[MULTI] 2011 Video Games Preview - Part III

[MULTI] 2011 Video Games Preview - Part III Bulletstorm
Platform(s): PC, PS3, X360
Developer: People Can Fly
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: February 22, 2011

Shooters have recently begun to take themselves quite seriously. Last year, titles like Medal of Honor, Halo: Reach, and Call of Duty: Black Ops tended to interrupt the action with emotional and (supposedly) meaningful interludes detailing the horrors associated with the violence. If you’re looking for a reprieve from this type of stern and solemn shooter experience, Bulletstorm may be the perfect medicine to remedy this trend of earnestness. The story in Bulletstorm follows two mercenaries, Grayson Hunt and Ishi Sato, who are part of an elite organization called Dead Echo under a futuristic confederation. When the two come to the realization that they’re working for the wrong side, they betray their commander and are exiled to the distant reaches of the galaxy, populated by all manner of grotesque creatures and mutated life-forms. Where in most shooters the primary goal is to simply survive on the way to your objectives, Bulletstorm’s focus is squarely on making sure you look damn good doing it. Equipped with an arsenal of ridiculously over-the-top weapons and stylish combat moves, creativity is the key to true success here. Players are awarded points based on the creativity of their kills: simply pumping lead into an enemy’s chest won’t net you very much, but launching in enemy into the air with the leash and pulling off a mid-air headshot, or kicking a foe into a trap you pre-rigged with explosives are good ways to start racking up the points. Multiplayer modes will encourage the same creativity rather than the standard kill counts most shooters use to gauge player performance. Bulletstorm is being co-developed by Epic and People Can Fly, so expect some outstanding use of the Unreal Engine as well as plenty of sick humour and gratuitous violence. Anyone frustrated by the somewhat stagnant state and lack of creativity in the shooter genre might like to try out Bulletstorm this February.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Platform(s): PC, PS3, X360
Developer: Eidos Montreal
Publisher: Square Enix
Release Date: TBA 2011

It’s hard to believe that a game series like Deus Ex that is so critically acclaimed could go silent for such a long period of time, but it has been over seven years since gamers last got a taste of the popular FPS-RPG franchise. Eidos Montreal is finally ending the silence this year with Human Revolution, a prequel to the original Deus Ex. The story follows Adam Jensen in the year 2027 (25 years before the first game), a private security officer with a leading-edge company that specializes in biomechanical augmentation to enhance human abilities. When Adam falls victim to a violent attack on the firm that leaves him horribly injured, he is forced to undergo cybernetic alterations in order to survive, and the game begins from there. While on the surface Human Revolution looks like a first-person shooter, it is a role-playing game at heart. Players can allocate skill points to four different areas: combat, stealth, technology, and social. These skills will define what abilities Adam has and how strong they are, and will provide unique opportunities for solving problems and overcoming obstacles. There will also be dialogue options during conversations, dynamic AI for NPCs that will react to your behaviour and decisions, and special augmentations that will aid you in combat situations while ensuring they look both unique and stylish. Early looks at the game show a remarkably rich and detailed world with careful attention to sound design as well, so expect production values to be exceptionally high. The fact that Human Revolution is a prequel will ensure that it will satisfy long-time fans of the franchise while providing the perfect opportunity for newcomers to get acquainted with the award-winning series.

Dragon Age II

Platform(s): PC, PS3, X360
Developer: BioWare
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: March 8, 2011

