Like many of you who have played the Uncharted series, I suspect word of a third entry (which was officially debuted at E3 this year) made you just as excited as it did me. Despite my own issues with some of the mechanics of the game, the story and characters within it are some of the best you’ll find in any game.

Also announced at E3 this year was some interesting information about the multiplayer aspect. First, they announced a beta testing period (which began yesterday) and they also announced that the completed multiplayer will be available an entire month before the release of the actual game. We’re here to discuss the former.

Upon first opening the beta, you’re greeted with a very colorful and active menu. On the left you’ve got your customization and matchmaking options, in the center, your character and the visual cues he/she might take based on your changes (he runs off the screen to get a new weapon whenever you change your loadout) and on the right is a nifty little video screen, depicting scenes from the single-player campaign and the multiplayer maps, as well as any news tidbits that may be coming from NaughtyDog. Though some might think this to be crowded, it actually vibes well. No one feature overpowers the next and the interactivity showed nary a hiccup.

Matchmaking itself seemed a bit slow at first, but I suspect this was due to the limited number of people who were online at the time. Regardless of that fact, once the lobby was full and the voting commenced on the maps (a little wonky, but likely to get better), the match began without delay.

Gameplay

Initial gameplay was hindered by massive amounts of lag and two freezes of my system, so I had to wait a day until NaughtyDog released a patch, but once that was downloaded, everything played like a dream. The character movement flowed very nicely compared to some shooters I have played and had a bit of a Socom feel to it. Controlling the character in the multiplayer is just like controlling it in the single-player campaign, which is great. The platforming aspects of the multiplayer definitely make it a diverse experience compared to games that require you to ascend/descend to different levels of the map by using stairs/inclines.

The two modes I played – Team Deathmatch (TDM) and Free For All (FFA) – both had a nice feel to them as well. The only thing that was a little odd were the changing components of the TDM such as the periods of 60 seconds during which the enemy could see your location on the map at all times. This changes periodically through the match and – while a cool feature – leaves me wanting a mode of just TDM with no gimmicks (which I’m sure will be in the final release).

Maps

If you’re not impressed by this aspect of the Uncharted 3 (UC3) multiplayer, you won’t be impressed by anything. Aesthetically, the maps are very well made and feature vibrant colors that leave you wanting to explore them. The way they are set up leave something to be desired, such as buildings that you would suspect to have more than one passage to the other side leaving you searching before realizing such a passage does not exist. This is a very minor nit-pick, however.

Interactivity of the maps is best exemplified in the Air Strip map (my personal favorite), which begins with a moving cargo plane being tailed by a revolving group of flat-bed trucks that you can jump between and use to get onto the plane. You can either use the trucks to your advantage by using them to flank the enemies who are using the open doors on the side of the plane or you can use the cargo in the back of the plane to keep the people in the the trucks at bay. Eventually, this scene transitions to the plane taking off and landing at a nearby air strip (hence the title) where there are multiple vantage points and cover areas for the teams (heroes or villains) to fight it out.

I’m looking forward to seeing what else the maps have to offer when the full multiplayer comes out in October.

Gunplay

This is an area I feel to be lacking when compared to the rest of the multiplayer experience so far. While reloading is just as efficient as it is in the single-player mode (at least based on my experience with Uncharted 2), the weapons seem to be incredibly underpowered (unless you’re one of those people running around with an RPG). Using the G-Mal assault rifle, it takes an average of about 4 pulls of the trigger to get a kill and that’s if you’re at close to medium range with minimal movement. If you break that down into the 3-round bursts coming from the gun, that’s 12 bullets to kill someone! I’m not saying everyone should die within three shots, but come on – 12 rounds? Really?

The aiming reticle when zooming in works pretty well, but could use a little more tweeking (as I’m sure it will get) for hit detection, which is something that most multiplayer games haven’t gotten right yet. Hipfire isn’t terrible, and you should use it if you’re at close range without time to aim, but I wouldn’t depend on it for the entire match unless you’re trying to get better at it.

Verdict

Overall, for being a beta, the UC3 multiplayer is shaping up to be very impressive. Its mechanics work well, the maps look great and the menus are user-friendly. Though the weapons need a bit of tweaking and the maps could use a good once-over, I see no reason why UC3′s multiplayer will be unsuccessful in its own right. It’s not Call of Duty or Socom or Battlefield. And I think that’s something working in its favor.

Played the Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta? Let us know what you think!

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but gaming today isn’t the same as gaming 10 (or even five) years ago. Prior to the adoption of downloadable games and the wholesale attack on the part of the game publishers against the second-hand market, gaming was something we did together as a community. Now, however, the gaming community faces some major challenges in the form of Digital Rights Management (DRM), violations of the right of first sale, the over-commercialization of console gaming, the assumption that graphics and guns make the game, and censorship from “moral crusaders” against video games which offend them (despite the fact that they themselves have never played those games). In a vain attempt not to be a downer, I will share some ideas on how I think we can improve our situation.

Problems

If you go to Sam’s Club or Costco, they have a guy standing at the door who checks your membership card when you enter the door and then checks your receipt as you leave. This is their form of loss prevention: everybody is a thief until proven not to be a thief. The same is true of DRM, too, as DRM is the loss prevention of digital media. The difference is that DRM results in an intentional lack of sharing of media between friends, thus rendering media which should be culturally beneficial much less so. Additionally, DRM also has the fun side-effect of bricking (rendering useless) consoles which are modified to play home-brew games, iPhones which have been jail-broken, or making scratches on video game discs much more detrimental than they normally would. Since everything on the disc is involved in copy-protection, any small amount of data which cannot be read can cause the game not to load rather than just causing the game to skip on the sound-track or video.

The right of first sale, specifically, refers to the constitutional and statutory right (held up by the Supreme Court and is codified within U.S. law) within the United States of America to sell an item which you have purchased, but not a copy of it. This is the right that makes the second hand game market in the United States legal. Game publishers do not care much for the used game market. If you sell a used game, the publisher doesn’t make any more money, and they see that as a lost sale of a new game. They erroneously assume that someone would have purchased a new copy of a game at $59 rather than purchasing a used copy around $30. For these reasons, some publishers have implemented their own “loss prevention” in the form of consumable key-codes (such as Red Faction: Armageddon).

Gaming – like many things in the United States these days – is becoming over-commercialized. It’s tough, but not impossible, for an indie game shop to come out with a hot new game. Sure, there are exceptions such as Minecraft, but most of the games that folks are excited about are only coming from big shops. Additionally, the big publishers keep buying the small shops once they have a successful title, and then they close it down to reduce costs, moving the game to another development shop which is usually overseas or in an area where developers are paid less. This means that we end up with fewer people making games, fewer developer shops making games, and more control in the hands of large corporations.

