I wasn't sure I was going to be able to go to E3 this year. I've recently started a new job, and my friends who have come out in previous years can't afford it this time around. As things turned out, though, my connection made it possible for me to get into the show (thanks, Dave!), while my new boss let me have the day off despite having zero vacation accrued (thanks, Scott!). Everything came together rather nicely, so I can report the following for this year's exhibition.
As an overall statement, I think the show was less interesting this year than it has been previously. Now maybe that's because this is my third consecutive trip, or maybe that's because I wasn't with the usual crew this year. But I genuinely think that this year's show just didn't have the over-the-top qualities I've seen before. I mean, when I think of E3 - 2004, I think of DOOM 3 (D3), Half-Life 2, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, Tribes: Vengeance, Rome: Total War, Thief: Deadly Shadows, The Battle for Middle Earth, and about a dozen other major games I was awaiting rabidly. This year, I was looking forward to seeing something about Quake IV and praying I might be there when Blizzard finally announces Starcraft II.
Even the numbers and quality of booth babes were diminished, which was actually somewhat refreshing. Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm stunned stupid by beautiful women like any other man, perhaps even more so. But I've seen some things in pretty poor taste in previous years, and I didn't see anything nearly so offensive this year. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right place. I don't know. I just happen to think that E3 - 2005 was less exciting overall than previous shows. Having said that, though, there are a lot of worthwhile bits of news to impart.
My favorite game in the Quake series is a toss up between the original and Quake II. Though the former really can't hold a candle to the latter in terms of story, immersion, etc., there was just something so magical about playing in a truly three dimensional world that Quake will always be special. Yet Quake II introduced us to the Strogg, awful, bio-mechanical bad guys who were easy to hate—even before I went through the game level filled with tortured, dying marines. Needless to say, I'm pretty geeked about the possibilities inherent in revisiting the themes from Quake II with far superior graphics, audio, and so forth.
And from what I saw, the trailer looks pretty good. I expect the bits about the protagonist having to fight to retain his own humanity, having to cope with being modified with Strogg technology, will be key to the project's success. Either it will come off as creepy and really impart a sense of horror to the gamer, or it might end up as being silly. I guess we'll have to wait for the final product, but the indicators are pretty good.
Speaking of all things Quake, Id Software is jumping back into the fray with Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, which, as its title suggests, is borrowing much from Enemy Territory, the free expansion pack for Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and welding it to what looks like a souped up version of the D3 engine. Maybe Carmack and company just couldn't stand letting Raven have all the fun developing Quake IV. I don't know, and I don't care. The graphics look great, and the game play looks like it could revive my interest in the entire concept. This property is definitely worth watching.
The folks at Blizzard need to be whipped, beaten, stabbed, shot, hung, drawn and quartered, electrocuted, keel-hauled, and be repeatedly forced to watch every episode of a reality-TV show based around Jar Jar Binks. There is simply nothing evil enough that can be done to them. Why all this vitriol, you ask? I'll tell you: because Operation Screw PC Users, also known as Starcraft: Ghost, continues to be developed for consoles only. I might have been able to forgive them if they had announced Starcraft II—as a matter of fact, I was momentarily fooled into thinking they were announcing it when I saw their positively stupendous pre-rendered cinematic on the big screen—but when the company that addicted me hopelessly to Starcraft refuses to develop anything but Warcraft stuff for the PC, they deserve no less than death.
On a more serious note, Starcraft: Ghost looks more and more amazing each year. I thought it looked mighty intriguing before, but after seeing the pre-rendered cinematic, some of the single-player action, and what appeared to be an eight player deathmatch, I'm just about sold. And I don't even own a console! This has been a long time in coming, and it's something I never thought I would say, but I think I might have to break down and buy an XBox 360 when they're available. Some of the games just look too good to pass up.
One of the big hits of the show, for me at least, was Battlefield 2 (BF2). Despite getting off to a bad start with Battlefield 1942 (BF1942) because of my hardware troubles and its bugs, I eventually came to love the game. True, I do get frustrated with it quickly because of all the spawn raping, but aside from that obvious design flaw it remains a great game even today. I could be wrong, but based on what I saw today I'd have to say that BF2 is going to be an awesome sequel.
Why? Because it looks phenomenal, sounds amazing, and seems like it plays even better than its predecessors. I watched a good sized match at the show (eight vs. eight as I recall), and the things I saw were stunning. One particular sequence stands out in my mind from the rest: two patrol boats were racing across the waters in a psychotic, heavily armed sort of machine-gun jousting. Meanwhile, a helicopter hovered above the scene, twisting and turning frantically to help out its waterborne teammates. Just when I thought it was all decided, we all heard a big whoosh, the helicopter burst into shards and fell, and the wingtip contrails of some aircraft could be seen overhead.
