E3 Day 0 (Part 2) -- The EA and Ubisoft Press Conferences

Written By: Tyler

Image from: http://e3expo.com

Welcome back. With this post, I will be giving a mostly live rundown of the EA and Ubisoft press conferences. What I mean by "mostly live" is that, outside of any point where I have to leave my PC, I will be writing this post as I watch the press conference so that's why it will seem very "in the moment."


EA Press Conference

Star Wars: Battlefront 3. After that popped up, EA dropped the mic and left the stage. No, but they did start it off by talking about Star Wars, showingvery brief in-game footage and then ending it by saying that the new Battlefront will show up in Spring of next year.

Unfortunately at this point I had to leave my PC so from this point on I just had to go through articles and get my news. I take it I missed a game demo of Dragon Age: Inquisition and they teased a new Mass Effect that will take place in *gasp* space, and a new IP that will tell "contemporary" stories.

I came back during the new Sims, in which personality is supposed to play a big role in the stories of the Sims. The concept is "smarter sims" and Sims 4 is supposed to be deeper in that regard. For example, one old woman annoyed a guy in the footage we were shown, and the next day at the gym the guy worked out harder because he was frustrated. Then they threw him a party to cheer him up... and he laughed to death. Whether this will work as they intended remains to be seen.

Next up is EA UFC. It started with Bruce Lee... no really, the video did. The MMA fighters talked about how Bruce Lee was the father to MMA, and then we were told we can be Bruce Lee. Next came the video game footage... the 5th round between BJ Penn and Bruce Lee. Having played the demo, I found that the AI brawled way too much on the feet, and this video was no different. I won't dissect all the gameplay, but this video hasn't really done anything to calm my nerves concerning the full game.

Onto a new sport now -- hockey. NHL '15 is on its way to the surprise of absolutely nobody, and apparently everything is supposed to change. So the pucks will be cannon balls and knives are allowed. Just kidding, but it's the typical spiel about how it's going to be more realistic. Then an emotional video of hockey players played in which we got to see a cinematic of the great Canadian game.

Then we were showed an extremely early example of the new Criterion Games game, in which they have expanded beyond cars... we will now be able to play with helicopters, jet skis, cars, etc in a first-person view. 

Frostbite 3 is coming to EA Sports PGA Tour. So get hyped for the... most... exciting... sport on earth.

With Madden '15, they're working hard on defense since defense is apparently "nearly" half the game. Well, I'd say it's exactly half, but I'm not nitpicking.

Dawngate is an upcoming moba that is supposed to build on existing mobas, not just clone them.

As the show starts to wind-down, Mirror's Edge 2 is shown off. This is one of my more anticipated games, so of course I got excited. They talk about Faith, attitude and the style of Mirror's Edge and we see footage of the conceptual prototype. Turns out, Mirror's Edge 2 is going to be heavy on parkour. Who woulda thunk it? I don't think they expanded as much on the reveal from last year as they should have.

And next is Fifa '15, and once again we're told how Fifa is going to be more realistic with man to man battles, more agility, authentic atmosphere and visuals. Nothing out of the ordinary, but something that is sure to be a lot of fun if you're a soccer fan.

Then Battlefield: Hardline shows up to the party. It's time for cops and criminals this time. The plot is supposed to be more like a great cop TV show, but the focus is obviously going to be on multiplayer.
They showed us footage of a heist in-game from multiple perspectives -- the cops and the criminals. It looks and feels like Battlefield, but I have to admit that taking it away from the military based gameplay to this intrigues me. The game looked incredibly exciting and dynamic, like a Battlefield game should. I was already sold, but after I watched the crane come down and be the catalyst of a ton of destruction... give it to me right now. October 21 can't come soon enough.

After that awesome footage, they launched the beta of Battlefield: Hardline.