Gamers, to an extent, have also participated in the self-mutilation of their own gaming culture. It used to be that video games were about having fun, about the thrill of solving the puzzle, beating the game, improving one’s gaming abilities and engaging in friendly competition. Now, video games have become about competing in large numbers and in a very aggressive manner. We demand better graphics, even if they don’t add to the story or the gameplay. The gaming community wants production quality at a level that only major corporations can sustain, so only major corporations get to play.

Finally we come to censorship. Hillary Clinton is likely one of the more recent politicians to demagogue video games and blame them for violence. Study after study shows that video game violence does not cause violent behavior, and politician after politician exploits video games as a cause of violence in the course of some emotional argument of their campaign to get stupid people who believe that stuff to vote for them. We even see folks lifting up the Entertainment Softeware Rating Board (ESRB) as some infallible ratings board, and wanting to legislate them into a place of prominence as many states have with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) ratings. This, of course, is a crock of lies. Objectivity in the ESRB is about as easy to find as a unicorn with rainbow lasers coming out of his ass. There is no objective measure for games because video games are an art form, and are therefore entirely subjective in content. Sure, there are some points that can seem objective, but in context they simply are not.

Take the History Channel’s Civil War game for instance. Compare it to, say, Call of Juarez. The History Channel’s game was rated “Teen” while Call of Juarez was rated “Mature.” Why? The ESRB would say that due to the educational nature of the History Channel’s game, it is less objectionable. They’d also say that the violence is toned down. This begs the question of how does one determines the scale of violence in a game? I guarantee that I kill fewer (FICTIONAL) people in the course of playing Call of Juarez than in the Civil War game.

Solutions

With all of that said, I have some ideas on solutions, too. As far as censorship goes, the solution there is simple. If you have a young (14 or under, for those of you who want me to define “young”) child who wants to play video games, don’t let them have a computer or a console in their room. In addition to preventing them from engaging in some atrocious behavior, it gives you an opportunity to supervise your child’s gaming, maybe even participate in gaming with your child. Even if your kid is playing Super Mario Brothers it is possible that they are somehow engaging in behavior or picking up lessons which you don’t want them picking up (poor sportsmanship, cursing in frustration, etc).

For DRM and violations of the right of first sale, reject download-only titles. Complain to the publisher about consumable key-codes. Trade in games at community shops first, and share games with your friends. Game publishers have no business trying to teach us and our children not to share.

Accept lesser graphics in exchange for better gameplay! Minecraft is a perfect example of a game which can be more fun than you’ve had in a while, where the graphics aren’t all that super. PC Gamers have learned over time that games with higher-end graphics cost more money in hardware and performance, and they’re not always worth it. Console gamers could do well to pick up this lesson.

My final though on this matter: participate in gaming culture! You – yes you – are the perfect catalyst to right what could be considered a sinking ship. You live in a community, right? You have neighbors? Friends? Community centers? Rent out your community center, or a room in your local library. Tell people to bring their consoles and TVs, and their games. Get together and play video games with one another. Video games are an art form, and they are consumed by an appreciative art community – the gamers. We need to think of ourselves first as game culture participants, and not as video game media consumers.

You are not a media consumer, you are a gamer. And for that we thank you.

Let’s just start by saying that conflict does happen online. We here at anyConsole.com do hereby validate that feelings get hurt, and that real conflict does happen while gaming and online. Those hurt feelings take shape in many different forms and for many different causes. Here is my take on the major “hurt-feelings” situations:

• You’re playing a multiplayer game, and you get repeatedly killed. You’re not having much fun in the game – though others may be – and you’re frustrated.
• You’re playing online and someone engages in some unfair name-calling. You’re naturally offended, it takes away from the fun of the game.
• You’re reading someone’s opinion online, and you disagree with it. You may even strongly disagree with it, it takes away from the fun of reading about video games on a website.

There are many different ways that conflict starts online and in console gaming. At the point of offense though – the very moment you find yourself upset, frustrated, or offended – you choose how to respond. I think most ways of response could be boiled down to four categories:

1. Assertive - disagreeing calmly using logic and reason
2. Passive - walk away, ignore
3. Passive/Aggressive - talk smack about someone when they’re not around, anonymously attack them, submit a player complaint, call for a kick vote
4. Aggressive - name-calling, use of racial, sexist, or homophobic slurs, threats

Recently in my online gaming, and even in activities here on this blog, item #4 really seems to be the dominant force among young people (guessing under 17). More mature gamers tend to choose the first two, maybe the third.

Why is this important? Because conflict resolution matters in gaming. If we can’t all “play nice,” (as all of our mothers taught us to do) then nobody gets to have any fun. It’s no fun to listen to some jerk call someone the “N” word on Xbox Live, though that is routine. It is all too common to be in the middle of Modern Warfare (or any version of Call of Duty, really) and hear some young child hurling some of the most vile and repugnant slurs at his fellow gamers. I don’t know how parents can allow this to go on, but it does.

At anyConsole.com, we want to promote a healthy game culture, one in which everybody is welcome and everybody is having fun. The “N” word has no place in a healthy gaming culture, nor does the “R” word. We hope the community will stand up for less hostile gaming. It’s time to make games about fun and culture, not anger, bigotry and slurs.

As a side-note, we block those who post such nonsense on this blog. Thanks.

At this very moment, somewhere on the Internet, a Call of Duty fan is speculating about what will/won’t be available in the upcoming Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) multiplayer.

And why shouldn’t they? Between Modern Warfare 1 and 2 and now Black Ops, fans of the game have come to love – and loathe – a great deal of aspects about the Call of Duty (CoD) online experience. All of these professed pros and cons come out in the hope that one day, there will be a perfectly-created CoD online universe where the word “overpowered” does not exist.

However, until that magical day appears, here is a list of what we think should (and shouldn’t) be in the MW3 Multiplayer, many of them based on past CoD installments:

Bring It On (online necessities)

Get Rid of It (game-killer)

For as long as this entry has become, there are (I’m confident) many more things that could be added to this list. In my personal opinion, MW2 had so many glaring flaws, the fact that it was considered a full game is insulting to people who play video games.

I can only hope Infinity Ward has learned from their mistakes and can put forth an effort that at least embraces what the hardcore and casual gamers alike are looking for in a multiplayer experience.

If you have something you believe should be added to the list LET US KNOW! We’ll add the best ones to the list as we hope this will be an ongoing discussion until the multiplayer details of MW3 are released.

Set on a floating mega-city called The Ark – a place of refuge following the flooding of the Earth – Brink is a game where you can play as either a member of the Ark Security Forces, or the Resistance forces as your side (you have to pick one or the other) works to swing the arm of control within The Ark. Though suggestive of having a great deal of depth, the rigid story line seems to only vary depending on which side you pick. None of your battles affect the story, other than ending it and forcing you to repeat the level.

