E3 - Hands On Impressions - Microsoft 31
Slashdot Games is continuing its look at the major booths here at the E3 Expo. The last of the major hardware manufacturers to give us a hands-on look at their software is Microsoft, after earlier articles on Nintendo and Sony. Read on for info about all the new Rare titles, Brute Force, Halo 2, and more..
- Kameo, the Rare-developed game that was shown in significantly different form on the Nintendo booth a couple of years back, looked just amazing. The graphics were lush, colorful, and beatiful, possibly the best of any Xbox game so far, including Halo. The third-person action was fun and somewhat innovative, as you could switch swiftly between multiple characters with different powers to solve puzzles and wipe out enemies. The characters included a plant beast, some kind of rock monster, and even Kameo (a fairy lookalike) herself. So, not only does the Xbox lack quality examples of this type of game, Rare seem to have come up with the goods yet again.- Brute Force, the Digital Anvil-developed third-person team shooter which has been in development for what seems like an age, was looking promising, with a really fun co-op mode, simple but direct controls, and good sniper-zoom effects. It seemed just slightly plain compared to the very best-looking titles like Halo or Kameo, though, and it's a shame it's not supporting Xbox Live, but it's still a game you can look forward to.
- Voodoo Vince, a quirky new Microsoft-published platformer, looked good, with perky graphics and some really nice fire effects. But overall, it wasn't really a spectacular stand-out, although there were some neat ideas about the main character hurting himself in order to damage enemies - he's a voodoo doll, folks.
- Conker:Live And Uncut is Rare's team-based shooter, and it focuses on multiplayer modes to create an intense but cartoony deathmatch title. As you run around the sharp-looking arenas, picking up everything from knives to rocket-launchers, the third-person view seems to work pretty well for fast and fun combat, and Xbox Live support should wrap up the whole deal. Now, if we could only stop thinking about Fur Fighters when we see it..
- Project Gotham Racing 2 is still using the rather innovative 'kudos' system first pioneered by Bizarre Creations in Metropolis Street Racer. It also sports the noticably real-life tracks, with many fenced-off areas and 90-degree turns, something that will either delight or bother you, depending. The graphics are certainly a notch above the first title, but Gran Turismo 4 seems to have a grittier, more exciting feel overall.
- Grabbed By The Ghoulies was the third Rare title on display, and was an somewhat bizarre, almost flat-shaded, semi-cartoony platformer. Kameo seemed to us to look nicer, but this title certainly had some unique stylings, and even some noticably twisted semi-gore. Look what a few years being forced to make insanely cute games like Diddy Kong Racing will do to a bunch of developers?
- it seems Halo 2 is viewable as a real-time demo, though sadly not playable by the public, in a special booth area that's been drawing gigantic queues. The demo has the same layout as that shown at the Microsoft press conference, and it reliably blows everyone away, with amazing attention to detail, double-gun action, spectacular graphics, super-realistic voice interaction, the ability to jump on the Ghost ships and kick the pilot out.. basically, genius. This is definitely one of the games of the show, and may become the Xbox's second killer app, after its predecessor was most definitely the first.
There were a whole bunch of other third-party games on Microsoft's booth, but we'll get to them on Thursday and Friday. In the meantime, be sure to check IGN.com, Gamespot, Gamers.com, Gamerfeed, or all the other usual suspects. Our hands-on impressions will continue on Thursday.
Re:Well... (Score:4, Insightful)
I completely disagree with that statement (at least as it applies to Xbox). The big games for PS2 are Metal gear solid 3, jak and daxter 2, ratchet and clank 2, the 98th version of resident evil, final fantasy 11.... should I go on?
MS is bringing brute force, a new sports lineup (XSN sports) and a bunch of sequels that never were released on xbox (half life, doom, counter strike)... granted, there is not a ton of innovation, but Sony is doing a lot more sequels whoring than anyone else...
Re:Well... (Score:2)
And as far as the PS2 offering is concerned, of course Sony releases a ton of sequels, but SCE are the only ones who give a chance to new game designers to make a game like Ico. I don't see either Nintendo nor MS doing that.
Oh and for the record, I don't own a PS2.
Re:Well... (Score:1)
Speaking of innovation from last year... Did you ever hear of a game called blinx (yeah, I know it sucks). Blinx uses the HD in xbox to record what you are doing... if you need help beating a boss, you can record yourself doing some attacks, rewind and play it back and attack somewhere else alongside the recorded "you"...
Sorry if I sound a little fanboyish..