Closing Statement: I wasn't terribly impressed with the EA Press Conference but it had its moments. It looks like they're doing something neat with Sims, and ending it with Battlefield was a great thing because that game looks astonishing, but mostly we just get some updates on sports games. I also think that Battlefront should have gotten more than it did, because while it's exciting enough that it exists, we've been waiting so long for it that some real game play would have been welcome. Same with Mirror's Edge.



Ubisoft Press Conference

The Ubisoft press conference starts with a pretty shot of a mountain. Aww. What this mountain means is Far Cry 4. After a lengthy cinematic, Dan Hay shows up on stage, saying that it's the first five minutes of the game. 

Then we apparently get some stand-up comedy. I got to give it to them, putting Aisha Tyler up there every year now is probably a good idea because she's entertaining. What's next? Just Dance 2015. Yay?

We get to hear Happy for the millionth time in the last 24 hours, and it shows off footage of the game. I'm not excited at all, but I can't even slow dance so what do I know? The big news is, now you can play it on your phone! Sweet! I'm going to do that...

After talking about how dancing makes people happy, Aisha does a nice transition to relate that to post-apocalyptic New York. Here comes The Division. All they did was show a movie of it, so how the online aspects tie-in are still a mystery to me, which sucks because that's all I wanted to know.

Next up we have The Crew. In the video, the car is going F-Zero fast while a moody song plays in the background. There are two one-hour missions in the game. There are co-op missions, open-world driving... basically The Crew sounds like a pretty inventive racing game. You can get the "beeta" on the Crew website, and the game is coming out November 11 on Xbone, PS4 and PC.

 It was only a matter of time, so here comes Assassin's Creed Unity... a game that actually impressed me during the Microsoft press conference. There's another cinematic with more moody music
but no actual gameplay. It's a really cool video, though. Afterward we're told that the core experience has been changed. Then the gameplay comes and it looks like a lot of open-world fun, with a neat ending where the other players show up. 

So what did we all want? A fitness game. Thanks Ubisoft for bringing us Shape Up. Instead of doing boring stuff, we will jump on trains and shit. We see a video of the presenter stepping on piano keys against himself, and it doesn't actually look terrible. Then we get to see push-ups! This party doesn't stop! This is an S Club party! I believe Shape Up is a fitness game I can get behind.

From fitness to World War 1, we have the puzzle game Valiant Hearts. The game has a pretty artstyle and revolves around a dog and the letters that soldiers wrote back in WW1. It was an incredibly touching trailer but I'm not really sure what the game play will be like, nor will it be any good. What I do think is we'll get an emotional game that sticks with you, even if it isn't the most fun to play. 

How do we end it? With pre-alpha footage of Rainbow Six: Siege. I'm beyond excited for some tactical shooter gameplay, such as blowing up the floor in order to ambush your opponent and rescue the hostage. I cannot wait for this game to come out, because even in pre-alpha it looks like a beast (not graphically, but just gameplay wise).


Closing Statement: Ubisoft tends to have really theatrical press conferences, which is a double-edged sword for me. On one side, it makes for an extremely entertaining, lively and comical presentation, but on the other side, sometimes it goes on way too long when you just want to see games. They are definitely the "least corporate" of the companies presenting, in the sense that they seem to have more fun with the whole ordeal, and right now they're tied for the best presentation of the show... with Microsoft, who played it more bland but gave us a ton of great games.

A Cloudbuilt Review - I Try To Wall Run, I Fall, I Die... Rinse, Repeat

Written By: Tyler
Platform Played On: PC

Rating: 7.5/10
Verdict: Cloudbuilt is at its best when it's letting you do the crazy platforming that it promises. There are little issues that keep me from enjoying it more, but anybody who likes hard games and Mirror's Edge inspired parkour should check it out.


Cloudbuilt was born into existence whilst promising two things: it was going to be hard with crazy, fast and clever platforming. The good news is that Cloudbuilt basically delivers on its premise. The bad news is, sometimes it's not in the best way.

In Cloudbuilt you play as a female -- and to the games credit, it's like Remember Me in the sense that you're a girl but ultimately you're just a person -- who doesn't know why her body is in a room. Every time you press the E key while standing above her body, you are transported to a new level and that's where the game gets intense.