That sounds like a clichéd scene, I know, but it was real and it was spectacular (grin). The water refracts amazingly well, virtually all the physics seems right, the weapons look great, the map looked like a lot of fun, etc. I could gush for a while, but BF2 definitely has my number. The only thing that I didn't see was any attempt to address the ridiculous spawn-raping issues of the previous games in the series. It looked to me like most of the spawn points were still out in the open, making reinforcements sitting ducks for lameness. Still, it looks like one hell of a game from what I saw.
You know, I'm getting really sick of the whole darker-is-better mentality in marketing these days, and Prince of Persia 3 provides the perfect opportunity for me to hop up onto my soapbox. Anyone who loved Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time will tell you the same thing: a large part of the game's allure and a big chunk of the pleasure that came from playing it was because of the characters, specifically Farah and the Prince. Watching the Prince's headstrong actions lead to heartbreak, seeing him pitted against Farah, seeing the two of them come to love each other, all of these things are great bits of story telling—and I haven't even mentioned the more powerful moments.
So what direction did the developer/publisher take with the second game, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within? Here's a simple answer: the wrong one! I can just hear some hack pitching a darker, edgier character, a troubled Prince, a Prince haunted by his past, uncertain of his future, etc. Given that the sequel wasn't nearly as good as the previous game, I rather hoped that the third time might bring back the charm, but alas it's not to be. What's the "new" direction for the third game? Yep, you guessed it: a still-darker, still-edgier Prince.
I wanted to smack the irritating presenter as he stood up there and gushed about how the Prince is more troubled than ever, an outcast in his own home town, host to a corrupt and terrible demon of the sands of time. Not only must the Prince fight to survive, you see, he must also fight the demon that lives within him, giving into it from time to time essentially to unlock the ability to let the player indulge in an even—all together now!—darker and edgier style of play.
For the love of God, you idiots, stop trying to teach the pig to sing! All it does is waste everyone's time and annoy the pig. Give us back our noble, interesting Prince and leave the whole darker/edgier nonsense to others.
Sweet fancy Moses, I hope the movie is as good as the previews lead me to believe. I think it's safe to say that most fans of the Dark Knight view Frank Miller's work as something a tad more important than, say, The Holy Bible. At least, I've heard promises of soul selling involved if only someone will bring that vision to the screen. Not me, of course, I'm saving my soul on the off chance that the devil might someday offer me an Alienware system. But then I digress...
This year's E3 had both the batmobile from the upcoming film and a game tie-in to boot. The car looked excessively cool, as all the folk standing around drooling over it can attest, whereas the game merely seemed as if it might have potential. I watched a guy running around for a few minutes bumping into walls, unable to open what seemed like a door, etc., before I tried telling myself that Batman was simply having a rough day. It looks pretty good, I'll give it that; but as to whether it's a good game or sucks rocks, I really can't say. Still, it's probably worth keeping an ear to the ground.
LucasArts does it to me every year, but this year was the worst yet. Every year upon entering the West Hall (or is it the South Hall?), there's a rather huge screen to the right playing eye-catching movies of games at the show. Last year it was Star Wars: Republic Commando and the Jump to Lightspeed expansion pack for Star Wars: Galaxies that were wowing the crowds. But this year it was Star Wars: Empire at War and Star Wars: Battlefront 2 that were making it near-impossible to look away. Although I didn't get to check out either of them up close—the LucasArts demonstrations were open to the public only on Friday, not on the day I went—the movie footage and some of the things I did see looked incredible. All hail The Big Screen!
I have to say that this year's E3 was also noticeably more tame than in past years. Oh, there were still quite a few luscious booth babes wandering about, turning the largely male population into drooling idiots (and quite likely inducing a few cases of whiplash), but it wasn't as sleazy as it has been in years past. There weren't any pole dancing strippers, for example, and that alone counts for a lot.
I think this year's award for most beautiful booth babe(s) will have to be a tie between the two beauties at the Hulk booth (irony, that) and the stunning angel that just about kept us all from leaving the show. Seriously, there's nothing quite like walking out being blinded, not by the sun but by a largely naked earthbound goddess with a pair of wings. I don't know in which religion she's an angel, but I imagine plenty of show-goers converted on the spot.
The show was... well... the show: big, gaudy, impossibly loud, packed to the rafters, and filled with interesting things (and people) to see and interact with. It wasn't nearly as interesting as the prior year, and I wonder whether that means we're coming to a dry spell in game development. It just didn't seem like nearly so many AAA titles were showcased. I'll leave such big-picture thoughts for another time. For the moment, I'm tired and happy to have gone.
05/20/2005