Re:Well... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Well... (Score:2)
Your sarcasm will probably be missed by 90% of the Americans reading /. :-)
Doom3 is possibly the game that will convince me to buy an Xbox. I refuse to return to the PC upgrade mill: it is far too expensive considering how few games I play. But with Splinter Cell and Doom3 the Xbox is looking very tempting. It's a shame that the orig
Re:Well... (Score:3, Insightful)
As James Bond said, never say never. Dreamcast had Grandia2, Shenmue, Powerstone, MSR, Dead or Alive, Crazy Taxi, and... look what happened to it. Good games don't make a console survive. And to
Re:Well... (Score:1)
Where the hell are you? Oh bottom right of screen, right, okay, gotcha.
No mouse makes it harder to aim quickly and accurately (second stick is not as good as a mouse), and auto-aim features suck.
UT you could walk up behind someone, shove a sniper rifle through their back, and hear them scream "WTF" from across the room at a LAN game as a signal for you to pull the trigger.
Mu
Re:Well... (Score:1)
The system I hope starts dying this year is the PS2, it already looks dated, especially next to the graphically superior Gamecube and X-Box (which are on par with each other, in slightly different ways). Most of the really good titles for both are in the pipe for this year and next year. The fact that a lot of dev houses keep making PS2 ports of games for both other
Re:Well... (Score:1)
Every body knows the x-box has the best overall graphic capabilities, the PS2 port of Splinter Cell shows the real difference between sony's and microsoft's consoles, but PS2vsGAMECUBE? c'mon! For several ligth-intensive or particle-efects games the cube needs FMV's to replace the cut scenes that the X-box or the PS2 can hadle ingame.
In wich way the cube is graphicaly superior to th
Re:Well... (Score:1)
IIRC the Gamecube does something like texturing or bump-mapping better than the X-box, but the X-box handles lighting and particle affects better (which is why a lot of games look slightly washed out for the GC). Both of them are better overall then the aging PS2, but for most of the games that hit the X-Box the differe
Re:Well... (Score:2)
Umm, Metroid Prime, Star Fox Adventures, RE0/1, and Rogue Squadron (for a start) vs. all of the low-resolution horribly aliased games on the PS2, or vs. Halo or DOA for the XBox.
If you don't even believe your own goddamn eyes, you must believe *anything* that commercials and advertising material tells you.
That, or you're about 14-18 years old and just hate Nintendo 'cuz you think it makes you cool or something. (Hint:
Re:Well... (Score:2)
I've been playing video games since the Atari 2600, across pretty much every platform. I've seen games evolve from Combat to Metroid Prime, Metal Gear Solid, and Halo. I've played enough games to know what I like without being told by multi billion dollar ad campaigns.
The reason I'm a Nintendo supporter is because Miyamoto helps make some damn fine games, that then get bashed by morons such as yourself that think you're too cool to play them. So that part of
PGR vs. GT (Score:5, Informative)
Re:PGR vs. GT (Score:1)
if you like gran turismo type racing better, sega gt may be more up your alley with more open/high-speed tracks... sega gt is also going to suport
You left out some stuff (Score:2)
As with all online RPGs, Mythica's dev and support will determine whether or not it's a good game, though right now it looks pretty good and has a lot of potential, simply with the fact that they're covering untrodden ground.
The Titans expansion is going to change the balance of the game dramatically. Right now the new race, Atlanteans, are grossly over-powered but should present an interesting challenge in online play.
Re:You left out some stuff (Score:1)
That's it??? (Score:1)
Throw in the $20 price drop, and the whole thing just shouts "*L*A*M*E*"
Microsoft expects Xbox to live through another holiday season. Assuming it does, I think we'll see Microsoft drop this thing in February/March of 2004.
Re:That's it??? (Score:1)
You do realize the article only covered Microsoft's direct titles for the XBox, right? For instance, Konami announced DDR (with XBox Live! support, even!) and Silent Scope for the XBox, but you don't see it here because these are only Microsoft titles. Also, this was only focusing on games. The author didn't cover any of the XBox Live enhancements. So, 7 games (at least one guaranteed to be a major blockbuster and system seller), $20 price drop, and major new enhancements to XBox Live really isn't that
Re:That's it??? (Score:1)
xbox and console FPS's (Score:2, Interesting)
For FPS fans the following games make an xbox an attractive proposition:
Halo I & II
RTCW
Thief III
Doom III
Counterstrike
Red Faction I & II
Deus Ex (rpg elements aside)
Medal of Honour
HalfLife II
The above also could make