Looking Ahead to E3 2012

This time next week will be one of the most exciting moments in video games to happen this year. Between June 5-7, E3 will be taking place in Los Angeles. Like most people, I will not be there. Instead I'll be paying attention to the various news outlets who will feed us numerous videos and articles prominently featuring important (and not so important) news to come from E3. What I wanted to do was pull a reverse-Mr. Caffeine and look ahead to what E3 more than likely has in store.

*Doodly Doodly Doop*

*Doodly Doodly Doop*

• Sony - After the *ahem* lackluster performance of the Vita, it will be no surprise that most of their press conference will revolve around selling their new handheld system. They will probably show more of the connectivity between the PS3 system and the Vita by showcasing games like Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale (which was recently announced for the Vita as well as PS3) and a game we haven't really seen since last year's E3, Ruin (now titled Warriors Lair). Of course I'm sure they'll have PS3 games to show as well including God of War: Ascension, The Last of Us, Dust 514, and LittleBigPlanet Karting. Wouldn't it be nice to see some Grand Theft Auto V footage here? If there's a conference to have it, I'm going to go with Sony. Those expecting a new system announcement...I'm guessing you'll need to hold your breath.

• Microsoft - I think Microsoft has sort of fallen under the radar for E3 this year since most people can really only name Halo 4 as something they will show. Alan Wake was rumored to have a sequel underway, so that's a possibility, along with Forza which seems to be a staple almost every year. It would be no surprise to have Kinect shown for a while with more application uses and games, but I think Microsoft will try and go with exclusive content for the main serving of content. Since the Resident Evil demo was a timed exclusive for the 360, I'm guessing there may be some gameplay footage shown at this conference. And of course, don't count them out of holding out exclusivity for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 as well. New console here? Nope. Hold it just a little longer.

• Nintendo - Here's that new console you were wanting: the WiiU. Although most people were looking forward to it last year, there wasn't a whole lot to go off of. I would say we can expect to see a price for the system, to see the system itself, and perhaps...a name change. Mario and Pikmin have already been announced for WiiU so those should be seen, and remember that mention of Smash Brothers last year? Maybe a quick video of that will be shown as well. Then some name drops of games coming out for the system and finally the time period it'll be released. Maybe not an exact day, but I would say "Winter 2012". But before all of that, expect a lot of 3DS games, including ones mentioned last year. Luigi's Mansion seems like a no-brainer along with the New Super Mario Bros. 2 game, but I have a feeling there may also be a new Kirby game in the works and some sort of RPG shown at the conference as well.

• Ubisoft -  What do you honestly think? They have one of the biggest games coming out this year in Assassins Creed 3, so there is no doubt that it will come up for a lengthy amount of time during their press conference. The same with Far Cry 3 which was also shown last year and seems to be another of their core game they want to push. Rayman Legends has recently been announced and the predecessor had time devoted to it last year, so there's a good chance it'll be shown. They also announced Shootmania to be shown at E3, and it seems like something that would find it's way into their conference as well. The crux of their presentation will depend on if they have Mr. Caffeine do the hosting. Despite how terrible he was, I found enjoyment in all of his bombed jokes.

• EA - I would say EA should have a strong appearance at E3 this year. They have Madden 13 to show and all the various updates to the game that seem to be receiving some praise, Crysis 3 which was recently announced with lots of high-tech bow and arrow action, and Medal of Honor may make an appearance with Warfighter. Also, remember that ending of Mass Effect 3 that caused the Internet to implode with hatred? Well, I expect them to show hints of the "true" ending DLC that they said they would make on the fans behalf. With Katy Perry having some sort of The Sims involvement, maybe they'll even treat everyone to a performance by her as well! Oh yeah, and that new SimCity game that they plan to drop on PC's next year. You remember that game right?

Side notes of confirmations, rumors and speculations:

• Skyrim DLC: Dawnguard - It's already been announced and...that's about it. If they want to show gameplay of it (or anything else for that matter), there would be no better time than at E3.
• Epic & Unreal Engine 4 - Epic plans on revealing Unreal Engine 4 and minds will be melted. In so many words, that's what has been promised upon the showing.
• The Last Guardian - I said it last year, and I'll say it this year. Eventually I'll have to be right...right? But after Fumito Ueda's departure from Sony, it may speed up the process. But I didn't add it to Sony's press conference...just in case.
• Overkill & Valve - Earlier this week there was talk of a collaboration between the PAYDAY: The Heist and Left 4 Dead crews. While it may seem early, it would sure be nice to see what kind of collaboration is taking place exactly.
• Kingdom Hearts - Tetsuya Nomura may have put his foot in his mouth by saying Kingdom Hearts is due for another console game. Whether this an HD collection or Kingdom Hearts 3, he may want to do some calisthenics if nothing is mentioned shortly. He said we may know if we finish Dream Drop Distance (releasing in July), but that's soooo far away.
• Just Cause 3 (and 4?) - Well, since Just Cause 4 already has web domains in the works from recent news, that could mean Just Cause 3 is underway. That could mean an appearance next week at E3. Hopefully someone from Eidos parachutes it in.
• Half-Life Episode 3 - You can't have a rumors and speculations section without including this game. No real basis for it...but yeah.

