EGX (or Eurogamer Expo as it was formerly called) is starting to become a yearly date in my calendar. This is the third time I have been to the show, now in its first years at the new venue – Birmingham’s NEC. I’ve got to say, I’m always excited to go along and play the new games. It’s always a great experience to walk through the doors and be engulfed by gaming and geeky goodness. The size is always bigger than I remember, and this year was no different.
First I’ll have my say on the new venue. It works perfectly for the event. The long queues in the elements around the outside of Earl’s Court are now a thing of the past with everything self-contained, you’ve got a roof over your head from the get go. And the whole entry process seemed much smoother aswell, which was really nice to see. Inside on the other hand was a different matter. I always expect to queue, and for anyone who asks me what to expect when they go I compare it to a theme park – you queue to get in, and then you queue to go on the rides. But man alive the queues this year were horrendous. 5 minutes after doors opens (the early entry that is) there were 3+ hour queues formed on the bigger games, and 2 hour queues for some of the not so big ones. This is something that really needs to be addressed for next year. Maybe reduce the amount of tickets for sale, increase the amount of screens for games, or even reduce the play time/cool down period. For me, it sort of took away from the occasion. Luckily I spent 3 days there, because once I had spent my time in one very long queue that was me done for the day, I was looking for smaller queues or just aimlessly wandering looking at other ‘stuff’.
Anyway, onto the games that I managed to play. Despite being there 3 days I didn’t get to see everything I wanted – Need for Speed, Mirror’s Edge and Hitman are notable games that I didn’t manage to check out. But let’s have a look at my impressions of the games I did play over the 3 days below!
First game I managed to play (thank you small queue!). I’ve been keeping an eye on it for a while. I really enjoyed the first game – mostly down to the premise I’d imagine, but still, it has some happy memories in my mind. And the idea of an expansive open world environment within the same game world excites me a lot. Well, unfortunately the demo has left a lot to be desired. Gameplay wise it plays fine, there are some nice touches there aswell with on the fly weapons customisations, loot gathering etc. The problem was the objective of the demo itself. The demo started quite well, with a guerrilla group ambushing an enemy vehicle before needing to retreat (there is great emphasis on the fact that you are not a ‘super soldier’, but a cog in the machine of a much bigger idea), before moving on to capture an enemy building. Once that’s done, the objectives are…..to capture other points in the area. This wasn’t made immediately clear because the objective markers disappeared, but that was all there was. Go here, capture this, repeat. There was some nice weaponry and gadgets on the way, but it was very bland. The experience hasn’t put me off the idea of giving the full release a try, but it hasn’t inspired me to go and buy it on release either, and I can’t imagine it will have had that effect on many other either. Still worth keeping an eye on I think, just a poor choice of taster material.
This was it, the BIG queue of the day. All of 3 hours to get an 18 minute session on the new Warzone game mode. And it was really great. It is very much Halo, but I like that they have included a multiplayer mode that also has AI enemies. Much like Titanfall it makes it feel like you’re contributing something, even if it is only a small amount. There are also AI bosses dotted around to take out with your team. Of course, there are 12 other human players’ aswell vying for map domination. It’s like an amalgamation of Domination, Slayer and a bit of Firefight aswell. Along with the usual expectations of a Halo game there is a ‘fresh’ feel. New ideas such a REQ’s (the ability to buy in new weapons and vehicles into the game) keep the Halo franchise from stagnating. Graphically it looked great aswell, everything running very smoothly on the Xbox One.
I’ve only ever finished one AC game, and I keep telling myself that I’m not going to buy the next one, and invariably I do. And in all honesty I enjoy bit and bobs of most of them. I tend to enjoy the locations more than anything I guess. AC 3’s American Revolution setting was great, but it just missed a certain something that kept me interested for a long time. Black Flag is arguably a series high, but I found the need to sail everywhere a bit tiresome and it ended collected dust. Unity….well that was a mess for the most part, and because of that I was absolutely adamant that I would not be buying Syndicate. That was until I picked up the controller and started playing through the game as Evie (the female protagonist in the game), and it felt really good! I kind of hate myself a bit for saying that aswell, because in reality, it is probably ‘same old’, but the free running felt tighter, the combat was quick, fluid and devastating (though I’m sure after a few hours with the game it’ll be a case of the same animations over and over). Hell, I even enjoyed the challenge of stealthing as much as I could (I put this down to playing a lot of MGS recently). It was cool to see genuine different ways of approaching a situation aswell, with multiple different options and people of interest you can choose to look into or now. And the London setting is great aswell – a dark gloomy city to explore. This was a real surprise for me, and I only really gave it a go because it was the smallest queue in the area I was standing, but I’m very glad that I did. Thumbs up at the moment, Ubisoft might just have done enough to keep me interested in this franchise.
