E3 2010: We catch up with Warner Bros Interactive's stable of upcoming games at E3. We play F3AR, see War in the North, and chat to the folks behind Lord of the Rings Online.
So apart from all the people waving their arms at Kinect and various other motion sensing systems, there's some actually good games at E3 too. In fact, I daresay we're not going to get even close to seeing barely a small percentage of them.
But what we have seen so far has been full of surprises. In no particular order, here's our thoughts on every game we've seen so far.
War in the NorthWarner Bros pretty much has a lock on Lord of the Rings after its acquisition of Turbine, and this new action RPG cements that status. Set off the page of the book, and using the New Line vision of MIddle Earth as guide, War in the North follows the action of brave adventurers fighting off Sauron's minions during the War of the Ring.
It's looking like a really crunchy game so, and the Xbox demo we say suggests it's going to be a good loot fest with some really interesting co-op opportunities. Perhaps most interesting is the way the game uses racial abilities. Elves, for instance, can track, so they can see a lot of info other players can't - tracks, hidden items and more. This really pushes for a tighter co-operative experience.
Combat is suitably epic, with some brutal finishing moves and abilities. It's looking like a kind of fantasy Mass Effect, to draw a comparison, and we can't see that as being a bad thing.
F3AROkay, we were willing to hate this one from the get-go, but the gameplay, especially hte co-op with your evil ghost of a brother, is actually quite compelling.
Enemy AI is very aggressive, and the game adjusts gameplay to provide lots of replay value. In co-op, you also get scored after clearing a mission, so you can see how well you've worked together - or not.
Again, there are gameplay elements that only Fettell can unlock, like doors that only he can open. Similarly, a lot of his powers, such as levitation, are particularly powerful if used in combination with a big gun - like F3AR's shotgun, which may just be our new favourite gun in any game.
So far this is looking like a return to the solid gameplay of the original FEAR.
Lord of the Rings OnlineWe had a good chat to Stacey Clement and Adam Mersky from Turbine about LotRO's recent changeover to the free to play model. As a fan of the game, with multiple characters on multiplae servers, we were personally invested in understanding how this was going to work, and if it would be along the same lines as Dungeons and Dragons Online.
In short, no. For one thing, you won't need to spend a penny to get the best gear - that remains standard no matter how you play the game. However, the free version will only go up to level 22, and doesn't have a lot of the locations of the full game.
Places like Forochel in the north will instead be able to buy as content pack DLC, meaning that you can open up the game world as much as you want. Pricing is up in the air, but it's looking like it'll be single digit amounts for each pack. Players can also still subscribe if they want, and regardless of if they do or not, all current purchased content remains purchased.
The new region coming in the update returns players to the wilds of Eregion, in the southern region of Enedwaith. It's a low velocity area, populated by creatures and scattered tribal dwellings, and the region's arc will see players approaching the tower of Saruman, Orthanc.
We asked about the future of mounted play in the game, especially as Turbine plans to eventually open up Rohan, and were told they're working hard to get it just right.
We suspect they'll do just fine.
Mortal KombatWe are never going to see this game in Australia - not without an R18 rating. Any game that features special X-ray attacks so you can see the massive organ trauma and bone shattering power of a punch, before ripping off someone's head and kissing their bloody mouth, is not getting past our censors.
But it looks fun, if bloody combat is your thing.
Issue: 133 | February, 2012