Up until doing this, I was kind of hesitant about E3. This year in general has felt somewhat underwhelming in video games other than an occassional few. The constant push-backs in release dates aren't helping at all with Bioshock: Infinite, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Tomb Raider, etc now shipping in 2013 instead of 2012 have caused me to feel a sense of sadness from how big this year was going to be. In truth, this year still has potential for being a pretty amazing year. There's a lot of games lined up that we know about, but may not think about all the time. Then there's the ones that still haven't been announced. Add in the potential of the WiiU being released by the end of this year and 2012 doesn't look half bad. Sometimes it just takes a list to see that.

REVIEW: Binary Domain

Having been let down by the demo for Binary Domain, I was hesitant to play the game. While the mechanic of amputating various robot body parts with my bullets was fun, it was the recoil of the shooting that turned me off of the game in general. While I feel the recoil can be a bit much in the game that caused me to have some spastic shooting, Binary Domain excels in other areas that made this a game I had a hard time putting down.

Unlike most shooters, Binary Domain weaves a story that was both interesting and thought provoking. Set in the somewhat near future, you play as a two man wrecking crew brought into Tokyo, Japan to stop a robot manufacturer who has been charged with breaking "clause 21" of the New Geneva Convention. Along the way you meet up with some other members from the same organization that sent you to Tokyo and work together to bring in Yoji Amada, the man who broke clause 21.

You find out relatively early about Clause 21. It is to prevent robots from being manufactured who...in so many words...don't know they are robots. They are programmed with human emotions, human memories, human everything. These individuals are referred to as "Hollow Children". To them, they are not robots, they are humans. That is until half of their face gets blown off and they can see for themselves they are indeed robots. Some of the best cut scenes revolve around the realization of who these people really are or the people who never knew in the first place and the reaction they have of finding out this long time friend of theirs was never truly human.

It's not just the mystery of "who's a Hollow Child" that makes the story interesting, it's the discrimination that happens when they are found out. There's no talking it out, because people just flat out despise Hollow Children. And while I don't think the story makes it quite clear why everyone hates them so much, there's a level of paranoia that grows regarding potential spies in certain individuals. Regardless, I found the story much better than what most shooters provide, and if that's enough to drive you to play this, I would suggest Binary Domain. It doesn't hurt that although the characters can be a bit stereotypical, they are still fun characters and they each have different interactions with each other.

The gameplay itself isn't groundbreaking, nor is it potentially bad. I did find the shooting to be rather erratic where short bursts were better than long streams of gunfire, but perhaps that's more my method of shooting that is flawed opposed to the gameplay itself. The guns themselves have little uniqueness to them other than the standard "This one's a sniper rifle, this is a shotgun, etc" to them, but the main gun your character has includes an electric pulse shot that can cause bigger enemies to pause or remove barriers in your way. Since your main weapon is upgradable, I found it pointless to switch to other weapons other than the need to use them if I ran out of ammo, except for the occasional chain gun an enemy type will drop from time to time.

As the player, you are given an option of which teammates you want to have watch your back from mission to mission. While the interactions between them are different and can be humorous, I didn't really notice any gameplay difference although the game would make you think there is. Each character has a preferred weapon that they use, but I didn't notice any missions where some would be better than others or that they were even better than others when using them. Really, it didn't seem to matter which weapons they used, because they seemed to get the job done. Which isn't a knock against the game, because very rarely do the AI seem competent enough to tag along with you.

The game also has an option to use your headset and yell commands to your teammates on how you would like them to proceed in the combat. You can run through the various command issues in the pause menu that allows it to sync with your voice so it recognizes what you say when you say it. However, too often was I yelling something that it couldn't recognize even it was clear as day. I don't know of an easier way for me to yell "Move!" into the headset without it sounding like something else I must have already said. So needless to say, it is a cool inclusion, but felt lacking when it came to performance. Basic commands can be selected without the headset fortunately, so it's not a big setback. But if you would rather someone else run in and die in your place and weed out the enemies, it would be nice if screaming "FIRE!" at the top of your lungs would register with the game correctly.