As you go through the story, there are a series of missions for you to undertake where you’re either defending something for a period of time or trying to overwhelm a defender (you know, the standard set of objectives for missions). However, I found it remarkably difficult to keep up with everything that was going on in the game as far as the story went. At first I thought that it was a lack of clarity in the game telling me what was going on – and there is plenty of that – but I’ve come to the conclusion that the bigger problem is, there’s too much going on simultaneously; it’s cluttered. You’re trying to find your way through the map and you find yourself with enemies on two sides, then your commanding officer tells you that you need to get back and defend the objective, and then someone tells you they need you to use your class power, then your commanding officer tells you the objective has been lost and to reclaim it. It’s an overwhelming amount of stuff going on all at once.

Adding insult to injury, the missions themselves often had a very nonsensical feel to them, leaving you wishing clarity or at least the ability to understand why things were the way they were. In the first mission as a Revolutionary, for example, you are tasked with defending a door. This door appears to block absolutely nothing. You can actually stand on one side of the door, then duck under some ducting and find yourself on the other side of the door, and the door is still intact and you did not open it. Then, if you fail in that – which I always seem to – you are tasked with preventing an informant from being kidnapped by the enemy, but you can’t kill him. When I say “you can’t kill him,” I don’t mean the mission ends if you kill him… I mean that it is actually not possible to kill him. What’s particularly frustrating about this is that the audio from your commander says that you’d be doing the guy a favor by killing him and preventing him from being tortured. So, just to make sure you’re following me, your commanding officer says to kill the guy, but the game won’t let you kill the guy. Don’t think I didn’t try. At one point I had all enemies cleared, and I stood over the guy shooting into his head for like 30 seconds, and even when his health bar hit zero, the guy still didn’t die. It felt like I was dividing by zero.

The length of some of these missions is arbitrarily set, and is far too long in my opinion. 10 minutes to defend a door, or to prevent a guy from escaping, all the while nothing new is happening. An enemy pops up, you shoot the enemy, then you wait some more, you get the picture.

One of the bright spots of this game was the character customization. Being as Brink is shooter with classes, there are four areas to choose from: operative, soldier, medic, engineer. If you’ve played any games with character customization or shooters (Killzone, for example) then you’re pretty familiar with these classes by now (very TFC-ish). This does add to the gameplay a bit since you can use your class to gain experience and really make a difference in how well your team performs. It was definitely one of the more enjoyable portions of the game (of which there were not many).

I really wanted to have fun with this game as I really do like wasteland scenario games. I was excited to see Bethesda doing another wasteland/free-roam scenario game, as they’ve done a great job with the Fallout series as well as the Elder Scrolls Series. The concept for this game would have been aided much more had it been done similarly to Red Faction: Guerrilla. While I personally believe an open-world lends itself to revolutionary games, I didn’t have much fun with Brink and it will likely be returned tomorrow.

According to GamePolitics.com, illegal streaming may soon be a felony carrying a penalty of up to five years in jail. The bill, S. 978, a.k.a. “Commercial Felony Streaming Act,” has made its way through the Senate Judiciary Committee, and brings illegal streaming to the same level as illegal downloading, where it is a felony.

All of this law is based on the supposition that an illegal download is the same as a lost sale, which I think has some big holes. The largest hole in this fuzzy logic is that nobody has bothered to quantify how many people would have purchased the media had the illegal download not been available, and that is a hole large enough to drive a Warthog through.

Another hole in this thinking is that neither the business people nor the legislators involved have gone through the trouble of trying to understand what they’re seeking to limit. Want proof? Currently it is illegal to download content, and it’s a felony if done commercially. This bill would bring streaming into line with downloading. What’s ignorant here is that streaming and downloading are the same thing. Streaming is downloading. Were they to have bothered to understand the technologies they were regulating, they would have figured this out and gotten this together years ago.

At this site we do not endorse any form of illegal copying, sharing, or streaming. We love our friends who make games, we love them as much as we love Mr. Toots. We wish them the very best, and we hope that they return it all back to us in the form of lovely video games which make us smile and waste our time.

We, however, don’t believe that companies should get to call all the shots within government, and that’s really what this is. Violating copyright is already illegal, it has been for a very long time. The game corporations are looking to find more ways to criminalize something that’s already a crime, and I’m not sure why. This bill doesn’t really change any of that, except now, if your blog gets hacked and you get 11 illegal streaming links on your blog in a 180 day period, you will now face the possibility of felony charges.

Maybe they have paranoid shareholders who are demanding they do something about this unquantified problem. Who knows? We remain unconvinced that illegal downloading is as much of a problem as what the industry says it is, and we would be delighted to be proven wrong if anybody has the real numbers to back up their claims. The music industry said they would lose their shirts over piracy if iTunes ever stopped putting DRM into their downloads, and they’ve since been proven wrong.

Source: GamePolitics.com

Jaffe, the director of such gaming hits as the God of War series and the upcoming Twisted Metal (the originator of which he was also a part), took to twitter today to remind members of the media that if you’re going to report it, it might as well be accurate.

The gaming icon had strong words for LazyGamer.net following a piece released by them titled “David Jaffe Doesn’t Think Sony Likes His Game“, which refers to a recent interview with Eurogamer that discussed how some of the folks at Sony just don’t “get it” when it comes to the new Twisted Metal, an icon in its own right on the Playstation platform.

In response, Jaffe indicated the context of his comment was lost, which is why many developers are tight-lipped with the media (Editor’s note: The following comments have been edited for profane content):

“Note to certain friends in the gaming press: the REASON more folks don’t open up and tell you more than the PR folks suggest is becausesome of you twist and take [expletive] SO out of context that we in the game making biz are just better off not giving you ANY [expletive] opportunity to twist what we say,” he said via his twitter on Wednesday evening.

He continued by defending Sony’s role in presenting and supporting Twisted Metal at the recent E3 convention in Los Angeles.

“We got PRIME booth space, tons of time and support and love from all divisions of Sony. Try reading the [expletive] article from which you are ‘reporting’ on next time before you go and start putting your own, totally unfounded spin on the things I say.”

From a media standpoint, Jaffe makes a valid point. This is a prime example of why checking your sources is vital to not just your own outlet’s ability to get scoops, but the rest of the gaming media’s ability as well. Many times, what hurts one of us, hurts all of us. If developers become wary of news outlets, it hurts all our abilities to get gamers the information they need about the entertainment they (and we) love.

So, to all the journalists out there in the gaming industry: Lets make sure we don’t bite the proverbial hands that feed. There’s a difference between keeping them honest and interpreting their honesty to fit our stories.

To developers like Jaffe? Keep keeping us honest and doing it in front of the readers who depend on us. Otherwise, what would we learn?

I love echochrome. This franchise has single-handedly killed many weekends (and it’s not going to stop any time soon). Recently they’ve been honored in a way which is somewhat unusual – though not unheard of – in the gaming community: They have won a world record for having the longest song in a video game – more than 75 minutes in length.

