Anthony brings you his Day 1 of E3 2010
Day 1 at E3 2010, and it is good to be back! The way things are set out this year made me feel like nothing had been changed. Other than a few shuffles around the big players remain in the same spots as last year, surprisingly almost using the same booths as last year too.
Being the first day it was always going to be a busy one. The day was pretty packed, all the way through till the end. Like last year I decided to do more looking around than playing, though I couldn’t resist getting my hands on the more important ‘must play’ titles on show…
Medal of Honor
EA’s booth was the first stop, where I joined a short queue to play Medal of Honor. My first thoughts on MOH were that there is a lot of influence from other games in this game. Don’t get me wrong, that is not a bad thing, especially when it comes from games such as Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. The mode I was playing seemed to be some kind of team deathmatch in some run-down desert town. Visually the game looked without a doubt stunning, and on par with CoD and BFBC2. Controls felt ok, a little twitchy on the setup I was playing, but otherwise good. MOH will definitely be on my radar this year and with a free Beta code in hand I will sure be checking it out in the coming weeks.
Mafia 2
Next up was 2K’s Mafia 2. In my short demo of the game I was able to sample the driving, melee combat with innocent pedestrians as well as shootouts in a disbanded warehouse. I found the camera to be a little too close to the character when walking around inside buildings, but other than that everything was great. Characters looked good with a lot of detail in their faces. There as been some good work made in this department and it makes in-game cut scenes much more believable. Driving felt just as it did in the original with its swaying sponge suspension where you again have to be careful not to spook the nearby patrolling cops. I am a big fan of the original Mafia game and ill definitely be picking this up.
Battlefield Bad Company 2 Onslaught DLC
Being a huge Battlefield Bad Company 2 fan I just had to get my hands on the new upcoming Onslaught mode. Jumping into the 4 player co-op mode my team did their very best to beat the oncoming waves of enemies as we capture each flag point in the map. I found capturing takes a lot longer in Onslaught, but that makes for a more compelling match each time, as you have to hold the zone for longer. The AI was the most impressive here as they really kept us on our toes, coming at us from different angles, though the tanks were a little more dumb, in that they stationary for long periods of time making them easy pickings, something you don’t really see when occupied by a human player. If you are a BFBC2 fan, then you are in for a real treat when Onslaught comes to your console very soon.
Killzone 3
I also managed to get some hands on with Killzone 3, there were two queues for the game, one for normal display and one for 3D. With no need for 3D I jumped the queue to play the game in standard mode. A 3 level demo was on show this year, with a chance to sample some air combat whilst you gun down nearby platforms, then on foot for some close combat and finally some jetpack enemies to take on. All in all the game is looking great. Much like Killzone 2 really, visually I didn’t see much improvement, though that was only over a few short levels. No doubt Killzone 3 will sell buckets and from what I’ve played ill be jumping in also.
LittleBigPlanet 2
And finally I got a taste of LittleBigPlanet 2, in a short multiplayer level. Much the same here really, it felt like LittleBigPlanet but with the main addition of the grappling hooks we had in the level. The level we played was great but I couldn’t see any major new additions in the levels objects. I am sure the level side of things will see the most change in this game, and in time new, fresh and unique games will rise to the surface in LBP2. This is one to watch for sure if you are a fan still of the original, and more so if you are a heavy creator in the game.
Cliffy B
The day rounded off with an impromptu interview with Epic Game’s Cliffy B. We only had a short 10minutes with the man where we managed to squeeze out any information we had on the upcoming Gears of War 3. I shot some video of this so I’ll get that up in a new blog very soon.
Overall it was a good first day for E3 2010. Tomorrow ill be getting more hands-on time with some of the games I scouted today. So stay tuned for Day 2 and until then if you have anything you’d like me to check out, or have any questions about the games I’ve played today, let me know in the comments.
Things I’m liking today
- Seeing OnLive service in action, coming to UK and Germany soon
- The PR girls trying to walk in the highest heals and platform boots imaginable
- How much some PR people don’t know about the product they are endorsing
- Free copies of Edge and Official magazines in the lobby
- Seeing people wear these enormous swag bags that stretch from your wastline to your feet
- Pizza slices and cold drinks in the hot LA sun
