My Most Anticipated Games From E3 2012 (Part 1 - Multi-platform releases)

This year's E3 press conferences seemed to be a mixed bag.  In particular, Ubisoft and Sony had quite strong conferences, while Microsoft and Nintendo conferences were somewhat lacklustre in regard to game announcements.  Despite this, there looks to be a number of games shown at the show to be excited about.

I plan to write a total of 4 posts regarding E3 2012, 1st part will contain releases that will come out on multiple platforms, the 2nd part will concentrate on exclusive releases for Sony platforms (PS3 & Vita), the 3rd part will feature Nintendo exclusives (Wii-U & 3DS) and the final part will be about the exclusives on the Xbox 360.  Below, I list the games that are my most anticipated multi-platform games from E3 2012:

Assassin's Creed III:

I am a big fan of the Assassin's Creed series and have played each of the major iterations since the first game.  When Ubisoft first announced that the newest instalment of the franchise was to take place during the American Revolution, I was a little worried that it would not play like an Assassin's Creed game.

From what little I do know about the America Revolution, there are not massive cities to leap from one building to another.  The franchises previous settings of both the holy land during the third crusade (AC: I) and the various Italian cities during the renaissance period (AC: II, Brotherhood and Revelations) featured cities with a reasonable scope and size to free run and leap from building to building.

After watching the E3 demo, it looks like I can put my initial worries aside.  The game-play does appear to differ from previous instalments in the franchise, but at the same time it seems to have the elements of previous Assassin's Creed games that made them so fun to play in the first place. It looks like you can still run around buildings, as there are settlements in the game rather than large cities, but this time there are lot more areas in the wilderness to explore.  Key elements of the wilderness areas seem to involve a lot of running high up in the tress and climbing sheer cliff faces, all which seamlessly transition from one to the next.

Assassin's Creed III looks like a mix between Rockstar's epic western, Red Dead Redemption mixed in with the game-play of Assassin's Creed, which is definitely not a bad thing.

Watch Dogs:

A number of people, after seeing the demo shown at Ubisoft's press conference, have thought watch Dogs could be a game that will be coming out on next generation platforms.  Since then however, Ubisoft announced that the game is set for a 2013 release on PC, Xbox360 and PS3. 

Despite this announcement some still think it could also be released on next generation systems.

Watch Dogs, is definitely my most anticipated game from E3.

Not a lot of details have been released about Watch Dogs but, judging by the demo it looks like it could be a mixture of a stealth game, with cover based shooter sections set in a GTA style open world.  It is unclear yet, whether the gun-play sections are compulsory or whether you can avoid them by playing in a more stealth based manner.

All in all, this is very high on my anticipated gaming radar.

Hitman - Absolution:

I have never played a Hitman game before, which is strange because I do like to play stealth based games, and the latest instalment has caught my eye.  In anticipation for the new release I have bought Hitman: Blood Money on the PC, which many Hitman fans seem to favour in the series.

When I first saw pre-E3 footage of the next Hitman game I was not sure what to think.  At that time, it looked like Hitman had dropped its trademark stealth elements and had become an all-out action game.  After watching the Hitman E3 demonstration footage, it looks like IO Interactive are still incorporating stealth into  the next Hitman game, after all.  The footage demonstrates different ways in which, you can complete the mission objectives.

So, you can complete the mission in a number of different ways, be that in a number of silent methods or the gung-ho style can be adapted for those players that prefer the action route.

Dead Space 3:

The horror genre is one of my favourite genres in video-games.  It is sad to see that horror games seem to be on the decline.

I realise that Dead Space has always been more 'action' based horror than 'survival' horror, but the co-op demo that was shown at the EA press conference looked more like Gears of War or Lost Planet.  It did not suggest any elements of horror, but in saying that I suppose it that was a small snippet of the full game, the publishers/developers probably wanted to show co-op to interest to a larger audience of players.

The ice planet setting of Dead Space 3 does look rather 'cool' (unintentional pun) and I remain cautionary optimistic that the horror element will still exist and Visceral can once again provide an unnerving satisfying single-player horror experience.

Resident Evil 6:

 

Now, admittedly I was not a big fan of Resident Evil 5, but I am looking forward to see how Resident Evil 6 turns out.  RE 5, felt like it was missing any horror element and was just a straight up action game.  When Resident Evil 4 (a game I thoroughly enjoyed) was released, it was a major change to the franchise with more emphasis on action, but unlike RE 5, the atmosphere of horror was still present.

With the latest instalment of Resident Evil, it looks like Capcom are trying to please fans of both the older horror titles and the fans of the newer more action orientated titles.  The game will apparently offer three different characters to play through, each with their own storyline, which will eventual overlap in some capacity.  Resident Evil veteran characters, Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy, will both be playable.  The Chris Redfield's play-through will have more of an action play-style while, Leon Kennedy's play-through is said to feature more classic style enemies.

Will Capcom be able to please both old fans and new fans alike?  I guess we will have to wait and see.

Devil May Cry Reboot:

I have never been a fan of the Devil May Cry series, but then I saw this game-play demo/developer interview for the forthcoming Devil May Cry reboot.

Dante's, the rebooted main character of the franchise, story takes place in the real world, but from time to time he is dragged into the limbo world where he battles a various assortment of demons and boss creatures.  A blue mist enters the atmosphere, creatures spurt out of walls and buildings change into otherworldly shapes when Dante is dragged into the limbo world.