The team has given us some insight into how they did the music:

“With the previous echochrome, we employed a string quartet for the soundtrack, a rare genre for video games,” said echochrome producer Tatsuya Suzuki from Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEJ). “The music did not change depending on the in-game situation, instead taking its own random path as it played along. We wanted to make echochrome’s music as unique and innovative as the game itself in hopes of making the play experience even more memorable for gamers. The quest to outdo ourselves for the sequel was what led us to create the world’s longest piece of game music. It’s 75 minutes long because we wanted it to take up an entire CD by itself. We were lucky to have a title with gameplay like echochrome’s to serve as the proving ground for this effort. If this was an RPG or some other genre, I imagine it would’ve been a lot tougher. It just goes to show how tight the relationship is between gameplay and game music.”

We congratulate the echochrome ii team on this remarkable achievement, and we can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

Source: PlayStation Blog

Despite the open Beta for the recently-announced Call of Duty: Elite service not officially beginning until July 14, millions of players – 2 million, to be exact – have already thrown their names in the hat to test the service.

According Dan Amrich, the social media manager for Activision, the mark of 2 million registrants in under two weeks “blew his mind.” He went on to say that players still interested in participating should not be dissuaded from registering for the beta due to the large amount of people already registered.

“[D]on’t be discouraged by the big number, thinking you shouldn’t bother because they already have enough people — two million volunteers among 30 million Call of Duty players is a small amount. More would be even better,” Amrich stated on his blog, where he announced the numbers.

The service, which is going to include stat-tracking, custom leaderboards, clan organization, competition ladders and more, is expected to have free aspects, as well as paid aspects that will be accessible via a subscription. Details on the subscription price have yet to be released.

That said, it should be interesting to see how this plays out. Check back here at anyconsole.com for the latest info on the CoD: Elite service and more.

(source: Game Informer)

Game Informer has awarded its E3 winners, and it looks like the PlayStation Vita took the Best Tech award. I couldn’t agree with this choice more. It has been a long time since I was as excited about a handheld platform as I am about the Playstation Vita.

Other categories that I thought were interesting and agreeable are:

Best of Show: BioShock Infinite

Best of PS3: Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Best of Xbox 360: Gears of War 3

Best of Wii: The Ledgend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Best Adventure: Batman: Arkham City

Best RPG: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Best Shooter: Battlefield 3

Best Racer: Forza Motorsport 4

Best Sports: FIFA 12 (I personally love FIFA games)

I strongly recommend you check out Game Informer’s E3 awards piece here.

Check out 1UP.com‘s interview with David Jaffe, co-founder of Eat Sleep Play, and the creator of Twisted Metal and God of War.

According to Gematsu.com, an analyst for Sterne Agee is reporting that Nintendo’s new Wii U console will be 50 percent more powerful than Sony’s PlayStation 3.

“Some of the developers we spoke to indicated to us that the console will have 50 percent more processing power compared to the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360,” said Arvind Bhatia. However, Bhatia continued that “This is yet to be confirmed by Nintendo.”

I’m more than a little skeptical, to say the least. In fact, I don’t think Nintendo has even finalized the load-out for this console, which is why I think they haven’t disclosed specifications yet. Were Nintendo’s device in line to take the PS3′s place as the most technically powerful platform available, they would have said so by now. At the very least, they would have told us the system specs to whet our appetites for more news on the still-secretive Wii U.

This is nothing more than a marketing firm trying to make some noise and attract some business. Nothing more, nothing less.

See our first impressions of the Wii U here.

(Source: Gematsu)

It’s sad to see how large publishers punish studios for not performing as well as they had hoped. A relatively young (just six years old) Kaos studios is the developer of Homefront. Homefront evidently didn’t perform as well as THQ had hoped, and it appears that Kaos is going to be shut down. I suppose we can’t read into the business decisions of this, but we do wish Kaos staff luck.

From the report via Game Informer:

Kaos Studios, the developer behind THQ’s Homefront, is being shuttered by the publisher. That doesn’t mean Homefront is dead, however; work on the next entry in the series will continue at THQ’s Montreal studio.

Word of the studio closure first leaked when a Kaos employee, Zach Wilson, tweeted: “That’s what i’m hearing, that Kaos is shutting down, details to come. Most of the devs already have jobs with new studios anyways.” Wilson followed up with: “It’ll be interesting to see how THQ corporate spins this one.”

Click here for the complete GI story

Among the many anticipated titles coming out at this year’s E3 was the latest entry in one of my favorite series:  The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Anyone familiar with this series knows the level of detail typically paid to the games by RPG kings (in my mind, anyway) Bethesda Softworks.  In an exclusive gameplay segment on G4, nearly half the content was pulled from what was to be a 30-minute private viewing at this year’s convention and discussed with Bethesda Game Director Todd Howard.

Attention to Detail

Right out of the box this game impresses.  The amount of detail you see around you in the world is more than enough to impress even the most skeptical gamers.  And when you consider there are approximately 16 miles of land inside the game to explore, all with the same level of detail, it becomes very hard not to be excited.

According to Howard, the goal of this game was to utilize the new Creation Engine – an internally-built game engine – as much as possible.

“We have a brand new engine we’ve written for the game, all-new graphics, all-new gameplay; we just tried to make a big, crazy role playing game with as much stuff as possible in it – just overwhelm you with detail.”

Hearing Howard talk about how they wanted to approach the details with the mindset that they shouldn’t be hidden really speaks to the pride he and the rest of the designers and artists take in their job and in this game.  He said he wants you to believe you’re really in that world and when you look down at a flower, he wants you to be able to see every detail it has.

With the new game engine comes the addition of a new animation system.  Character movement and features move with great fluidity and realism.  Even the third-person perspective looks fantastic compared to Oblivion and past Elder Scrolls entries.  This aspect is very appealing to me as someone who traditionally plays RPGs from the first-person perspective.

A new area of interest to many players will be the improved menu interface, which has begged for reinvention since Morrowind.  The menus of past Elder Scrolls entries always seemed to be a boon on the gameplay, what with the fumbling around with multiple menu levels for this item or that item.  That, however, is a bygone time.

In its place comes a four-section menu with categorical separation and the ability to inspect every single item with a 3D view.

“Our artists just went to town,” said Howard.  ”Literally thousands of objects.”

Joining the items menu overhaul is the skills menu, which faced challenges of its own in past games.  However, it now takes a path-oriented “perk” direction.  And, in true Elder Scrolls fashion, this new menu has you look to the sky in a star map perspective, with constellations representing different skill sets.

“It’s like you have this custom constellation for how you’ve been playing the game,” said Howard.  ”And what’s really cool is when you level up you get to choose a perk, so each [constellation] is actually a perk tree as well.”  As you continue playing, the constellations will follow with your progress and essentially evolve throughout the game.

The screenshots of Skyrim that we have seen magazines and online are but a taste of the amazing views the game has to offer.

Two Hands are Better Than One

This new functionality goes hand in hand (quite literally, actually) with many character ability changes that are present in the game. One feature you’ll notice right off the bat is the ability to dual-wield things like weapons (dual swords, anyone?) or – my personal favorite – magic. As you’ll see in the demo below, dual-wielding the same spell allows you to create a more powerful iteration of said spell than what you would get without combining them.