The game is described as Sonic meets Mirror's Edge by every preview I've ever seen and that's an apt description. Take the speed from Sonic and the parkour elements from Mirror's Edge, throw in a healthy dosage of Dark Souls difficulty, and you have Cloudbuilt. You run fast and can run across walls, you have a jetpack that allows you to jump more than once, and you have a gun. You get planted at the beginning of the level and due to clever level design, you can pick one of a few different ways to get to the end of the level.

The fast-paced runner-style platforming is intriguing and is usually a lot of fun. Running up a wall, jumping to another wall and running up that is invigorating and thrilling... it's an event that gets the blood pumping. Running and then doing a massive jump, using your jetpack, is a good time. There are a lot of things you can do in this game that make it a game worth playing, and since the levels offer you different ways to reach your destination, it pays to experiment on what path works the best for you. I imagine seeing people who are great at this game will be an experience in itself because it's one of those types of games that give you a genuine feeling of satisfaction when you reach the end of each stage.

A big part of that is because the game is really hard. Unless you're a natural at this kind of thing -- and even then -- you will die a lot. You will fall to your death, only to start again... trying to perfect that perfect run through a level. Once I finally finished a level, I was left feeling like I actually accomplished something, which is an element that a lot of games lack because most games are fairly easy (on Normal). The normal in this game is frustration.

Some people love this kind of thing. People play Dark Souls for a reason, though I'd argue -- in my limited experience with that series -- that Dark Souls is better designed. I'm going to be honest here, but I don't actually love really hard games. I don't know if it's because I grew up in the NES era where a lot of games were hard and I feel like I already "did my time," or if it's just because I like to complete a game and see the story and whatnot. Maybe it's a mixture of both. Since reviews are a personal opinion, this accounts for why I didn't give the game a slightly higher score. I enjoy the game quite a bit, but I had to throw this out there because I did drop the score a teensy-weensy bit because of it.

However, the game isn't without flaws. As fun as the parkour elements are, it also suffers from the same thing that Mirror's Edge did (though I'd also argue that Mirror's Edge is a better game). I don't know why the game had guns. Most of the time the gunplay in this is just an annoyance and it actually badly affects the flow of the game. Cloudbuilt is supposed to be fast, and when you get something right, progressing through a stage is a fluid, beautiful act. Including a gun and enemies that actually corrupt that flow was a bad move. The emphasis should be on the platforming, and for the most part it is, but this issue exists.

For example, guns can shoot you from across the stage. I'm not kidding. You're not supposed to look back in this game because the genre itself is forward forward forward, but you could be standing there planning your next move and you get shot from a gun that you passed a while back. Some may argue that it keeps you on your toes, I say it's just cheap difficulty. The game is hard enough without these tricks. That's just one example, but there are aspects of the game that take you out of it. When Mirror's Edge slows the game down, it cheapens the experience. The same can be said about Cloudbuilt. I'm not against enemies being in the game, but they weren't always implemented correctly.

There are other issues too. Sometimes the game doesn't do what I want it to do, meaning I may try to jump across to another wall and it doesn't do it. I hit the wall then fall to my death. It doesn't happen a lot but it did happen a few times. It wouldn't even be worth mentioning if it weren't for the fact that the checkpoints are so few and far between that dying is traumatic. It's frustrating to be on a good run, hit the wall and not have it register and just fall to your death... only to start from the beginning because there wasn't a checkpoint anywhere near where you are. At the beginning of the game it seemed to have a good amount of checkpoints but as it went on they became more scarce. Dying because I suck is one thing, dying because the game doesn't work is another.

Don't look for any upgrade systems here, because Cloudbuilt gives you all the tools you need to succeed right from the beginning. This was an interesting move in this day and age because so many games base their accomplishments on upgrade systems. The upgrade here is the skills that you develop as you play the game.

