When E3 comes around, there are many games that we all expect to see including the Zelda\'s (which we now have 3 to look forward to), the Metal Gears (now 2 to look forward to) and the Half-Life 2, Halo 2, and various Mario games. However, in the wake of all these big name titles, there are at least 200 other games that go relatively unnoticed. Of those games, these are my favorites that you otherwise would not notice. Take a look and see if any of them interest you at all.
Under the SkinCapcomIGN InformationGamespot InformationThe IGN details -- In Under the Skin, you play as an alien called Kozumi. Kozumi is from the Meiwaku star system (meiwaku is Japanese for troublesome). Residents of this star system must, when they turn three, head to a different star system to cause mischief. They aren\'t allowed to return home until they\'ve reached maturity. Kozumi chooses Earth as his target and starts wrecking havoc. As Kozumi, you move around the 3D cel-shaded Coco Town, scanning people and taking on their form -- complete with their abilities. Gain a microphone, for instance, and you can start singing in a horrible voice. Gain a snowball and you can make people slip on the road. You can also perform mischief without items -- simply hitting people is one example.
My take -- Under the Skin looks to be a really original take on the whole alien invasion ordeal constantly done in videogames these days by putting you in the role of the alien and causing you to comically cause mischief in this booming little city. The graphics are both really colorful and highly detailed with characters as original as the idea. It\'s invasion of the bodysnatchers, only for fun. It\'s slated for release later this year.
Advance Wars: Under FireKuju EntertainmentIGN InformationGamespot InformationThe IGN Details -- This isn\'t the Advance Wars that you remember. In its transition to the console world, Under Fire is losing its turn based pedigree in favor of real-time strategic action. Players will take control of a squad of soldiers who will follow your lead. You\'ll guide your troops into battle and instruct them on who and how to attack. As they gain experience, your troops will gain new abilities. Also, your soldiers will be able to commandeer vehicles, including tanks and gunships.
My Take -- A lot of people have been very reserved when it comes to Advance Wars: Under Fire as it is a drastic change from the normal past two Advance Wars titles we have recieved on our GBA\'s. Some see this change to moreso of an action shooter and a change of developers as a curse rather then a possible excellent adaptation. I, on the other, see this as exactly what it will be -- a great deal of fun. If I were to sum up AW:UF in one simple statement, I would have to call it Pikmin with tanks and guns and you definitely can\'t go wrong with that.
X-Men LegendsRaven SoftwareIGN InformationGamespot InformationThe Gamespot Details -- [...]The demo showed off the action RPG\'s real-time group mechanic, which lets you command a team of four X-Men on the fly. The team consisted of Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, and Gambit. The demo level opened with the gang arriving on the deck of the USS Arbiter, a military vessel under attack by the brotherhood. A voice-over from Jean Grey, thanks to the magic of telepathy, offered some general information on what needed to be done on the boat during a brief fly-through of the area. When the quartet of characters came under human control, Cyclops started out as the initially controllable character. The rest of the team was controlled by the game\'s AI and followed fairly close behind. For the purpose of the demo, each of the X-Men already had access to the full array of powers they will earn throughout the course of the game. When you start the game, the characters will have access to a pretty standard array of physical melee attacks and will have one special attack based on a facet of their individual mutant powers. As you progress through the game and earn experience, the members of the team will gain new powers, ranging from fairly straightforward attacks, such as the different variations of Cyclops\' optic blasts, to passive abilities, such as Storm\'s ability to fly, which lets her hover over obstacles. You\'ll also gain access to each character\'s "extreme" power, which is essentially a screen-clearing smart-bomb-like burst of power. Storm\'s Cyclone Fury move was used as an example of an extreme power and showed the white-haired mistress of the elements calling down a devastating flurry of lightning strikes that made short work of the enemies onscreen.[...]
My take -- Much of this game reminds me of that old arcade beat-em up from Capcom affectionately titled X-Men back in the day which allowed up to 4 players to race through levels of Sentinels and other machines kicking the tails of known villains and this looks to be very similar only with that cel-shaded 3D comic book like look we have all come to know and love/hate very well. This coupled with the RPG level-up system and its hectic and robust combat style could make for one of the best licensed based games since the old Punisher, The Avengers, and the aforementioned X-men.
Donkey Kong Jungle BeatNintendoGamespot InformationIGN InformationThe IGN details -- On paper DK Jungle Beat reads like a bad idea gone haywire. The premise is all too simple. You control Donkey Kong through a series of tropical and prehistoric themed environments. You must make the big ape run left and right, jump over barrels and up walls, swing on trees, collect bananas, square off in ferocious up-close boxing matches with other beasts, and even ride atop animals and vehicles. The catch, of course, is that you don\'t use a GameCube controller to do all of this. You bang on some Bongos. We know -- it can never work. There are too many control mechanics to consider. And yet, it does work; in fact, the end play experience is nothing short of outstanding.
My take -- For what it\'s worth, much like IGN, I was just as skeptical when I heard about this little gem, but after a few videos and some detailed impressions, I\'ve come around considerably. I\'m not one to buy into gimmicks too often, with the exception of FFCC, but after reading about this, this might be too tough to pass up. Interesting -- I won\'t touch Steel Battalion, but I can\'t help but be intrigued by this. I just hope the bongos are reasonably priced when this beast his shelves next year.
Star FoxNintendo\\NamcoIGN InformationGamespot InformationThe IGN details -- Team Star Fox is back for their most intense combat yet, as they engage a new threat by air and by land! A few years after disaster was barely averted on Dinosaur Planet, Lylat Central Command gets wind of a new threat spreading throughout the solar system. The Star Fox team is sent in to engage this new enemy but what begins as a standard combat mission quickly takes a drastic turn. Classic team members, Fox McCloud, Slippy Toad, Peppy Hare and Falco Lombardi, join forces with some new faces to create the most formidable team in the history of this celebrated series: the Star Fox armada.
My take -- Much of what we saw of Star Fox last year was crap. In fact, I\'m still a little bit iffy about the ground missions where you play as Fox as opposed to using an Ar-Wing or a tank, but they look far more entertaining this E3 then the last. The best part though, the one thing that set Star Fox above all the rest of the shooters out there was the space combat and it looks to be back in this iteration in force reminding me in part of the combat in Rogue Leader primarily because of how much is going on screen now, but it still maintains that Star Fox feel we all have come to know and love.
That\'s about it for me. I wanted to keep it to five or less even though there was a few I had to leave out. Do you guys have any obscure game pics from this E3?
Topic: The Games of E3 - My Personal Favorites (Read 1119 times)