The enemy variation is something I also want to commend Binary Domain for pulling off so well. Although the main enemy type are green robot soldiers who will hide behind cover and shoot at you or aimlessly walk  from side to side without caring they've been shot, they mix it up enough to keep it interesting. They will attach these green robots to flying...well...canisters is the best way I can describe it where they will try to pick you off from the air. There's a big boy robot that will attack you with a chain gun that if you are in the open, you won't last long. There's some that prefer melee attacks and flip around like little ninjas, some that look like police robots that can take a bit more damage, and red ones that tend to be more up close and personal with their weapons. If those were not enough, you will definitely run into some that tower over you the size of buses or worse yet, buildings. Lock-On missiles, heavier firepower, better armor...these are the ones that have it all and can cause problems.

Regardless of which ones you run into, the fun comes into taking them out. This can lead to various strategies on how to defeat a horde of robots. It's a pleasure to hear the little ding and watch a robots head explode right before they turn around and start shooting other robots. This in turn causes those robots to take out that robot as well since they are deemed a threat also. Perhaps you like to cripple them by shooting out their legs and watch them scrape their way along the ground to grab a hold of you if they do reach you. Or just blow the arms off and force them to resort to a headbutt as their method of attack. Doesn't really matter which you choose because it never got boring destroying these robots.

I haven't touched the multiplayer as I was having a bit of trouble finding anyone to connect to, but I'm hoping it's more co-op campaign than any sort of death match or horde mode. This game would be a lot of fun with other people playing although it would lose out on the interaction between characters. But overall, there's not much I can say was absolutely horrible about this game. It was a pleasant surprise considering my negative outlook from the demo I didn't want to finish, and aside from some quick time events, rail shooting and sliding/jet craft riding sections, it was one of the better shooters I've played in recent memory.

Sadly, the game sold poorly. So there's little to no chance this game will receive a sequel although I would love to play another game like it. I think the game ends in a way where there's no need for a sequel, but I had a blast shooting the armor off robots and removing body parts from them. SEGA released a great, and vastly underrated and overlooked, game that more people should try out. Instead these players will continue to focus on the rehashing of mediocre Sonic games so they have something to call SEGA out on and ignore one of the best games that has been released this year. For shame.

Why I'm Stumped With Fez

There's a game that's going around, and I'm sure you all know it, named Fez. It's a game that after 4-5  years in the making has received a number of awards and discussion.  It was finally released to the masses after the controversy that was the creator of the game Phil Fish's "Japanese games suck" comment. Despite the long development time and the backlash he received after the comment, the game received very positive reviews.

But here's where I'm stuck...

The concept of the game sounds intriguing. A little 2D man who receives a little Fez hat that allows him to see a different dimension that he uses to solve puzzles to save his world. Many have commented on the music being amazing and the gameplay a little similar to the Paper Mario form of shifting perspectives. There is nothing that I just wrote that would keep me from wanting to play this game. However, the number of reviews on this game do. Below is a few things that I have noticed either said about the game, or not really discussed about it.

• This game can be a chore and frustrating, and not particularly in a good way. Not until after you see the first "ending" does it really open up to the absolute craziness that makes this game what it is.

• Most reviewers don't actually say this game is fun in any way shape or form. They comment about what this game turns into and the puzzle lunacy, but nowhere do they make the game sound fun or that they had any fun while playing it.

• How great it feels to go to the community and see them try to solve puzzles together because nobody seems to be able to do it themselves in game. This moment in gaming where so many people come together to find everything they can in it, and that it may never have been done on this scale before.

Now, I'm confused on why these have been praised where in other games they would be criticized. For example, the going to the community to solve puzzles. Anytime a puzzle game comes out, people always say how important it is to be able to figure them out by yourself. A good puzzle, as most will put it, will leave you scratching your head one minute. But as soon as you figure it out, you feel like a moron for not piecing it together sooner because it was so obvious. That doesn't seem to be the case with Fez. Instead, it is rewarded for being so difficult that you have to not only come to the game with a specific understanding of ideas and previous knowledge, but to go online to find answers that other people have answered.

Not only does this isolate people who may not have an Internet connection (which is something people bring up often when it comes to digital distribution talk), but it brings up the discussion on why sites like Gamefaqs can be scoffed at in one regard of receiving help, but receiving the same amount of help on the game's forum is okay.