Apparently, the story events that happen in the limbo world affect the events in the real world e.g. something is destroyed in the Limbo world, which equates to a bomb exploding in the same location in the real world, as a result (At least that it is how I understand it at this current time).

Castlevania - Lords of Shadow 2:

The sequel to the 2010 Castlevania reboot.  The original Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, was a very enjoyable title, that had it's own identity but also used the Castlevania universe in a very fitting manner.

Not much has been announced yet regarding the game, but it looks like MercurySteam will be continuing the story of the previous game with promise that there will be more chance of exploring the environments.

Hopefully, Robert Carlyle and Patrick Stuart will be back to once again lend their voices and the epic story to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow can reach a satisfying conclusion.

Darksiders II:

The first Darksiders was a game that seemed to mix the combat elements of God of War with Legend of Zelda style dungeons to explore.  Some would dub it as a more mature Zelda title.  The setting takes place after the apocalypse and the main character War, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, was to be the centre of the story.

In Darksiders II, the main character is now Death, brother to War, and the story is meant to take place parallel to the events of the of the first game.  Death looks like a more agile character to control compared to War, which will hopefully allow better control during combat and allow Prince of Persia-esque platforming sections.

Still, like its predecessor Darksiders II borrows heavily from many different genres of games and could face losing its own identity.  But, despite this it looks like it could be, like Darksiders before it, a highly enjoyable game.

Tomb Raider Reboot:
 

In 2007, Uncharted: Drake's fortune was released and it set a new standard in the action/adventure genre by seamlessly blending together cinematic visuals with game-play in a way that had never really been seen before.  Uncharted was undoubtedly influenced by bot the Indiana Jones films and the Tomb Raider franchise (and would be unofficially named Bloke Raider by some).

Edios and Crystal Dynamics have decided to reboot the Tomb Raider series, and by judging the game-play shown in the E3 demo, it is safe to say Uncharted has been very influential in the development of the new Tomb Raider.  The new Tomb Raider mixes cinematic events with game-play much the same way that Uncharted does, and similar to Nathan Drake, the new Lara Croft will talk to herself as way to find enough motivation to struggle through gruelling situations that she faces (albeit in a less humorous manner than Nathan Drake).

Crystal Dynamics approach of the new Lara Croft intends to make her a more believable character (her physical attributes are now more real-world like - ahem).  Tomb Raider is very much an origin story, with Lara Croft being ship wrecked on a mysterious Island (WALT!!! - Lost reference) and must fight to survive.

Unfortunately, Tomb Raider has been delayed until 2013.  Hopefully, the wait will be worth it.

Splinter Cell - Blacklist:

As, I mentioned earlier I am a fan of stealth games.  Most of the Splinter Cell games I have found to be extremely enjoyable to play.  There is nothing like hiding in the shadows from enemies and shooting the lights out to confuse the AI controlled patrolling guards.  The last Splinter Cell game, Conviction, was an enjoyable experience, but seemed to allow players to go the action route, if they so choose to do so (a trend that seems to be happening a lot in modern stealth games).

The E3 game-play demo shown at the Microsoft conference takes place on middle-eastern level in broad daylight, a setting that is very different from the trademark Splinter Cell setting, and now Sam Fisher can clamber up rock cliffs in an Assassin's Creed style.  Splinter Cell: Blacklist, like Conviction, seems to allow the player to either go the stealth route or action route.

I have rather mixed feelings about Splinter Cell: Conviction.  I hope that there will be some night levels.  It is also rather disappointing that Michael Ironside may not be reprising his role as Sam Fisher.  It is strange to imagine Sam Fisher without Ironside's gritty voice acting behind the character.

Sleeping Dogs:
 

Sleeping dogs is very much a open world GTA style game, but instead of being set in a parody of a real American city, Sleeping dogs is set in Hong Kong.  Wei Shen is the main character, an undercover cop, and is tasked with taking down the most notorious criminal organisations within the Hong Kong triads.

The game-play seems to involve the typical driving pursuits and cover based shooting of GTA.  During shooting segments of the game, the player can access a slow motion ability, John woo or Max Payne style, which should make it easier at times, when the player is overwhelmed and requires assistance.  Hand to hand combat looks to be more interesting than the pretty terrible hand to hand combat in GTA games.  The hand to hand combat mechanics resemble the satisfying combat found in the Batman Arkham Asylum and City games.

If, all goes well this could be a satisfying open world game GTA style game, with better combat.  Could this be a GTA beater?  I guess the gaming world will find out upon release.

Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed:
 

Having recently played Sonic and Sega All-stars Racing, I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it.  Having grown up with the Megadrive/Genesis it was great to play a fun kart game with Sega characters that I grew up with.  I was surprised with some of the characters that were part of the title.  Alex Kidd was a selectable character, Sega's mascot before the creation of Sonic, in the title as well as a host of characters from Sega's last console, the Dreamcast.

The All-Stars franchise is obviously influenced by Nintendo's Mario Kart.  Sega are attempting to venture away from Mario Kart comparisons with idea of transformation.  The game is named Sonic and All Stars Racing transformed because now each characters kart will now transform during a race depending on the environment.  There are situations where part of the track will be submerged in water, thus the characters kart will adapt and turn into a boat, or at another point the vehicle will take to the skies and transform into a plane.

Hopefully, this will be as good as the previous instalment and the 'transforming' mechanic can add new depth to the game-play.  I look forward to new characters being announced, I look forward to playing as Gilius Thunderhead from the Golden Axe series.