AAA Titles
First we'll talk about the big, AAA titles that we saw, or smaller games but coming from famous developers. These were the ones with the long lines and high production values.
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Combat in Shadow of Mordor is fluid, inspired from the Batman: Arkham series games. This works very well, and was fun to play. Your character also possess special powers, the ability to mind control enemies to fight for you, to calm wild beasts (and ride them), as well as the ability to teleport around. At one point, I did a neat assassin teleportation attack using my bow, teleporting behind my target and slitting his throat.
The other big thing is the game’s nemesis system. This generates a garrison of enemies and ranks, and allows you to sift through them. You can choose a target, and go find it in the world. If you don’t know where he is, you can find his subordinates, interrogate them, and use that intel to hunt down your target. Cool, but nothing really new. What is new, however, is the fluidity and procedure of the system. At one point, one of the captains below the warcheif I was hunting was able to kill me. When he did, he became more powerful. He used this power to kill off his commanding officer, take his place, and install one of his lesser minions in his previous role. He then became my nemesis, and not only was I hunting him, but him me. I didn’t see this in action, but was told that the next time we meet, there will be personal discussion between him and my character about how my character died, and a one-on-one showdown would occur.
The idea of hunting down targets in a vast open world freely, without missions to funnel you through, was very exciting. The game played great, looked fantastic, and the systems in play worked very well. I can’t wait to get more time with it on it when it releases September 30th.
Behemoth’s Game 4
Although it’s not yet named, Behemoth had a fairly polished build of it’s newest game showing at PAX this year. The studio known for Castle Crashers and Alien Hominid dips its toes in strategy role playing game territory with Game 4, and it leaves me wondering if there is anything this studio can’t do. Complete with their signature art style and humor, Game 4 plays a lot like games like XCOM or Final Fantasy Tactics. It is more simplified, however. I view this as a benefit, as many fans of the studio may not be as familiar with the genre, and Game 4 will be a great introduction to turn based strategy games. Game 4 was fun, lighthearted, and left me wanting more. Behemoth never takes themselves too seriously, and this is reflected in their games. In the world of SRPGs, this is rare, and refreshing. Game 4 also has the best fog of war I’ve ever seen.
Massive Chalice
Another strategy role playing game, Massive Chalice is the Kickstarted brainchild of Double Fine. The company, typically known for adventure games and humor, strays a bit from that with a more serious take. The game played almost exactly like XCOM, which isn’t a complaint from me. There were various classes with skill options for each, and the game wasn’t without its challenge. One thing that really stood out for me from the demo that I played was the unique art style. Everything was angular, and reminded of a stain glass window with a less colorful palate.
Sunset Overdrive
While we were only allowed to play the eight player co-op mode of Sunset Overdrive, this was enough for me to know that I’m going to have a blast with this game. From start to finish, the game blasts you with colorful style, loud sounds and music, and over the top voice announcers. Its clear that Insomniac Games just wants to have fun and let it all out there. The developers of the Ratchet and Clank series also kept their pedigree when making off the wall guns. While zipping quickly around the environments by grinding, I found myself switching weapons thinking “I have no idea what that is.” This was always resolved by firing the gun and a gleeful grin. From freezing bombs to sticky toxic good, and fire traps, there is no shortage of creative way to kill the zombie like creatures Sunset Overdrive throws at you. Unfortunately, the demo unit I was on crashed before I could finish the match, but I can tell you that this fast paced third person shooter became a must-buy for me.
Costume Quest 2
Fans of Double Fine’s Halloween themed RPG will know right away that the news a sequel is coming is going to make the holiday for them this year. Not much has changed by way of gameplay since the first outing. However, after a few minutes with the game it’s clear that Double Fine took a lot more time and money to polish the game. Production values are way up, and animations and effects look better than ever. The world seemed more open and accessible, and the story well written and unique. In short, Costume Quest 2 is everything fans could ask for in a sequel.