Basically, you can select what items/spells/weapons you want to use in either hand and hot-key them to where you want them. A feature I cannot wait to try out and one that Howard says puts you in control of who your character becomes.

“You are who you play. You want to play like a Battle Mage? You do it. You don’t have to pick some character in the beginning,” he said.

I really like the sound of this option. While I appreciate character customization, not being confined to selecting specific classes and restricted to what that class offers is incredibly appealing. Still, I will be interested to see what the character customization actually DOES include – that is, if they will retain many of the options that have made it so much fun in past Elder Scrolls games as well as in the likes of Fallout.

Here are just a few of the other features that were not only highlighted in the video, but stood out to me as well:

• The openness of the world – Howard gave the impression that nearly every single location you can see in the world is a location you can visit.  That means the mountains you see in the distance are a place you should add to your list of “things to climb.”
• The ‘Radiant Story’ feature – Though he didn’t detail this much, Howard implied that there is a radiant story system that will create a dynamic experience specific to each gamer.
• Character functionality – the ability to change your settings on the fly and adjust your character during battle is going to be awesome and I can’t wait to try it out.  Mix in the ability to complete “finishing moves” against enemies and you have an entirely new battle experience.
• Map changes – feeling lost?  Now, instead of having to scroll through a bland, medieval map on an item menu, you need only select the map function button and watch as the camera pans out to the sky for a bird’s-eye view of the area.  This comes complete with location-specific markers and user-set waypoints.
• Over 150 dungeons means plenty of time (reportedly 300+ hours of possible gameplay) and locations go loot for items.
• Dragons in this game were created to be unscripted to the rest of the action.  That means, they are randomized throughout the game and in how they will act.  No one encounter will be the same.
• Dragon-shout abilities – This is not confined to just a “shout,” which references the dragon language, but actual abilities you can gain and build (each ability has three tiers) by capturing the souls of dragons you have killed.
• Economics – The game has a working economy that you, the player, can participate in and build skills. So if you want stronger armor and better swords, get a job as a blacksmith!
• The game compass looks much more user-friendly and enjoyable to use.

Overall, this game looks absolutely fantastic. From the detail in things like foliage and water flow to the lighting in nearly every situation, if there is one word that I had to apply to this visual spectacle, it is “beautiful.”

Advances in player control, menu options, battle options and even physics show a committment to improving this entry over the others to keep the franchise from growing stagnant with repetitive gameplay.

If you’ve enjoyed the Elder Scrolls games at all, or even the Fallout series, this game should be a day-one purchase for you when it hits shelves on November 11 of this year.  I know it will be for me.

Don’t believe me? Watch the gameplay video for yourself below:

This afternoon marked my first opportunity to play Red Faction: Armageddon, and I must say,  so far I’m impressed.  Still,  I have barely even scratched the surface of this game.  So, here is just a taste of what I’ve seen to this point.

First up is Ruin Mode.  I’d like to start out by saying that I’m disappointed in THQ for deciding to have a core feature of the game require a disposable keycode. Games that have diminished features because the they were not purchased new – effectively holding the gamer hostage for the sake of a few dollars more, DOES harm gaming culture.  But that is for another day.

That said, Ruin Mode is a whole lot of really repetitive fun. The key thing about the modern Red Faction franchise that I love is the destructive engine they use. Volition, Inc. is very proud of the fact that they develop the engines for their games in-house – and they should be. Red Faction: Armageddon’s Ruin Mode is nothing short of a fully-functional demonstration of their destructive engine. You are presented with a world wherein your only task is to blow stuff up, and boy is it going to be fun!

The levels are unevenly difficult, so they don’t appear to be more difficult in a linear fashion – as one may expect. I think the lighting may be off a little bit, too, as sometimes it is hard to see exactly what is supporting that road up on the top of the hill that you’re trying to take down.  Other than that, I can’t really complain.

The tools of destruction at your disposal (fancy way of saying “guns”):

• Plasma ray – This gun shoots a basic, yet powerful plasma ray, but overheats quickly
• Plasma cannon – This gun fires a large plasma burst with a large blast/damage radius
• Nano gun – Shoots out nano bots, which eat whatever you shoot
• Remote Charges – Explosives triggered by a remote control
• Singularity Gun – Fires a temporary gravitational singularity which sucks in all surrounding matter for a brief period of time
• Magnet gun – Fire one shot at what you want to move, and the next shot at what you want it to move towards
• Rocket Launcher – Fires rockets, blows stuff upI have found that a combination is necessary in some maps: first fire a rocket to expose the under-belly of the bridge, then fire the singularity cannon at the supports, taking the whole thing down.

While this game mode does repeat itself quite a bit, and though it can be a little frustrating, it is a lot of fun and provides a perfect way to unwind when all you want to do is blow something up.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 showcases the events that immediately follow 2008's Modern Warfare 2

Ever since the first Modern Warfare hit shelves in November of 2007, Activision has seen its most popular franchise set record after record, releasing games annually with imaginative story lines and of course, the online multiplayer that set the series apart from its competition in the first place.

This year, Activision looks to continue riding the wave created by its first Modern Warfare title with the release of its third (and last?) installment under the name.  If E3 popularity is any indication of future success, then Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) is looking to be another hit, with it being the most watched game trailer of the convention.

However, the gameplay demo conducted at this year’s E3 left me with several questions about the direction the series has taken and what it means for possible future installments of the Call of Duty franchise.

Before I continue, please take a moment to view the gameplay for yourself below:

Robert Bowling plays Modern Warfare 3 Demo at E3

The first thoughts I had after the first 4 minutes of this gameplay were “what’s new about this?” and “why does this feel the same?”

Since it has been two years since the release of the last Modern Warfare entry, my expectations for this game – which I hope is the concluding entry – were set pretty high.  Despite the fallout at Infinity Ward following the Zampella/West debacle, one would think two years is enough time to inject something new into the Modern Warfare series.  However, that does not seem to be the case here.

There is no new engine powering this game, which is something frustrated fans on message boards everywhere have been asking for since Modern Warfare 2.  There are no graphical improvements over any other entry save for last year’s Black Ops, which wasn’t even done by Infinity Ward.  Even in the entire eight minutes or so of gameplay, I didn’t see a single new feature in the progression that suggests “we’re making this the biggest game so far.”  Amphibious assault?  Seen it.  Commandeering a vessel?  Been there, done that.  Speeding across the water while avoiding obstacles?  A regular feature by now.

While the setting may be different and the mood has slightly more urgency/intensity, the overall tone and theme remains the same:  Follow this path, shoot those guys, repeat.  To be completely honest, it looked as though they put the same flow from the past two games into this one and set it in New York (or wherever around the world this game is going to take you).