Dragon Age: Origins impressed gamers in 2009 with its Tolkien-esque setting, lengthy adventure, solid gameplay, and BioWare’s signature branching storyline and morality system; but the game was certainly not without its flaws. The developer has been hard at work to alleviate those shortcomings in Dragon Age II, due out this March. Whereas Origins allowed players to choose a race and backstory to define their character, Dragon Age II has a pre-defined human character named Hawke, although appearance, gender, and class are still customizable. Hawke is known as a refugee from Lothering who is both a survivor of the Blight and the Champion of Kirkwall who rises to power throughout the story, which will be written and defined by the actions of the player over a ten-year span during a period known as the Free Marches. A new upgraded graphics engine with a revised art style will be used in the sequel, as well as improved animations and a dialogue wheel with a fully-voiced main character, previously seen in the Mass Effect series. The most significant change though will be the combat, which BioWare promises will be much smoother and more action-oriented than in the first game. Of course there will be a new cast of characters to join Hawke on his adventure, and expect romance options to be available once again. There was a slight but noticeable dip in quality from the PC to the consoles in Dragon Age: Origins, so the developer is building the sequel from the ground up on consoles, while the PC version will maintain a combat system closely related to the one in Origins. The first title was an outstanding experience, but BioWare has shown a distinct commitment to improving upon it in every way for the sequel. If they succeed, Dragon Age II should be a strong contender for 2011’s game of the year.

Homefront

Platform(s): PC, PS3, X360
Developer: Kaos Studios
Publisher: THQ
Release Date: March 8, 2011

What, you didn’t ask for another modern warfare-themed first-person shooter? Well, too bad because you’re getting (at least) one. Homefront offers a different spin on the formula, however, promoting the idea of the everyday-hero as opposed to the proverbial super-soldier protagonists portrayed in most shooters. The game takes place in the year 2027, with the United States reeling from a collapsed economy and a dissipating military presence on the world stage. Sensing the ideal opportunity to strike, a recently-unified Korea invades the diminishing world superpower. Players will experience the game not through the eyes of American soldiers, but rather in the shoes of rebellious civilians attempting to promote a resistance against the most unwelcome invaders. As a result, Homefront’s gameplay focuses on guerrilla-style tactics as opposed to calculated military strategies. Although the gameplay will feel completely familiar to FPS vets, developer Kaos Studios is hoping that the game’s despondent atmosphere and feeling of desperation will set it apart from other shooters. There will be numerous set pieces in which players will encounter innocent civilians tragically caught in the crossfire, events which the developer hopes will invoke emotional and sympathetic feelings for the player not usually characterized in these types of shooters. For example, one sequence in Denver sees the player bursting into a random suburban home to escape from an impossible firefight, only to find that they’ve endangered a mother crouching in the corner holding her baby, who is crying inconsolably throughout the firefight. There will also be a noticeable scarcity in ammunition, forcing players to collect weapons and ammo from fallen enemies. Homefront will still amount to a fairly standard FPS, but gamers have shown a hearty appetite for these types of games and Homefront looks like it should provide a solid experience.

inFamous 2

Platform(s): PS3
Developer: Sucker Punch Productions
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release Date: TBA 2011

With universally positive reviews and nearly 2 million copies sold, it was inevitable that there would be a sequel to Sucker Punch’s 2009 PS3 hit inFamous. The follow-up picks up with a massive explosion in Empire City that nearly kills the returning protagonist, Cole. An evil entity known as The Beast wreaks havoc on the city and heads down the coast to the city of New Marais (inspired by the real-world city of New Orleans), where Cole follows in order to find a way to defeat the creature. The developer has overhauled both the close-quarters combat and the ranged combat in inFamous 2: hand-to-hand brawling will be much smoother and more cinematic than in the original, while Cole’s superpowers have been amped up significantly, now capable of disposing of enemy vehicles and mangling the game’s environments beyond recognition. New Marais will provide a more varied and interesting location to explore than Empire City and a greater variety of creatures and other baddies to pump full of high voltage, including some large-scale doozies. Sucker Punch also promises that inFamous 2 will feature a more involved and coherent storyline than the original, and aims to provide a much more cinematic experience, a goal the developer points to Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 2: Among Thieves as its inspiration. Players can even carry over their saved games along with their moral choices from the first inFamous to inFamous 2, where players will be faced with more interesting and radical moral decisions that will affect the game’s outcome. Despite the first game’s popularity, there were some obvious shortcomings that held inFamous from achieving its full potential. Sucker Punch is clearly dedicated to refining and improving the experience for the sequel in nearly every way, making inFamous 2 an absolute must-play for PlayStation 3 owners this year.

