascinating puzzles and gameplay.
Medicating the Pain Away:
So this game has been out there for a while, but again, it’s new to me. We Happy Few follows a protagonist who decides to stop taking is reality blurring medications to see the dystopian world he actually lives in.
It has a very Bioshock feel to it. It’s dark and mind-bending with just enough hope to make it palatable. I’m not sure if the gameplay will actually be that fun, but the concept is killer. It’s available via the Xbox early access program, though I’ll wait until it’s officially done.
It’s Mega Man meets Metroid:
Going back to my Metroid love, Recore looks really fun. We saw the game for the first time last year at E3. I was disappointed that the Microsoft press conference failed to show off Recore in a meaningful way and I wrote it off as just another mediocre IP. Then I saw the gameplay footage from the E3 floor.
While the combo system in a shooter seems weird, the platforming traversal of the environments and “core” game mechanic are really intriguing to me. It’s a title I could easily see myself getting lost in.
Psychonauts VR:
While VR was a huge theme at this year’s show, most of the software failed to really captivate me. The most compelling titles that seemed like more than sexy tech demos were horror franchises like Resident Evil. Again – Nope.
Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin looks like it could be a full VR title that’s fun, immersive, and not utterly terrifying. From the hands-on impression, it seems like a room puzzler with no walking mechanism. Instead, you use clairvoyance to see through the eyes of the other members of your team, then use your other powers to solve puzzles.
PSVR is promising 50 titles by year end, but most of what we’ve seen isn’t very compelling. It doesn’t need 50 awesome games for it to succeed, but we do need a few. I think Psychonauts will be one of those.
Becoming Human:
To say I’m a Quantic Dream fan would be an understatement. I’ve devoured every game they’ve put out since Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit. I think David Cage is a genius game creator.
It took me about two seconds to recognize Detroit: Become Human as a Quantic Dream title. Any doubt I had was immediately put to rest as I saw one of Quantic Dream’s trademark QTEs pop up on screen. While the gameplay has never been the strong suit of a David Cage title, the stories and visuals are alway top-notch.
Detroit: Become Human has a compelling premise. It looks to center around the humanizing process for androids. It’s sure to be narrative driven, dark, and riveting.
“I’m back”:
Kojima’s falling out with Konami was well documented. The remnant of that fractured relationship is the painfully unfinished Metal Gear Solid.
Kojima and Norman Reedus nearly had a hit game with Silent Hills before it was canceled. So it shouldn’t have been a huge surprise to see them both at E3 (the latter virtually) working together on a new project. But it was.
The spectacle of Kojima on stage at Sony’s conference melded with the incredibly strange and cryptic trailer for Death Stranding left me both intrigued and confused. The weirdly buff and naked Norman Reedus CG character model may have had something to do with it.
The Virtual Captain’s Log:
While far from a Trekkie, I’ve always enjoyed Star Trek. I grew up watch The Next Generation (I was a little young for the original series). So for me, Star Trek is Captain Picard, Riker, Data, Worf, Troi, and, of course, Geordi.
So to see none other than LeVar Burton come out to showcase a Star Trek VR game pumped me up. Sure, the game looks like a glorified button simulator, but that’s not totally a bad thing. To sit virtually on the bridge of a starship and fight Klingons or discover new worlds sounds like fun. It may not be action packed, but I think delightfully entertaining and nostalgic.
Zombies Again:
Zombie-themed video games are pretty ubiquitous at this point, so it takes something special to stand out in the crowd. I can’t put my finger on what special thing Days Gone has, but I’m sure it has it.
I love the Walking Dead – in comic, TV, or Telltale video game form. Days Gone feels like the more realistic Walking Dead game that hasn’t happened yet. In fact, it feels like a little licensing and it could have been an even bigger deal.
Nonetheless, Days Gone stood out in a Sony press conference full of standout titles. The fact that they ended their stellar presser with gameplay of Days Gone shows that they’re taking it seriously and expect great things. I expect it to be great as well.