The Order: 1886
When the demo for The Order: 1886 started, I was presented with a cutscene of the characters talking, and starting a combat scenario. At one point in the scene, the main character stopped moving or speaking entirely, and I thought the demo had bugged. However, once I moved the left thumbstick, I realized that the demo hadn’t bugged, but the cutscene was over. I was now playing the game. This is really how good this game looks. I’ve never seen graphical equal, and to say it was impressive would be an understatement. Graphics aside, the game plays very much like Gears of War. It’s a cover based shooter, and controls as well as one would expect. The Victorian steam-punk weapons were fun. The demo put me in control of a gun that shot gas at my foes. The gas itself was harmless, but with an alternate fire, my character would shoot a flare into the gas, igniting it and anything contained within.
When I first saw trailers for The Order, I was skeptical, but the demo I played made me a believer. It is another game I’m very excited to spend more time with.
Super Smash Bros.
I played the new Super Smash Bros on a Wii U, and with a Gamecube controller even. It plays exactly like Melee, and feels dialed back from Brawl, which is a great thing. I was able to try about Mega Man and Graninja, two new additions to the roster. Mega Man controlled fairly well, and I would compare him to a ranged Mario in terms of his balance. Graninja was very quick and fast, and didn’t seem to be too powerful. He was often hard for me to keep track of. Overall, it’s a new Smash Brothers game, so there really isn’t anything new to say. However, it played very well, and has gotten me thinking about picking up a Wii U. The Evil Within
I’ve always wanted to get into survival horror games because I liked the idea of them. However, I never had played one I liked. I tried Resident Evil, but hated the controls. By the time Resident Evil fixed the controls, the series had become more of an action game than anything else. I wanted to try out The Evil Within because its being touted as a return to the roots of survival horror, by the creator of Resident Evil.
I’m glad I tried it. The controls were like that of a modern third person shooter, but the survival was there. I had five bullets for my gun, and was constantly hunting for more. Enemies took several shots to go down, and once down, you have to burn them so they don’t get back up and keep coming. You only have so many matches to burn them with too.
There are also invincible enemies which you have to run and hide from. I was never caught by one, even once when I neglected to remember where a hiding spot was. The enemy just kind of walked around menacingly for a while and then disappeared. I don’t know if this is due to bad code for the demo, or because I was playing on easy, but either way, it wasn’t very scary. There were a few moments when the game did actually scare me with jump scares, and seems like it will be good to build that tension for that. I was impressed with what I saw of The Evil Within, especially since I was going in with low hopes. It really does seem like a proper modern reboot of survival horror.
Ori and the Blind Forest
Just looking at Ori made me want to play it. The 2D sprite art is beautiful and colorful, and conveys a real sense of magic. The game plays like an action puzzle-platformer, and is also inspired by metroidvania style games. The main character, Ori, learns various abilities that allow it to better travel the world, solve puzzles, and dispatch enemies. The game seems to also get very difficult in the style of forced scroll sections, but for the most part, seemed like it could be a really fun distraction from the bigger AAA games coming out this fall.
Below
From the makers of Sword and Sworcery and Super Time Force, Below is a top down dungeon exploration game. It features item creation, inventory management, and very dangerous traps and enemies. The world is procedurally generated, and each time you die, you have to travel down a new random dungeon to find the corpse of your ancestor, and hope some of his loot remains. The camera is pulled way back to evoke a sense of smallness, and the graphics are beautiful. Another note is the music, provided by Sword and Sworcery composer Jim Guthrie, which is absolutely haunting.
FarCry 4
FarCry 3 with elephants. Need I say more?
Saints Row: Gat out of Hell
The newest in the Saints Row franchise was a bit of a letdown for me. Gat out of Hell isn’t a sequel to Saints Row 4, but a “stand-alone expansion pack.” And although it’s coming to XBOX One and Playstation 4, it simply looks like an uprezed version of Saints Row 4. It controls exactly the same, and even has the same powers from 4, just redressed in a hell theme.
I was told that the story is that the boss of the Saints, your character from previous games, is kidnapped by The Devil after an Ouija board game gone wrong. So in this game, you play as either Kenzie or Johnny Gat from previous game in an attempt to rescue the boss. I asked if you could import your boss from the previous games, and I was told that you could only if you play on the same system. So for those who’ve upgraded to the current generation of systems, the boss of the Saints will be a generic, pre-created character for you. Yet another disappointment. While I love the Saints Row franchise, this felt rushed and hacked together. I was hoping for a true new game with a fresh new idea, and what Volition is making is basically just more DLC. Hopefully they are working on a true Saints Row 5 for the future.
