For a gamer like me E3 provides a taste of things to come. Certainly this year there were some huge game titles previewed to the masses and it would appear that the best studios haven’t held back. We take a look at some of this year’s biggest announcements…
For those who are unsure as to what E3 actually is, basically imagine a massive convention centre taken over by the leading studio’s in the gaming community, add in a load of stands for each of these financial behemoths, throw in some demo content and voila, you have one the most exciting gaming events of the year. With the dust settled and excitement levels brought back to a manageable level, let’s crack on.
The eagerly anticipated No Man’s Sky is a cinematic masterpiece.
A concept unto its own; this game was previewed and mentioned in previous E3 shows and has been dubbed the largest game ever to be created. It’s taken a small team years to nail down the algorithms to make it work and finally they showed us a little bit of content that has had many people questioning how our minds work. The game is essentially an enormous space exploration game with over, and I quote, 18 quintillion planets to be discovered. A university professor worked out that it if you wanted to explore every planet properly it would take you around 20 million years to complete… I’m not quite sure that I have the patience for that but it will certainly never leave you bored. Each world has its own unique set of physics and some will obviously have flora and fauna growing and living on it. A truly impressive gaming engine is working at the heart of this title and I can’t wait to fly off!
The latest incarnation features an even more terrifying update to the Zombie add-on.
‘Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3’ by Activision
Yup, a new year means another ‘Call of Duty’ title is set to hit the shelves. Like Peter Jackson churning out ‘Hobbit’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies it’s time for a new twist on what we think warfare is all about. The latest incarnation of the ‘Call of Duty’ series will be going back to the studio who I personally think had the best take on the Zombie mode. An all new weapons system, combat modes, specialist abilities, droids, kill streak rewards and of course, zombie missions, will be thrust upon us at the tail end of the year. Just so all the good players can get good enough to destroy the ‘noobs’ by Christmas. It might look fantastic, but it’s running the risk of getting a bit samey it has to be said.
How do you add more excitement to one of the biggest upcoming cinema releases? Add a game of course.
‘Star Wars Battlefront’ by EA Games
By jove this one looks good. Anyone who is anyone will obviously know of the Star Wars franchise and that they have made several games over the last 20 years or so, ranging from the first person majesty of ‘Dark Forces’, the 3rd person modes of ‘Knights of the Republic’ as well as a classic multi platform ‘Rebel Alliance’ for PC back in the mid 90s. This new re-vamped version for the next generation consoles and PC looks tremendous. The graphics are crisp and sharp, the gameplay looked smooth and well coded and the characters are everything you would expect from a society guided by the force. Old favourites are set to return like the At-At walkers and snow speedsters as well as having a few new units to keep the gameplay nice and fresh. A gem in the rough that will most likely coincide with the release of the new Star Wars movie.
A new atomic wasteland awaits…
For me, this was the highlight of the show. I LOVE the Fallout series and both ‘New Vegas’ for Xbox 360 and Fallout 3 were probably my most played and completed games I have ever owned (aside from a few Final Fantasys). This enormous RPG takes us to a place before the global nuclear apocalypse and then shoots you 200 years into the desolate future.
I’m not going to even try and touch on the storyline because… I simply don’t know it. Bethesda Studios have been keeping their cards very close to their chest on this one and now that we finally know this will be hitting our shelves in November of this year.
For those who want to pre-order the game you will even be able to have your very own Pip Boy to wear that works with your smart phone…. and speaking of phones, they even made a game to work alongside it called ‘Fallout Shelter’, currently available on the iStore and will soon be out on Android devices too.
There will be power armour, base building, weapon repairing, weapon modifying, running away from Deathclaws, running towards a ravager army, baseball whacking strange bugs and everything in between. Taking place in the ruined city of Boston (also hinted as the Commonwealth in previous games) the landscape is stunning. The graphics are always a massive plus when a studio that gave us ‘Skyrim’ are involved and the other elements of gameplay are equally astounding. My MUST HAVE for this year.
Conclusion
I could go on for days about all the new mega titles like ‘Metal Gear Solid’, ‘Gears of War 4’, ‘Rise of the Tomb Raider’ and the like but frankly I think it’s best you have a little look yourselves. Either way, you will be nibbling your nails in excitement just as I am!
Author: Andrew, Weybridge store