I understand it though.  When you’ve got a winning formula, you don’t want to change the ingredients, right?  From that perspective, it’s hard to fault Activision.  There’s no reason to mess with success.  But from a gamer’s perspective, there are only so many times you can change the cover of the same book and get me to believe it’s different.  And that’s exactly what this looks like:  The same book with a different title.

The only thing that has me wanting to play it currently (since no multiplayer details have been released) is my interest in continuing the storyline from the previous entries.  If there is one thing that Modern Warfare 1 and 2 had going for them, it was an interesting – albeit a tiny bit predictible – plot.  I only hope this game is a stopping point, otherwise I fear even the story will be viewed as “been there, done that.”

Speaking of the multiplayer aspect, I’m sure even now, fans – and even extreme critics – of the franchise are concocting message board entries and blog posts about what they believe the new multiplayer should have.  Well, we too will have a piece on this facet of the game.  However, due to the overwhelming amount of information there is to discuss about the multiplayer – especially now that the new Call of Duty: ELITE service has been announced – I am going to share that as a separate piece, so be sure to check back over the weekend for the online side of this discussion.

Overall, the game looks clean.  But it looks like it has looked since 2007.  Some people will appreciate this fact.  They will take comfort in knowing that the product they are buying is the product they have played and enjoyed.  However, I think more players – myself included – will be reluctant buyers (at least until otherwise swayed).  We see a product that has a great deal of potential that is being wasted for the sake of making a safe profit.  And while we will still play the game (because I know I will, however reluctant), there will be that nagging voice in the back of our heads continuously saying “I wish this,” and “I wish that,” about our gameplay experience.

I can only hope that Activision hears our collective desires long before Call of Duty becomes a “used to be” franchise.  As in, “Call of Duty used to be good… until they started giving gamers the same game experience every year.”

Microsoft unveiled multiple Kinect-compatible games at this year's E3, including Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Fable: The Journey.

Every time I see a Microsoft Kinect commercial or a plug for the Playstation Move, I really want to be able to buy what each company is selling.  I want to be able to have interest in the peripherals and the interactivity they tout with things like dance games, shooters and even interactive menus.

But I can’t.

I will be the first to admit that this may be due to my hesitation with motion-gaming in the first place.  The idea of flailing awkwardly in front of a motion camera or pointing a motion-sensing remote at my TV like a mouse seems far less appealing than simply sitting down and using the controller that came with my system.  Still, despite my apparent pre-disposition to be a traditional-control kind of guy, I decided I should have an open mind about this year’s E3 and what it would mean for the motion-gaming market.  So, with guarded optimism, I sat down and watched Microsoft and Sony unleash demo after demo of Kinect /Move gaming during the Opening-Day E3 presser.

Gaming Dis-Kinect
I do have to hand it to Microsoft; they push their products harder than I have ever seen Nintendo or Sony push their own and that kind of pride and belief in a product goes a long way.  However, the press conference itself left me feeling very underwhelmed and disappointed.  But not for the reasons you might think.

I was actually looking forward to many of the demonstrations that were going to take place with the Kinect.  I was hopeful that many of them would show the advances that two years of open-market testing would result in.  My expectations (perhaps too high?) were to see a step forward with the Kinect in a way that would make it THE model for motion gaming.  After all, many people consider the Xbox family to be the benchmark against which the other consoles are judged, right?

Unfortunately, what I was instead greeted with looked to be the same old song and dance with a new pair of shoes.  That is to say, instead of new functionality or innovation with their product, Microsoft simply added content to the list of “Kinect capable” games.

Now, this isn’t an incredibly bad thing.  After all, the list of compatible games has been otherwise plain for the last couple of years, meaning a release of several compatible games opens the door for more of a demographic, better sales, more interest, and so on. It also shows a move towards a more motion-gaming centered focus, which may be the goal.

But when you’re in my position and looking to be wowed into drinking the Kinect Kool-Aid, displaying Fable: The Journey as a game on tracks (guided/linear) with a guy holding up his arms and steering a horse, I’ve gotta say I’m a little unimpressed.  Don’t get me wrong – I’m sure Kinect-enabled games will have their moments, but from what I saw out of the Microsoft demos, those moments may be few and far between.

I suppose the only consolation I have as someone who needs convincing is that they are trying.  They are making the effort to continue developing for this product and that has to be a sign that at the very least, they’re waiting to unleash something that I – and I’m sure many others – believe the Kinect should be capable of:  An experience that makes even the hardcore controller users say “I NEED to play that game and I NEED to play it with Kinect.”

Lightly Budged by ‘Move’
Later on in the day, it was Sony’s turn to display their motion capture control system, the Move.  The Move intrigues me a little more than the Kinect does, primarily because it gives me something I can have in my hands while I’m moving around (even if, as I mentioned, I would feel awkward using it).  Whether it is the motion controller or the sharpshooter gun controller for games such as the recent Socom 4, tangibility is something that I can grasp and enjoy.

That said, while not overly impressive, the Move demonstrations did show me that Playstation is finally getting behind its own product.  I mean, lets face it, if Playstation had approached marketing the way Microsoft did, the Move would be much more popular than it currently is.  But I digress.

One of the better demonstrations of the Move exhibition was during a demo of LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean.  Whereas Microsoft’s demo of a guy holding a sword seemed about as lively as plank of wood, the Move’s controls gave it an appearance of comfort and something you would want to play with.  It made me want to actually take the controls and have a sword fight with whoever the player was fighting with.

But that’s about as much as I saw and enjoyed of the Move.  At one point in the press conference, NBA 2K12 was demoed with what looked to be a forced/half-done iteration of Move capabilities.  As the player points the controller at the screen to control the ball handler – as well as move the action – there is a red circle with an “x” in it indicating the tracking of the controller.  Really?  Because that doesn’t make it look like a mouse and keyboard would be comparable controls at all (and by the way, 2k Sports, Kobe Bryant on stage trying your demo and failing miserably doesn’t make me feel good about your controls with the Move).  The whole demo just made it look like Move for the game was an afterthought that was acted on a week before E3, which was incredibly disappointing.

I was left wondering, however, what the future of the Move has in store (unlike the Kinect), when I saw Ken Levine, of BioShock fame, eating crow on his statements about motion gaming and how none of his games would ever have it, only to reveal that BioShock Infinite will be Move compatible.  This excites me to no end.  Not just because it’s Bioshock – which is one of the best games I’ve ever played – but because Levine, like myself, was (still is?) incredibly skeptical about the Move and motion capture in general.  If he can be moved enough to put it in his game after saying he wouldn’t, I have to believe there is hope.  And that is what I cling to.

I’m not going to flat out say motion gaming is something I’ll never get into, because I think we’re only scratching the surface of something profoundly bigger than any of us realize.  I only wish the current technology and titles – and even the titles that have just been announced – could reflect even just a little bit, the direction that only our minds can currently take us in.  In other words, Microsoft and Sony:  We’ve seen what you can do, now impress us.

I think by now, Nintendo has made it apparent that they think differently than many of us in terms of gaming and in terms of home entertainment. The Wii U drives that idea home.