The game is pretty. I have to give props because they do the cell-shaded thing well. This particular style is not one we see a lot of, even today despite the popularity of games like Borderlands, so it's always refreshing to see it done well. The environments are detailed, whether it's the way the rain beats down on you or looking off into the distance and seeing the rest of the level. I don't know if it'll be a nominee for Best Visuals when I do my awards at the end of the year, but I'll definitely consider it.

The music is also pretty, particularly when you're in the main room in between missions. I would sit there and listen to it for a few minutes once in a while. The music has a retro feel, and when done well (like in Cloudbuilt) that can be really appealing.


The story is vague and a mystery, and slowly unfolds in between missions. I don't think just standing in a small room and listening to someone monologue is the best way to present a plot, but this is a problem with games as a whole. I've criticized games like Haze for this kind of thing because it's really just not that entertaining standing in place while people talk all the time. A little bit is fine, but some games go overboard. Luckily Cloudbuilt has an interesting story, so it's easy to forgive it.

But really, you come here for the platforming, and like I've said, Cloudbuilt succeeds for the most part. It's interesting that we've gotten a game like this and TITANFALL in quick succession. Is this an indication of where games are going?

Cloudbuilt is a fun game. It's flawed, but that feeling you get when you finally beat a level you've been attempting for an hour is worth the price of admission alone. The small team that developed this should be proud of themselves, and anybody who wants a challenge should try this out.

My Top 50 Favourite Video Games of This Generation, 50 - 41

Written By: Tyler Selig

Unless you’ve been going out and having a life, which I don’t understand, you are aware Sony and Microsoft are releasing their new systems next month. Sony went with the tried, tested and true Playstation 4, while Microsoft opted to confuse the fuck out of people by calling theirs the Xbox One.

                So with the Wii U already out, and these systems on their way to world domination, I reckon now is a good time to give my favourite 50 games of this generation. I’m only going to include console games, so only PS3, 360 and Wii are represented here.

                And if this blog ever got readers, I’m sure some of you will be annoyed by my choices. I definitely follow popular opinion on some games, but I have included games on here that probably no one else would ever include on a Top 50. But that’s the fun… different opinions. I know the internet doesn’t take too kindly to that.

                There are some things that bother me about my list. For as many games as I have played, there are games I know would have made it here, that I just didn’t play. Sorry to those games. I will play you some day.

                I intend to put up an article each day, with ten games each day, so this is a big five day event. Woo hoo. Let’s do this.

50: Kane and Lynch: Dead Men (PS3, 360)

                Maybe Kane and Lynch is not a game most people would pick. I understand that. I don’t think it got great reviews, and even my friend said the controls felt weird. To me, the game plays like the old Conflict games (not Denied Ops, that game sucks), and those have always been “guilty pleasures” of mine, if I believed in feeling guilty about liking things. So I was used to the controls.

                While I don’t like the sequel, I thought the first one is an underrated shooter. It doesn’t bring anything new to the table but sometimes shooting is just fun, and the relationship between these two makes it interesting.

                I think more people should give Kane and Lynch a fair shake. I’m aware I probably like it more than most, but I stand by it. It almost didn’t make the list but I have to show it love.

49: Deathsmiles (360)

                Deathsmiles was a game I knew nothing about but I took a chance. I’m glad I did, because what I found was a wonderful side-scrolling shooting game that is colourful and intense. Maybe it’s because you don’t often see retail games tackle this kind of genre – as it’s mostly indies that do it these days – but it was a breath of fresh air for me. It’s well made, with a lot of style.

               

48: Lost in Shadow (Wii)

                Lost in Shadow takes a genre as old as games (platforming), and adds an interesting twist. You play as a shadow, so instead of jumping on solid objects, you jump on the shadows of said solid objects. It doesn’t seem like much but I felt that it changed up the genre enough to make this stand out, and it made me think a little more about where I was jumping.

                Though people criticize the Wii for not having good graphics, I think Lost in Shadow succeeds in something more important: visual design/art style. It’s a pretty game because they took care to create an interesting world.