Until Dawn
Until Dawn was a pleasant surprise for me. The game plays like a teenage slasher film, where you control the choices that are made. All those yelling at the TV moments (“Don’t go in the room, idiot!”) can actually have an impact now, as you make choices on how the characters should act. The game plays very much like an adventure game in the style of The Walking Dead or Heavy Rain. It had just the right amount of camp and scariness to make it enjoyable for me, and I could see this as a great game to play with my wife on the couch together, taking turns making choices about what the characters do. 
Much like it's predecessor, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is a top down co-op dual stick shooter/puzzler. The first game was only limited to two players, but this year's follow-up allows up to four. One interesting thing of note is, we were told that the solutions to puzzles change dynamically depending on how many people are playing the game. If someone joins or drops out of the game, the level will change on the fly to accommodate puzzle solutions to be solvable with the number of players in the game. The sequel, like the original, is a fun co-op experience, and worth a shot if you are looking for some solid couch sharing action.
Also, as someone during our demo pointed out, this game doesn't have a single white male protagonist.
While we didn't have a whole lot of time with the third iteration of the creation driven platformer, we did get to try out one of the three new player characters, Oddsock. Oddsock is a dog like sack creature who moves very quickly and can run up walls, as well as wall jump. It changed the way the game played, and was very fast paced and fun. As far and I can tell, the rest of the game will be very familiar territory to those that have played the first two games. Little Big Planet 3 is another one to watch if you are looking for some fun couch co-op options.
Fantasia: Music Evolved
One of my favorite games at the show, Fantasia is a Kinect powered music game by Harmonix, the makers of Rock Band and Dance Central. Players use their hands to swat lights into shapes on the screen, and follow paths with your hands. The result feels like you are conducting the music, and despite it's simplicity, is very fun to play. The music ranges from classical tunes found in the original film, to newer music like "Let it Go." One cool feature is the ability to remix sections of the song, mid-song. At certain points, the player can select which style they would like the song to change to, but only a part of the song. For example, you get three choices on how to change the drum track of a certain song: Original song style, Electro Synth style, or 80s pop style. What's cool is it only changes that aspect of the song, so you can mix and match to remix the song into some truly unique renditions, changing on the fly as you play.
One of my favorite games at the show, Fantasia is a Kinect powered music game by Harmonix, the makers of Rock Band and Dance Central. Players use their hands to swat lights into shapes on the screen, and follow paths with your hands. The result feels like you are conducting the music, and despite it's simplicity, is very fun to play. The music ranges from classical tunes found in the original film, to newer music like "Let it Go." One cool feature is the ability to remix sections of the song, mid-song. At certain points, the player can select which style they would like the song to change to, but only a part of the song. For example, you get three choices on how to change the drum track of a certain song: Original song style, Electro Synth style, or 80s pop style. What's cool is it only changes that aspect of the song, so you can mix and match to remix the song into some truly unique renditions, changing on the fly as you play.
Although I'm not a big fan of sim style racing games, I can tell those that are would be very excited about Forza Horizon 2. The graphics were beautiful, and one could mistake them for real life if not looking close enough. The game controlled fine. I had a hard time taking the turns, and spun out more than a couple of times, leading me to believe that the car controls were on point (as in any racing sim, I have that same trouble). One interesting thing I noticed during my race was that I missed a turn
and ended up driving through a field, only to come to another road on the other side. The racing guide changed, and it turns out that I took an accidental short cut. My guess is that the open world gameplay of Forza is going to allow for some creative navigation during races, which could be really fun.
Project Totem is an indie game in Microsoft's ID@XBOX program. The game is a co-op platformer where players control two characters on the screen at once. The characters are based on totems on a totem pole, and when all four characters are together, they can stack like a totem pole. Players need to work together to navigate environments through obstacles and puzzles. Another couch co-op game to watch for.
Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions
As a big fan of the previous Geometry Wars iterations, the changes in Geometry Wars 3 concerned me. You are no longer confined to a single screen, but exist on a 3D object and can navigate all the way around, taking away the ability for enemies to corner you. Also added is a new special ability, which I understand there are several that you can change. The one in the demo put down a turret that blasted fire out in all directions, killing enemies it hit. I also had a tiny little ship following me around shooting things (AI controlled) too. While the game was still a really fun twin-stick shooter, I feel that the changes made took away a lot from what made Geometry Wars so simple and addictive. I'm still looking forward to playing more of Geometry Wars 3, however, I don't think it will be able to live up to the twin-stick perfection of the first two games.
Touted as "Dark Souls with a story," Lords of the Fallen definitely seemed very "Dark Souls." While the demo I played didn't have much by way of story, it did have a graphical style that was MUCH more appealing to me than the dark, bland graphical style of Dark Souls. However, the game, like Dark Souls, was very, very hard. I died several times during my brief demo, twice by the very first enemy you encounter.
Fans of this genre may really like Lords of the Fallen, but these games just aren't for me.
Indies
The following games are some of our favorite indie games that we were able to play at the show. Most of these are coming out on Steam, but some are coming out on consoles as well. There were many more indie games that we played than these, but these games are well worth keeping an eye on.
Randall is a platformer game with challenge in mind. Players jump over obstacles and grapple ledges strategically in order to navigate the environment. Later, players can mind control enemies to use them as moving platforms to help navigate the levels. One of the developers showed us some advanced moves by controlling both the titular Randall as well as a mind controlling enemy at the same time, and using the two to "walljump" off each other to reach a higher area. Randall is going to be a super challenging game, along the lines of Super Meat Boy. And like Super Meat Boy, the controls were tight and the player character responded very well to player input.
Another note is the art style of the game is very unique and eye catching, and a pleasure to look at.
Never Alone is a co-op platformer (noticing a theme this year?) in which one player is a Inupiat girl and the other is her fox companion. The game is heavily based on Inupiat lore and legend, and tells a story that is a classic Inuit tale passed down through the generations. The game is even narrated by actual Inupiat people in their native tongue. The game was very atmospheric and, while challenging, not too challenging. I'm looking forward to playing this more when it comes out.
Star Crawlers is a first person dungeon crawler role playing game set in a science fiction universe. Players navigate a space ship along a grid pattern and explore, while fighting enemies along the way. Battles take place in first person as well, and players control their entire party in turn based combat. The game is said to be very story focused, allowing branching paths and multiple scenarios depending on the party members chosen, as well as choices made.
Very comparable to Mist, Xing is a first person puzzle exploration game that takes players through fantastical environments. The game is set in the afterlife, and the player is trying to uncover the mystery of who they were in life, and the meaning of their death. The game was also playable on an Oculus Rift, which Brittany says added a lot to the experience.
Moon Hunters
Moon Hunters is a top-down action role playing game in the style of Secret of Mana. The game used beautiful pixel art to render its four character classes as they traversed dungeons and battle enemies. The game looks like its going to be a blast to play when it comes out, and will be a fun co-op experience.
Chariot is another couch co-op game. This time, players are tasked with navigating environments while pulling the Chariot containing the dead king. Players must solve puzzles in order to not only navigate themselves through the levels, but find ways to pull or life the chariot through them as well.
In the style of point and click adventure games, The Phantom P.I. tasks players with navigating haunted environments searching for clues about the ghost that is haunting a pop singer. Players must uncover clues, find collectables, and catch ghosts to progress to the next stage. The graphics are fun and cartoony, and the game is a really charming take on the genre.
Titan Souls is a top town pixel art action game. Players are on an island with several doors containing several bosses. The player must best each boss to finish the game. Players can shoot an arrow and then call it back to themselves, and the arrow can do damage on the way back as well, adding strategy to how its used. I really enjoyed my brief time with the game, and look forward to taking down all of the different bosses.
Mekazoo is what would happen if Donkey Kong Country was made today. The player can switch from several different animal forms on the fly. Players quickly jump, swing, and get flung through the stages, changing forms quickly in order to be able to interact with the next obstacle. While hard to get the hang of at first, once the changing mechanic is down, the levels are very fun and challenging to navigate.
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