Gamescom 2011: Event Round-Up (Part Two)
More Gamescom based shenanigans, with the second part of our look at some of this years biggest games.
Batman: Arkham City
Warner Bros Interactive/Rocksteady Studios Platforms: Xbox 360/PS3/WiiU/PC/OnLive Release Date: October 21st Batman Arkham Asylum was a rare thing in the gaming world. An excellent comic book game which successfully managed to remain faithful to the character and universe, pleasing even the most devoted fans. It also successfully blended brutal hand-to-hand combat and atmospheric stealth together, making it distinctly true to the ethos of Batman. Elements such as the Riddler puzzles and the superb Scarecrow hallucination sections only added to an already amazing game. As good as it was though, it was hard for fans not to imagine how the game would have improved without being confined strictly to the boundaries of Arkham Asylum. Batman: Arkham City has responded by offering an open-world sequel which lets players roam the entire city of Gotham as not only Batman but also Catwoman during several specific points. The cast of characters is larger this time round too, with villains such as Two-Face and Mr. Freeze joining Mark Hammills Joker from Arkham Asylum. Everything from the first game has been improved and refined, with new gadgets, side-missions, features and modes. The hands-on demo at Gamescom was the same as seen earlier in the year at E3, beginning with a short Catwoman burglary sequence and ending with Batman trying to save her from death at the hands of Two-Face. As brief as it was, controlling Catwoman was a blast, with a nimble and acrobatic combat style providing a refreshing change from Batmans brute force. Theres a strange eloquence to her way of dispatching goons, especially when combined with a returning counter-attack function, allowing for skilled players to empty an entire room swiftly and delicately without taking a scratch.
As well as her slinky combat style she carries her very own gadgets and weapons, including the whip which can be used by itself or within combos. I wasnt expecting this section to be as fun as it was, and I hope that playing as Catwoman accounts for more than a few fleeting combat sequences. After a short cut-scene, it was straight to playing as Batman. Standing on a rooftop looking over Gotham, you cant help but feel immediately that this is it.. The Batman game weve all been waiting for. Gotham itself looks great; a best of compilation of the comic-book style entwined with a mix of the gothic art deco of Tim Burton's films with the grim neon slums of Batman Begins. Its so impressive that you cant wait to get out and explore, something made all the better with the ability to glide freely through the streets of Gotham, or grapple from rooftop to rooftop. Somewhere there is a crime happening, so theres little time for sightseeing in the demo. The hunt for Cat-Woman leads to Gotham Courthouse, with Two-Face dangling her over a vat of nasty green goo. As an introduction to the villains of Arkham City, Two-Face was excellent - looking suitably gruesome and voiced well by Troy Baker. Whereas Arkham Asylum focused primarily on the Joker, the freedom of Arkham City allows for a variety of different villains with their own stories and missions along the way. Few games at Gamescom seem as likely a hit as Batman Arkham City, providing a memorable demo which had the all important aspect of leaving the player thirsty for more. Despite some minor problems which can surely be accounted to being a work in progress (noticeable slow-down and pop-up) Batman Arkham City is quite easily on track to become the best game based on the caped crusader Trumping Batman Forever.