                My only dig is the insane amount of backtracking later on. If it weren’t for that momentum killer, I would have put this game higher than I did. This is one of those special games that should be included in “most overlooked games” years from now.

47: Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

                While I don’t think Mario Kart Wii stands up to some of the older Mario Karts, and I’ve been a little bit tough on it, I’ve decided that my disappointment was due more to the outstanding quality of previous games, and not a dig on the game itself.

                I have criticisms, but an average Mario Kart is still a great game. The one thing I do love about the game is the steering wheel packaged right in. That’s a great touch.

                Mario Kart Wii does change things up a bit, so while it wasn’t the huge jump up that I wanted, it’s still wonderful.

46: Catherine (PS3, 360)

                Catherine is another breath of fresh air to me. A game that, at its core, is about a relationship… ends up being much more than that. The story is a little messed up, and it helps that you can affect how it plays out. I was into the story from the moment I started a new game, and I wanted to see what would happen next.

                But it’s not just a story-driven game. No, it does everything else really well too. It does a lot of things well, from the music to the graphics, but above all else, the game is just fun to play. It’s a puzzle game but the gist of it is that you just have to climb up blocks. It doesn’t sound like much but it can be pretty intense, especially at bosses, and it’s something different.

               

45: Alan Wake (360)

                Alan Wake is a great survival horror game. While it isn’t as good as Silent Hill (when it’s at its best), this is still great. The most important aspect of it is the story, but it does get the scares down as well.

                I also am a fan of some of the music choices it picks to end the episodes with, such as Haunted by Poe. I marked out pretty hard when I heard that song because I love it.

44: Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon (Wii)

                What a sad, sad Wii game. I’m so glad I bought it though.

                It’s an RPG, and it’s another overlooked game, though I feel some of the better Wii games are overlooked because Nintendo didn’t market some of these very well.

                Like Lost in Shadow, sure, the graphics aren’t great, but the visual design is amazing. Fragile Dreams has such a rich, lonely world, that it’s easy to get lost in it and feel something as you play the main character, a person who has to travel this world, mostly alone. It’s a gripping tale.

                The one issue is that while I think weapons breaking is a good mechanic that should be left in the game, weapons break too much, to the point it becomes a chore to play at games. So this is the one thing that keeps it from getting a little higher.

                But I stand by Fragile Dreams as being one of the better RPGs of the last decade.

43: Mirror’s Edge (PS3, 360)

                I’m glad Mirror’s Edge is finally getting a sequel because it deserves it.

                You take a look at it and you think, “Oh, a first-person shooter with a weird colour palette,” but you’d only be partially right.

                I agree that it has a weird colour palette but it hits the dystopian feel so well because of it. It doesn’t look like other games. The colours also make it easy to spot where you can jump, which is important because this is what makes it different.

                Mirror’s Edge penalizes you for shooting, and urges you to run. Because of this, the game is fast-paced and thrilling. You can disarm guards, but you do it mostly just so they don’t shoot you so you can run away.

                You don’t get many games like this these days, and it should be embraced for that reason.

42: Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (PS3, 360)

                Admittedly I was never a massive Ninja Gaiden fan. I definitely enjoyed the crushing difficulty of the NES games, but I wouldn’t include them in my favourite games of all time.

                It took me awhile to play the modern versions of the series. They aren’t side-scrolling platformers anymore, they’re really hard action games.

                It does what these types of games need to do to be successful. The combat is difficult but deep, and each fight seems like a struggle. You can’t just button mash (not that there’s anything wrong with that gameplay choice), you have to try each time or you could die.

41: Limbo (360, PS3)

                Limbo creates a dark world full of intrigue. It’s not a long game, but it does what it sets out to do. It transports you to a mysterious, menacing place, and you have to platform your way out of the situation. The ending is a nice touch. 

Well people, that’s it. What do you think of these games? Let me know in the comments how stupid you think I am. Until next time, thanks for reading.

[Click here to see 40 - 31]