MotorStorm: Apocalypse

Platform(s): PS3
Developer: Evolution Studios
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release Date: April 12, 2011

Evolution Studios is bringing a new level of mayhem to the fourth instalment in the MotorStorm series. Apocalypse is set in an urban environment, a first for series typically defined by its off-road settings, a coastal city reminiscent of the California Bay Area. The twist, as you might discern from the game’s title, is that the city is rapidly deteriorating as it is assaulted by a devastating natural disaster. As players race through the urban environments, buildings will crumble and collapse, bridges will twist and buckle, and roads will rip apart beneath the vehicles. The destruction isn’t purely aesthetic (although it is definitely impressive to watch), rather the tracks will change in real-time as new barriers block former routes, new shortcuts open up, and debris and collapsing scenery threaten your progress. To make things even more frenetic, factions within the city will attempt to impede your progress as well, rioting in the streets, trying to run racers off the road, and shooting at competitors with firearms. A military faction will even become involved, trying to restore order by creating more obstacles to and bringing out their own firepower (like military attack helicopters equipped with missiles) to slow players down. Several new vehicle classes will be available for the first time in the series, including supercars, superbikes, choppers, muscle cars, and hot hatchers, along with the previously available line-up of MotorStorm vehicle types. The MotorStorm franchise has lost some steam since the original launched in 2006 (the last three titles combined sold less than half of the original’s 3.5 million in sales), but Apocalypse’s chaotic environments and gameplay might provide the shake-up the series needs in order to restore the lustre.

Resistance 3

Platform(s): PS3
Developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release Date: September 6, 2011

Since the PS3’s launch back in 2006, the Resistance franchise has been the poster-child for exclusive shooters on the console. This fall, developer Insomniac Games is attempting to mould the definitive Resistance experience with the third game in the series. Set four years after the events of Resistance 2, the world has been all but conquered by the invading Chimeran force, with the remaining human survivors taking refuge in hiding, hunted by roving drones and “death squads”. One such survivor is Sentinel Joseph Capelli, who was dishonourably discharged and is in hiding with his wife and son and a small colony of survivors in Oklahoma. When Dr. Fyodor Malikov arrives with a plan to dell a significant blow to the Chimeran invasion, Capelli sets off for New York City in an attempt to put the plan into motion. While the majority of the gameplay mechanics are retained from previous entries in the series, some changes will be evident in Resistance 3. The weapon wheel is returning after being left out of Resistance 2. New environmental hazards will populate the landscape, like a bulbous plant that explodes violently when shot. Expect weapons both old and new, such as the new Mutator that releases a poisonous mist that causes enemies to break out in bulbous cysts, eventually exploding and infecting other nearby foes. In addition, enemy AI is being overhauled to make the Chimera smarter, along with new enemy types, some of them insanely large and foreboding. Weapons will be continuously upgradeable, the graphics will be further improved to ensure Resistance 3 is among the best-looking games of the year, a cooperative campaign mode will be available, and the multiplayer experience is being refined and streamlined (no more 60-player matches) and progression is said to be much tighter. All of these changes, additions, and refinements should ensure that Resistance 3 will be the best title in the series to date, which is saying a lot for a franchise that has received almost universal critical acclaim and has sold over six million copies.

SSX: Deadly Descents

Platform(s): PS3, X360
Developer: EA Canada
Publisher: EA Sports
Release Date: Winter 2011

It has been a while since gamers have had a taste of the once extremely popular snowboarding franchise SSX. In fact, it has been nearly four years since SSX Blur was quietly released on the Wii to warm critical reception but rather mediocre sales. This year, series veterans will hardly recognise the snowboarding franchise normally identified for its party-hard attitude and over-the-top style. Deadly Descents adopts a noticeably darker tone, taking players to real-world locations to show off their skills. The new title follows a team that seeks to conquer near-impossible slopes in mountain ranges around the world from Antarctica to the Himalayas. Not a whole lot is known about the recently-revealed title, but EA has said that there will be some unique environmental hazards affecting each descent. For example, at high altitudes in the Himalayas, players must cruise at breakneck speed through “death zones” where the air is so thin that the rider is susceptible to blackouts if they remain in these zones for too long. In the ranges of Antarctica where temperatures drop to lethal lows, riders must follow a sunlit route so as to avoid prolonged exposure to the deadly shade. While the ultimate goal is simply to survive each run, EA assures us that it is still nearly as important to look good doing it, so hopefully the series’ trademark insane tricks that drew gamers in en masse will make a return. Fans might be turned off by the new direction for SSX, but hopefully the changes will give the series a fresh look and feel while maintaining the fun and stylish gameplay.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Platform(s): Wii
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: TBA 2011