Disneyland Adventures
Microsoft/Frontier Platforms: Xbox 360 Release Date: TBC After the disappointment of Kinect Star Wars, Disneyland Adventures was a surprisingly fun and enjoyable use of Kinect technology which aims to do little more than provide simple multiplayer fun which evokes the joyful magic of the real life park in California. We played two of the mini games based on the rides Peter Pans Flight and Alice in Wonderland. The first has players flying alongside Peter Pan through Neverland, collecting coins and avoiding obstacles. Standing with arms apart, flapping them will rise you higher while crouching will lower you, with direction controlled by leaning. Alice In Wonderland is essentially the same, with players again collecting coins and dashing danger in rolling hamster balls through Alice's maze. It's been lovingly developed by Frontier, creators of Kinectimals but also existing theme park titles Thrillville and Rollercoaster Tycoon 3. The mini games manage to replicate the look and charm of the classic Disney films whilst being fun to play and responsive. Walking around the park itself doesnt fare quite as well, with the player having to point in the direction of where to go and leading their in-game avatar around the park. Its clunky and a bit finicky, but not enough to overly hurt the experience which remains joyful and good fun for Disney fans and Theme Park enthusiasts alike. Landwirtschafts Simulator 3DS
Giants Platforms: 3DS Release Date: TBC By far the most bizarrely amazing game to grace the halls of the Koelmesse - Farming Simulator 3D is exactly the kind of title the 3DS needs to move forward. Forget Super Mario, Zelda or Starfox, nothing screams handheld fun like the tedious world of agricultural farming, especially when presented in 3D. You can almost smell the manure. Playing the demo I was both amazed and horrified as I drove a tractor around a confusing maze of fields and crops, without any sort of onscreen guidance or instructions. Despite having no idea what I was doing, Im going to pretend that this game exists because the world of farming is secretly one full of action and intrigue. Joining a long line of bizarre simulation games like Snowplow Simulator and European Trucking Sim, these games presumably sell well in Germany but that doesnt make seeing it on the 3DS any less hilarious. You might be asking yourself what kind of promotional freebies a game like this gets you. The answer would be your very own Landwirtschafts Simulator Hi-Vis jacket.Battlefield 3
EA/DICE Platforms: Xbox 360/PS3/PC Release Date: October 28th As a fan of the series from its very first incarnation Battlefield 1942 through to last years superb Bad Company 2, few games had me as excited at this years Gamescom as Battlefield 3. This was only increased by EAs incredible booth for the game, housing PC multiplayer and PS3 Co-op whilst an actual Jet Plane sat outside with Battlefield 3 emblazed across its side. But I never actually got the play the damn thing.. With queues reaching up to 8hrs every day and devoted fans from around the world flocking to the booth, it proved nigh on impossible to see the game - with only the strongest and most dedicated gamers getting to play. I never thought the term survival of the fittest would apply to a gaming convention, but after queuing an hour before opening and almost being trampled by rabid sprinting fanboys, my perception has changed somewhat. Battlefield 3 was without a shadow of a doubt, the most popular title at Gamescom 2011. Every day of the event saw gamers flooding through the shutters at 9am and running towards EAs booth in scenes remincent of Jingle All The Way. A sweaty convention centre in Cologne is far from the festive high jinks of said Schwarzenegger classic, and Im sad to have missed out on a game which I cannot wait to play this October. Thankfully, my misadventures to see Dices upcoming shooter still resulted in a taste of what was available at the event. For the first time, a brand new map was revealed - Caspian Border, including the much hyped inclusion of Jet Planes. This map was playable at Gamescom on PC for 64 players all competing on Rush mode, a battle for map domination over several strategic points to be defended or captured. A huge sprawling map which requires tactical team-play across a varied landscape of geographically unique points, the map had fans in a frenzy at the event. Elsewhere, a PS3 Co-Op mode was also playable, acting as a good opportunity for fans to see how the console version fares against the stunning high end graphics of the PC version. Sadly though, theres still been little footage of the console multiplayer in action, unlikely to compare to those incredible graphics weve been bombarded with in trailers from the PC version. Playstation Vita
Sony Release Date: TBC Its impossible to tell what the future holds for Sonys powerful successor to the PSP handheld console. After the struggles that have faced Nintendos 3DS, many already believe that the end is nigh for handheld consoles. Yet if Gamescom is anything to go by, there could still be a future for the devices depending on the success of the PS Vita. Sony managed to draw large crowds at the event and a strong and positive response to the stunning capabilities of the handheld, with its HD screen and duel analogue sticks. Several games were playable too, many of which have the potential to give the console a great chance of success when it launches later this year. Nintendos handheld struggled with a central feature purveyed as gimmicky and a line-up of games which were uninspired and dull. Vita on the other hand, will launch with brand new titles for Sonys biggest franchises Uncharted and Little Big Planet along with a variety of other features. Overall opinion of the handheld seems high, with many enjoying their time with PS Vita at Gamescom. Yet, it remains to be seen if people will part with their cash for the console later this year. Theres no doubting the power and impressive features of Vita, but whether its enough to contend with the increasing popularity of portable gaming on Smartphones is another matter.All Zombies Must Die !