I seem to remember enjoying Just Cause 2 quite a lot when it first came out on the 360. So much so that I bought it again in a Steam sale. But trying to play it again I didn’t quite ‘get’ why I liked it so much previously. I’m very much a gamer that generally likes some sort of story going on, it doesn’t need to be particularly deep even, but tell me why I’m doing what I’m doing. Before playing Just Cause 3 we were given a short presentation on all the different ways you can cause destruction. I sat down to play the game and was quite frankly, very underwhelmed. It might have to do with the fact that 1. My headset wasn’t working properly so only the one side was giving out any audio, or 2. My loadout wasn’t set up correctly, I didn’t have the ability to attach things together with the grappling hook, and I didn’t have a wingsuit. Two of the main things they just told me about in the presentation. But it could also be down to the fact, that I just couldn’t get past that this was just Just Cause 2 with a bit of spit and polish. It’s the same guy, blowing up the same stuff, on another pretty looking island, mostly for the sake of it looking quite cool. Maybe I’ve gotten too old and want a bit more depth or something, but after seeing what the likes of Crackdown 3 is doing with the same core idea, JC3 – despite it’s obviously massive marketing budget, is really not doing it for me
This was high up on my must play list for the weekend. The first time I saw it, it made me think ‘yes, I want to play that’ and that feeling hasn’t died down since. It boggles my mind a bit to think that The Division had so little screens, when something like Just Cause 3 had LOADS. The queuing for this game was mental. But it was a very enjoyable experience one I got hands on. It is clear that team play and communication is going to be key here, and those who form a strong team are going to benefit. We played through a Dark Zone area – the games PVP mode. Each of the team took up a different role, with different load outs. There wasn’t a huge amount of explanation going on from the chap on the booth who was mic’d up to tell us what to do, which was a bit frustrating. I did get a ‘oh, yea, if you shoot the other players you’ll become a target for everyone else in the game’ line once I had already done it – cheers pal! Initial impressions though are positive. This is a cover shooter, it reminded me a bit of Gears at times with the movement between cover being a necessity. There is nice futuristic gear and gadgets aswell and some really great shooting mechanics. Hopefully there will be plenty to do in the game with both PVE and PVP to keep it interesting.
Unsurprisingly one of the, if not the most popular game of the weekend looking at pure queueing time. I thought this one would slip me by half way through the afternoon. But there were two sections for it, the competitive standard multiplayer – which everyone was waiting for, and a smaller co-op section with a smaller amount of screens. Thankfully this was a much more acceptable wait – around 30-40 minutes. I’m so glad I got to get a feel of how the game plays aswell. I was very concerned with the leaked alpha footage that I saw. It looked like it was very bland, and I said to a few people at the time – If this wasn’t a Star Wars game, it’d never sell. Playing it though, maaaan it’s fun. And yes, it probably is because it is Star Wars, but graphically it is fantastic, seeing the laser weapons bounce off the storm trooper, and AT-AT’s exploding made me have a little excited wee. I’m such a bloody fan boy it’s embarrassing. It would be nice if there were more weapons, and it does worry me that it may be a detriment to the game in the long run, but what I played at EGX has put the hype train back on the rails for me. And, it didn’t feel much like Battlefield, especially in third person! Which means that one of my main concerns has been alleviated.
Just a great fun game utilising third person shooting mechanics, in a way that is accessible to all age ranges. Seriously, if you’ve not played the first one give it a go, it’s free on EA Access now. Will it win game of the year? No of course not, but for a quick pick up and play with friends it is cracking. Fun characters, weapons, abilities and levels make this a winner in my eyes. Will I buy it? Probably not, at least not at full price, but I’d definitely be happy to play it again.
The final game of the weekend for me. And another I feared I’d miss out on, but luckily got in the queue early enough to only be waiting around half an hour. It you’re a fan of the reboot you’ll love this aswell. It much more of the same, and I got a very Indiana Jones vibe through sections of what I played. A proper raid on a tomb, through narrow pathways covered with crawling scorpions, moving through to more open platforming areas, before culminating in getting to the treasure and a setpiece firefight and then moving on to an escape run before the whole tomb falls in on you. It was fantastic. And I can’t wait to get my hands on the full release. I really enjoyed the last game, and I want this one to build upon that and get bigger and better, and hopefully with more Tombs like the demo (Prophets Tomb). Another game where the visuals are great aswell! It looks like such a promising 6 months for the gaming industry and I can’t wait.
So that’s that then. The games finished. There are a few other things I want to mention before I wrap this up. I got to try out the new Elite Controller for the Xbox One. I really wish this wasn’t so expensive, if there is ever a deal I’ll be very tempted to pick one up. It’s heavier than the standard controller and so well built. Everything about it feels sturdier, more responsive, and just better. I wish I was playing an FPS with it rather than Forza, but it gave me a very good impression. On a non-Xbox note, I had my first try of VR with The Assembly. You really can’t describe the experience of it in words or pictures. I implore everyone to give it a go if presented with the opportunity, it really feels like it could be the future. Though it is a bizarre feeling at first.
Finally, I want to give a shout out to the work the guys at Special Effect are doing. I happened upon their stand and I was amazed. They are a charity that help people with disabilities enjoy video games through the use of new technology and specially designed controllers to cater for the needs of each specific user. It was fantastic, using a device to allow eye movement to control the screen and a controller that was controller by the users chin. I truly believe that the video game industry is now at the forefront of the entertainment industry, and to see a charity specialising in helping people that would not normally be able to enjoy them in the conventional manner be included is superb.
Another year, and another EGX done. Can’t wait for the next one!