E3 Wrap-up

I'll get this out at the beginning: Game of the Show? Vanquish. I did some further research about the game because I'd been largely ignoring it up until I played it, and I'm excited to say that it's the latest game by Shinji Mikami. If that name sounds familiar, it's because he's the genius behind the Resident Evil series, specifically Resident Evil 4. If that name doesn't sound familiar, well, it's the dude who made Resident Evil 4. Now, for a little history...

Third-Person Shooters (TPS) were always kind of wonky. The camera was always way out from and centered on the character because that's how Super Mario 64 (a 3D platformer) had the camera. Just look at the early Resident Evil games, Jet Force Gemini, Splinter Cell, or Grand Theft Auto III and you'll notice how inferior TPS gunplay had always been to FPS gunplay. Then came Resident Evil 4, which pioneered the Over-the-Shoulder Third-Person Shooter (OtSTPS). Unlike a typical TPS, Resident Evil 4 had the camera directly over the right shoulder of the main character. By placing the player character on the left side of the screen, players could play the game like an FPS, but still have the benefit of seeing their character. Fast forward almost a couple years later and we get the next major evolution in OtSTPSes, Gears of War. Gears took the OtSTPS formula and made it more action oriented and made going into the cover work better than in any game before it. Turns out that using a cover mechanic in an OtSTPS worked beautifully. Vanquish is the next step.

Next to Gears of War, Resident Evil 4 & 5 feel very deliberate and slow-paced. Next to Vanquish, Gears of War feels downright sluggish. Vanquish also ups the complexity of the controls. Where Gears maps cover, run, and dive all to the 'A' button, Vanquish gives each of those functions their own mapping. Dive is 'A', cover is 'X', and roadie-running is replaced by rocket sliding, which is mapped to 'LB.' The game is fast, throws all sorts of ballistics your way at all times, and just kicks all around ass. There's only one thing that downgrades this game from "Must buy" to "Must play": no multiplayer. It's a shame because outside of the bullet-time aspect, the game seems perfectly suited for multiplayer and could easily garner a sizable online community. Here's to hoping they change their mind.

Vision by Proxy has gotten a little bit of attention, which is really flattering. It was really such a treat to be showcased by the booth that got The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom off the ground. So, thank you, IndieCade, for by Vision by Proxy a chance.

Did I mention I met Bear Grylls?

I watched a demo of F.3.A.R., and I gotta wonder what they were thinking. The game is all co-op now (like Resident Evil 5), and one person plays as a dude with a gun, and the other person is a mother fucking ghost. The ghost is able to levitate people, shoot them with ectoplasmic goo, and fly across the screen to possess them. The poor sap playing the other guy gets to use bullet time, but it isn't all that much of a bonus when both players get to have it when he activates it. If that's not enough, the ghost gets to solve all the puzzles, and in large firefights the other guy usually just gets shot at while the ghost possesses someone behind enemy lines and then kills everyone from behind. Seriously, what the hell was thinking process behind this? Who the hell wants to be the useless asshole who isn't a damned ghost? I mean, the ghost can't use guns unless he's possessing someone, but who cares? You get to use guns in every other game. I don't see the point unless you have a friend who loves laying down cover fire while you do all the cool stuff.

--Chilly P