Double Six Platforms: Xbox 360/PS3/PC Release Date: TBC Playing All Zombies Must Die was a refreshingly retro change in pace to the rest of the games on offer at this years Gamescom. A four player co-op shooter, with cartoony visuals and ridiculous over the top action, All Zombies Must Die was a good old fashioned, addictively fun shooter - clearly inspired by the classic 90s game Zombies Ate My Neighbours. Taking control of one of four characters led by uber-quiffed Jack, players must make their way through the town of Deadhill, taking on increasingly deadly waves of deadly zombies. Its not as simple as it looks either, with side-quests, RPG elements and references to classic movies from the genre. The goofy look and its gruesome humour reminded me mostly of 1985s Return Of The Living Dead amongst other things. Theres also a story on offer here rather than just simply hopping from location to location, with central character Jack having to face not only a zombie apocalypse but ex-girlfriend issues. With its tongue in cheek humour, surprising depth and emphasis on multiplayer fun, All Zombies Must Die has a good chance of standing out in an oversaturated genre as something unique and refreshingly different. Fans of classic arcade gaming will enjoy the wave based combat while RPG fans will love the addition of XP and levelling up, with the ability to create new weapons and objects. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Bethesda Platforms: Xbox 360/PS3/PC Release Date: November 11th Bethesdas epic RPG is continuing to look simply breathtaking, with a 15 minute video play through of the game being absolutely mind-blowing on the big screen. Sadly it didnt offer anything that hadnt been already shown at E3, nor was it playable - but the preview eloquently shows off the games scope and the beautiful setting in which it takes place. The preview begins with a walk through a forest area, pointing out the superb detail of the brand new Creation engine used in Skyrim. Small flowers and scenery were highlighted individually to show off the stunning detail, at one point showing a butterfly fluttering through some foliage. It wasnt long before it went from being a virtual celebration of lifes sheer beauty to savagely beating a man to death along a path with a sharp pointed stick. It was here that we first saw the games improved and simplified inventory system which allows for items to be quickly found and examined, compared to the clunky over complication of previous Bethesda RPGs. The new third-person view was shown, with significantly improved animations over the laughably floaty and resultantly neglected third person view in Oblivion. Switching back to first person, we got a taste for the new magic system, Somewhat reminiscent of Bioshocks plasmids but elevated to a more complex level. The powers look to be a highly customizable and deserving of experimentation. Following some early examples of the potential of combining magic spells, we got to see the new way in which skills are upgraded and improved. Taking the form of a stars and constellations map, skills are upgraded and improved through perks, instead of the player picking a specific class at the beginning of the game. Therefore, more freedom is now given to the player, unrestricted by a set path and able to alter their style of play as they go along.
One of the many villages and towns that populate Skyrim was shown - in this case the town of Riverwood. A small community full of the kind of detail weve come to expect from Bethesdas RPG's. Theres men chopping wood and carrying timber, children playing with a dog and various people going about their daily business. All of this is interactive, with Bethesda promising that towns will include their own missions, guilds and jobs - such as Riverwoods timber business. Dungeons have been described by Bethesda as all having their own unique atmosphere and architecture as apposed to the overly similar caves of Oblivion. We were shown one of the dungeons during the demo, involving a very nasty giant spider with a character trapped inside its web. After cutting the character free, we saw them attempting to run off with the loot - meeting a nasty end impaled on the end of a sword. Finally, the demo ended on a random confrontation with one of the huge imposing Dragons of the game world, attacking the player from high. The battle gave an idea of the kind of mixed tactics that are required to down one of the hefty creatures, including making use of spells and dragon chants to help defeat the beasts. Theres a bit of a Shadow Of The Colossus vibe going on here - theyre such beautiful creatures you end up feeling kind of bad watching them downed to the ground and smashed into repeatedly with an axe. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is without a doubt one of this years most impressive games. From the rapturous response the game received at this years Gamescom, its set to become another modern classic to sit proudly alongside Oblivion and Fallout 3. _________ For part one of our Gamescom round-up, click here. More Gamescom features and previews to come this week, including a hands-on look at OnLive and a preview of Telltale's Jurassic Park. But for now..... It's video montage time !