My main problem with the puzzles and level of difficulty is the one that had the entire Fez community working in tandem, and that's the very last puzzle. With such a large number of people working on it, one puzzle should not have caused such a problem for them. But not only was it a problem, it was solved by brute force, not any specific methodology.  Nobody who has played Fez can find any sort of reasoning behind the answer to the last problem, nor are they sure it IS the last problem. And while some reviewers were amazed at this and didn't seem to have any issues, it contradicts the very statements they say about games like Portal about the feeling of success they receive when figuring it out. The best part about this puzzle is how the community came together to do it, and that I can understand.

So my question would then be, what about people who come in later? If one of the best things about Fez was the community interaction, what happens to players who play the game at a later date. That community interaction is moot, because the puzzles have already been solved. So one of the best parts about this game is suddenly diminished because being a part of the community to solve Fez's most mind-numbingly frustrating puzzle is gone. The answers have been found, and the game has become nothing more than a Gamefaqs solution away.

But what I'm most concerned about is the actual fun factor. Puzzle games can be fun. Again, Portal is the perfect example of that. So why can't I find many reviewers actually say this game is fun in any term of the word. I can respect the puzzles being hard. Phil Fish sounds like he's on a genius-level I'll never come close to and I am envious of that. The music is apparently amazing and every screenshot I see of the game looks remarkable. I heard the platforming itself is somewhat lacking, and the premise of the game sounds like something I would love. Yet why is it that every person that talks about this game sound like they were clubbed in the back of the head repeatedly while playing it? Being frustrated to the point of looking up answers is not fun. Neither is having to play through a chunk of the game until it picks up interest. Where the actual enjoyment of the game comes from is beyond me, but perhaps it's an elaborate puzzle where I have to decipher the true feelings of the game by picking out every third letter in words with two vowels or more and piecing the letters together backwards.

I'm not sure what to think of Fez. Since I am unable to play the game currently due to no X-Box in the house, all I have to go off of is the reviews and I'm completely baffled by what I'm hearing from them. But at the same time, if the game ever releases to the PS3, I know I'll get it just to see what the hubbub is about. Some people probably think I just don't "get" Fez and I won't until I play it, and that may be true. But I don't "get" how Fez could go against what people want in games but be given the scores that it has when other games would be rated lower due to the same things. So Phil Fish, if you are reading this (doubtful), I hope the game is released on PS3. I would love to be proven wrong and see what this game is about. And if possible, send me a cheat sheet. I've seen the ones people have made, and I don't know if I'm smart enough to figure it out on my own.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

Several months back I wrote a review for a game I wasn't expecting a whole lot from in the form of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. You can read my review HERE. I was in for a surprise by playing a game that may very well have knocked off Mario Kart as my favorite kart racing game.

So news breaks that the game will be followed up by a sequel in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed which continues to ape the formula of the most recent Mario Kart by having the karts "transform" into various other forms of transportation. Besides cars and motorcycles, they will morph into planes and boats which allows for a wider range of tracks that will span an even greater amount of SEGA games.

Already, there have been a couple more characters joining the fray including Gillius Thunderhead from Golden Axe and a Skies of Arcadia addition in Vyse. SEGA says there will be at least 20 tracks, with 16 of them being brand new ones such as a Panzer Dragoon inspired level. I personally look forward to more Samba de Amigo tracks as they were absolutely trippy in a fun drug-induced sort of way.

While most of it sounds like it will play the same way, there have been some minor tweaks that mostly play out in the various kart-styles that will affect how a player drifts and performs tricks while in the air. The other change that has been released is the All-Star move that usually occurs the further back in the pack a racer is that has them perform a character-specific action that usually demolishes other players and moves them up front quite quickly. Instead of the insane amount of rubber-banding that can occur from this, the All-Star move is now based on the number of tricks performed, stars gathered during a race, and successful drifting. These actions add to a meter that every racer has and once that meter is full, the All-Star move can be performed. So now anyone in the race has the chance to gain one, and not just those close to last. However, those that are further back will have more chances at getting the moves as the meter will charge faster for them.

So suffice it to say, I'm quite excited for this new game. The new kart transformations make me envision riding the waves with Ecco the Dolphin jumping beside me, driving in a car made of Bayonettas hair while the entire track is flipping end over end as it falls through the sky, driving through the House of the Dead, and simply something with Seaman in it. Don't know what, just more Seaman. Everyone loves Seaman.

As of right now, there's a tentative "late 2012" release date, but I'm sure we'll see more at E3.