What is the Wii U? Complete with High-Definition capabilities that many Nintendo fans have been clamoring for, the Wii U appears to be the next generation of Wii consoles. While details are still pretty hard to come by, it appears as though Nintendo is going to go more “Next-Gen” than they did previously with improved graphics capabilities (or at least the video outputs lead me to believe the graphics capabilities have improved) and more features that will likely be released. The possible game line-up looks impressive, bringing many next-gen franchises – such as Assassin’s Creed, Darksiders, Dirt, Ghost Recon, and even Ninja Gaiden – to the world of Nintendo. It will be interesting to see how these titles translate on the Wii U as I will be sorely disappointed if they screw up Assassin’s Creed.

As interesting as it is to see Nintendo trying to “woo” the core gaming crowd again, I’m not sure if it’s going to work. For family and casual gamers, however, this system may be successful due to its backwards compatibility with Wii – also a family-friendly (and family favorite) console – and its fancy new controller which seems designed more as a handheld than as an interface for a console. According to Nintendo’s E3 website, the Wii U will be compatible with all Wii accessories and games, though there is still no word on GameCube compatibility.

The most intriguing aspect of Wii U so far is its new controller, which is a far cry from the current Wii-mote.  Think Nintendo DS meets Xbox 360 controller, meets SEGA GameGear. This thing is huge.  It’s got two analog sticks, a D-pad, a 6.2 inch touchscreen, a camera (unknown resolution), traditional A, B, X, Y buttons, and then R and L buttons with ZR and ZL buttons. I believe it also has motion control sensors as well. Nintendo also claims that you can take your game off your TV and put it onto the controller touchscreen while you’re playing it.

While I don’t know whether or not I’m going to be super-excited with this new “console” – which seems more like a Wii laid on its side with a fancy new controller so far – it appears that Nintendo really IS out to control your living room. Since this thing doesn’t play movies other than Netflix yet, I don’t know how they plan on succeeding in bringing forth a complete entertainment system, but with video calling, etc, it seems pretty clear to me that they trying very hard to do so.

In this fast-paced action game, we start again as Ezio Auditore da Firenze, as in the previous iteration of the franchise. You begin in your villa, Monteriggioni, victorious after your last battle (if you haven’t played Assassin’s Creed 2, I won’t spoil it for you… but you totally should play Assassin’s Creed 2). You’ve come back to find all things beautiful and in order. Then, as you’re checking out your defenses, that’s just when the Templars attack! They manage to snag the Piece of Eden in your possession and take it with them back to Roma.

Enter Desmond Miles – your character and the modern day decedent of Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad from the first Assassin’s Creed.  You find yourself back in the van in modern times once again; back with your real-world companions.  Only now, you’re trying to find a place to set up a base of operations below ground where Abstergo Industries - the modern day Templars - won’t find you. You and Lucy make your way through catacombs and tunnels trying to find your way inside a what looks to be a fortified location of significance when it finally hits you: You’re in 21st century Monteriggioni!

From here, the vast majority of the game (like all Assassin’s Creed games) is played within the Animus, the virtual-reality machine used to channel the ancestors of Desmond Miles for their “genetic memories.”  Other than a few clever quips from Desmond, you don’t really experience much in the real world until nearly the end of the game. There are a few useful cut-scenes that help you learn more about how the modern-day Assassin’s Order is fighting the modern day Templar’s Order by reading everybody else’s email, but short of that, I really think Ubisoft could have integrated a lot more modern day gameplay into the overall experience.  Having you in modern day Monteriggioni without the ability to really do little more than explore in the dark is a wasted opportunity to connect the past with the present.

Inside the Animus, the game is played – with the few side-mission exceptions – entirely in Roma. Within Roma there are jaw-dropping, gorgeous graphics that highlight a great attention to detail, even with the pace of the game. The cut-scenes are stunning and even the the non-player-characters (NPCs) are well designed and animated. You even get to drive the vehicles (gondolas)!

As with all Assassin’s Creed versions thus far, you have a pretty wide-open world. There are areas to explore, there are guards to utterly destroy, and there are relevant memories which push the story along. One of my favorite facets of this franchise is that I don’t have to move the story along any faster than I want it to go. If I want to explore ancient Roma, I can explore. If I want to move the story along, I can move the story along.  Though the primary gameplay moves quickly, the player is ultimately in control of throttle.

Making its return in “Brotherhood” is the money side of the game, though it’s nowhere near as integral as it was in Assassin’s Creed 2. You can buy businesses, you can buy armor, you can buy paintings, and all of these things increase your armor. Unlike the previous installations, however, not all armor is for sale. Some of the armor and weapons are for “sale.” Some of them you have to complete “shop quests” for, which essentially boil down to finding materials for the shop keeper before they can get you the items you want. I found this a tedious aspect, and an annoying barrier to getting the armor that I wanted. It really didn’t add to the game, but it did force me to engage in some repetitive tasks I would have preferred not to do.

A new ability in “Brotherhood” makes it so you can recruit assassins, which is a very useful strategic feature of the game. You can recruit assassins by busting up fights and saving townspeople, winning them to your cause. As time goes on, you meet up with carrier pigeon stations to send your assassins on missions in different territories, which is the component that helps them level up.  While you have some minor control over them – you have a handful of wardrobe choices and weapons choices – the ultimate goal is to direct them, so to speak, and get them to level 10 Assassin. Once they’re up to the level of a true Assassin, they have already gained all skill points and weapons, hence your only control being over their wardrobe. That said, you don’t recruit assassins for their ability to accessorize – you recruit them to kick ass.

There are three distinct ways in which your recruited assassins can help you in the game. First, you can call on them in a fight, giving you strength in numbers. Second, you can use them to collect items while they’re on your missions, which will all you to use those items in shop quests. Finally, there is a special attack that your assassins – who are presumably following you around at all times – can do: Arrow Storm. When you call on your assassin brothers to perform the Arrow Storm attack, they will fire arrows into any group of baddies in your targeted area. All surrounding enemies die simultaneously and without raising your notoriety or causing you to be discovered. It’s quite useful to learn this attack and use it whenever you need, but be careful because it is timing-based.

Now the time has come for me to discuss my least favorite feature: Multi-player. I love multi-player games. I play them all the time.  Multi-player in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is very repetitive, very boring and very frustrating. Imagine you’re in a city full of competing assassins. Your job is to find and kill your target without being detected. The thing is, it’s far too easy to put yourself in a position to detect your enemy. Sitting on a chimney on a rooftop somewhere will almost instantly expose anyone coming to get you. I don’t know what a good multi-player experience for Assassin’s Creed would be, but this wasn’t it. Perhaps some co-op missions would be more suitable, similar to what you see in the Crackdown franchise. I know I’d love to play Assassin’s Creed with some friends online. There are some games you play for the gorgeous scenery and the storyline, and there are other games that you play for the multi-player experience. This game is the former. Any multi-player – or other game mode – that does not include the storyline, leaves me struggling to see how I would enjoy it.