Skyward Sword’s reveal at E3 didn’t exactly get off to a legendary start. From Miyamoto’s disastrous technical problems during the live on-stage demo to the general lack of plot details, Zelda fans were left feeling sceptical about the first Zelda game to be developed specifically for the Wii (Twilight Princess was, in essence, a GameCube game ported to the Wii). Skyward Sword is said to be a prequel to Ocarina of Time, with Link being born and raised in a group of islands called Skyloft, floating amongst the clouds. When he discovers the Skyward Sword, he is able to travel back and forth to the land below, which is marred by the overwhelming presence of evil forces. The sword itself will transform into a mysterious female figure previously seen in concept art, though it is unknown what specific role she will play in the game beyond some general guidance. Skyward Sword will feature a new visual style that seems to hit a happy medium between the realistic grittiness of Twilight Princess and the cartoony cel-shaded look of Wind Waker. The game will require the use of the WiiMotionPlus peripheral, which is used extensively in the gameplay from the swordplay to the use of other special items and weapons, all at (hopefully) 1:1 precision. Despite the scepticism regarding the shoddy public showing at E3, those lucky enough to get some hands-on time with the game have unanimously put fears to rest by assuring that the controls are, in fact, spot-on. Details about the plot and environments remain relatively scarce, but if you are still apprehensive, let’s be honest here, when was the last time you played a Zelda game you didn’t like? If your answer is anything other than, “I can’t remember,” direct yourself toward the nearest shrink to have your head examined. There is no reason to believe the trend won’t continue with Skyward Sword, but we’ll wait until we can get the full experience before delivering judgement.

Tomb Raider

Platform(s): PC, PS3, X360
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Eidos
Release Date: TBA 2011

Lara Croft’s adventures went from legendary in its early years, devolving into boring and uninspired (Angel of Darkness), and back to respectability in recent years (Tomb Raider: Legend), but has yet to deliver an experience that rocks the industry the way the original Tomb Raider did. Developer Crystal Dynamics is looking to fix that with a reboot of the series this year. The new Tomb Raider will explore the origins of Lara, as the heroine will be a 21-year-old fresh out of the academy. She boards a ship called the Endurance on an expedition to an island off the coast of Japan. The ship gets caught in a violent storm and wrecks on the shore of the mysterious island, leaving the young and inexperienced Lara to fend for herself against the unforgiving nature of the island, along with the seemingly evil presence that inhabits it. The goal of the developer is to deliver more of a survival experience than the typical graceful style and Teflon-like strength typically characterized in Lara in past Tomb Raider titles. She has been physically redesigned to more realistic proportions, and will exhibit both physical and emotional trauma as she experiences hardships in her attempt to escape the island, embodied in the visible wounds she suffers from during the experience as well as her terrified and apprehensive demeanour. Her skills in combat and exploration will be completely undeveloped at the beginning of the game, but she will evolve into a stronger character as the game progresses, entirely capable of defending herself from the island’s enemies and obstacles. The game will offer a dark and gritty atmosphere with some impressive visuals that show, in detail, the physical wear and tear on Lara as she suffers through the struggle for survival. It is exciting to see Crystal Dynamics putting a lot of effort into taking the series in new direction in order to reinstate its status as an industry icon, and the early details seem promising. Both series vets and newcomers should look forward to Tomb Raider delivering an outstanding experience this year.

Read the rest of the 2011 Video Games Preview:
Part I
Part II
Part IV

Written by: Mike Glubish

View the original article here