Finally, there is the training mode. In this version there is a mode where you’re in the “white room,” sneaking around and training with virtual guards as targets. Training mode is very hard and I found it unnecessary when considering that most of the skills in Assassin’s Creed are fairly simple to understand.The scenarios cooked up for training  mode were much harder than most of the situations I encountered in the actual game.

One big criticism I do have of this, and previous games in this franchise, is that the controls are sometimes clunky. For example, sometimes it’s not obvious which way you want to hold the stick to get the character to jump. This is especially noticeable during the timed bits of the game – of which there seem to be fewer in this version than last.  The lack of confidence in controls can be frustrating to the point of cursing and throwing the controller. Some serious refinement is necessary, though for the most part, this doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of the game overall, just during brief times wherein you’re struggling with inaccurate and counter-intuitive controls.

The long and short of this game is that it’s a blast. Despite a few minor annoyances, this game is gorgeous, it’s got a deep, rich storyline, and I found the characters to be easy to relate to for the most part. I truly cannot wait for the Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.

I highly recommend this game, though I don’t recommend starting the series with this entry.  Instead, I strongly suggest you play Assassin’s Creed 2 prior to Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, as you will miss out on most of the story that is continued in this iteration.

L.A. Noire takes players on a new - though sometimes repetitive - gaming experience.

When I first heard about Rockstar Games‘ and Team Bondi’s newest IP, L.A. Noire, all I could think was that it would be another iteration of Rockstar’s popular Grand Theft Auto series with a different skin (a la Red Dead Redemption).  However, the more I read about the game – a crime drama set in late 1947 Los Angeles – the more intrigued I became, especially with the idea that gunplay was not a primary aspect of the game.  So, I took the bait.

The opening scene begins as you would want any noir-style film to begin – dark and somewhat brooding with an intangible but ever-present tension.  You assume the role of Cole Phelps, a WWII hero and up-and-comer in the Los Angeles police force.  Though the first mission is no indication, you quickly learn that Phelps is a by-the-book type of cop with a nose for details but a man with demons he can’t seem to outrun.  Each conversation between Phelps and other Non-Playable Characters (NPCs) paint him as a man out to prove nothing to anyone but himself as he ascends through the detective ranks and desks of the LAPD.

The progression of Phelps’ career and cases works well in showing the rise to stardom – and fall from grace – that shape the overall narrative tone of the game.  Among the stops you’ll make after you put in your time during the Patrol desk (which is mostly arbitrary to the actual story, save for a few tidbits revealed in cutscenes, walkthrough sequences and necessary character development) is the traffic desk, where you’ll get a taste of the seedy underworld that is Los Angeles, complete with jilted lovers and the darker side of the film industry.  From there, you’ll make your way through the Homicide desk with a multi-part jaunt through the real-life Black Dahlia murders, onto the Vice squad where the line between justice and corruption becomes questionable at best, before finishing at the Arson desk – a progression move that becomes apparent with time.  The story stays compelling up until the final scene that will likely leave you – as it did me – feeling conflicted but satisfied.

As far as gameplay is concerned, I enjoy the “words-not-bullets” approach taken in the game, headlined by interrogation and interviewing that rests how much – or how little – evidence you collect for a case or against a witness, squarely on your shoulders.  Aiding you in this venture is an intuitive “notebook” feature that catalogs all the details of each case – from a blood stained stocking or known-address, to the dying – but implicit – words of a shooter in a robbery-gone-wrong.   Unfortunately, the investigation process – though thrilling at first – seems to become formulaic as the game marches on.  By the end of your time on the Traffic desk, you know the drill of “Arrive at scene, collect clues, initiate small-talk, conduct interviews, case closed, repeat.”  Scouring scenes for clues becomes very tiresome very quickly.  Were it not for the fact that I didn’t want to miss out on any dialog, I could have just as easily skipped entire rooms during searches and still completed my cases. While there are foot and car chase sequences to break up the procedural feel of the game, even these aspects become predictable by game’s end.  Once you’ve experienced one car chase, you may as well have experienced them all.  This doesn’t mean they aren’t enjoyable, but you won’t find many varying details from one chase to the next (as is true with the foot chases).

The real substance of the game comes through in the interrogations themselves, which pit you against the potential suspect in a game of playing on emotions.  All accusations must be backed up by proof and the difference between that next lead and empty hands may be the difference between believing someone or doubting them.  This can be frustrating at times due to the very fine lines between suspecting doubt and the truth and the ability to incorrectly utilize evidence that otherwise seems to fit perfectly. Still, despite the ability to lose leads and information, how you decide to conduct interviews and interrogations has no actual impact on the main storyline, which I found to be a bit of a letdown.

Mechanically, the game moves well.  The facial features – which are most evident in the interviews and interrogations – blow away anything I’ve ever seen in a video game and give you the feel of watching an interactive movie.  Character movement is very fluid, highlighted by great details such as changing shadows and clothing that moves when your character does.    My only real complaint is the driving ability in this game.  Driving to and from locations can be very frustrating at first due to the car control setup.  This is amplified by the inability to select any other control methods or even an adequate alternate camera view.  Fortunately, you can forgo driving yourself to locations by having  your partner do so, a feature I love, since driving became very stale after only a few cases.  If it weren’t for how amazingly put together the city of Los Angeles is, I would say have your partner drive to every crime scene.

Despite the lack of impactful decision making and some control gaffs (looking at you, cover system), compelling plot-lines help drive an overall enjoyable experience.  Being as this is a new venture by Rockstar and Team Bondi, I feel inclined to overlook the flaws for the sake of an experience that you would be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.

However, if this is indeed the next great franchise, a lot of changes – both minor and major – need to be made before greatness is truly realized.  If Rockstar and Bondi can learn from their mistakes in L.A. Noire and prove it, I would have no problem throwing down money on a Chicago or New York Noire.

It’s June 7th, you know what that means. We get to learn about Ezio Auditore da Firenze‘s latest exploits in Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. I got the latest Game Informer with Ezio’s mug all over it, and boy did I flip! Since having kids I haven’t had so much time for gaming, so I only finished Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood twoweeks ago. Things I’m looking forward to:

1. Multiplayer that isn’t super frustrating, and has more of an appeal to more people. The only thing worse than a not-well-done multiplayer is a not-well-done multiplayer without anybody to play with.
2. Hookblade! Game Informer put this out in issue 218, it looks sick.
3. Constantinople anybody? The artwork and screen shots in Game Informer look sick, I can’t wait to see how the game will look.

In addition to all of the new stuff, I think that the end of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood has me wondering, what just happened? Not to throw out any spoilers for those of you who haven’t finished, but it’s not entirely clear–at least not to me–what happens at the end.

If you have any hopes for this afternoon, I’d be happy to hear them.

You should be able to view the press conference live at 10AM Pacific time at the E3 Expo website.