The Rest of E3 aka The Future Looks Bright

There were tons of cross platform games announced and previewed at E3. I am just going to dive right in and give my initial reactions:

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (PS4, XBOne, PC) - More of the same but now with 100% more Pirates! Nothing special jumps out at me at first glance. Fans of the series will probably love it and defend it to the death but I really feel that there wasnt enough time between AC3 and this, seems kind of like a cash grab to me.

Arma3 (PC) - If you never heard of the ARMA series, go look it up NOW! Unlike the Battlefield and Call of Duty series, ARMA is a military simulator. Always pushing graphics to the extreme with each new itteration, I will deffinetley be picking this up (I am Beta testing now for it and so far it is incredible!)

Batman: Arkham Origins (PC, PS3, XB360) - Love the Arkham series and I am really excited for this. Batman has always been a big part of my life. I read the comics, I watch the movies/TV shows, I even have the full set of the DC Superheroes Lego line! Hopefully they stick to the formula and make another great installment in the series.

Battlefield 4 (PS4, XBOne, PC) - 1 word. FROSTBITE. The things they have showcased with the new Frostbite 3 engie look IMPRESSIVE. The destruction looks great, the multiplayer looks great, the graphics look top notch, the environment looks amazing. 100% must get if you are a fan of the series.

Black Gold (PC) - With World of Warcraft seeming to be starting its decline as top MMO in the land, Black Gold will try to capture that title. From the trailer this MMO seems VERY WoW like in graphics and that could be a good thing for them. I have yet to see gameplay so we will have to wait for more to get a real grasp on whether this is the mythical WoW killer or just more cannon fodder.

Call of Duty: Ghosts (PS4, XBOne, PC) - Tweak the graphics a bit, add a few new multiplayer maps, slap on a story and put it on the shelves. The next anual CoD is just another in the line of boring, yet somehow still relevant and massively popular, shooters that will be around for 1 year until the next is churrned out.

Command & Conquer (PC) - The C&C series has a special place in heart. The original C&C back in 1995 was my first ever RTS and I loved the entire series.... up until Westwood went under and EA took over. We will see what comes of this as it is a reboot of the entire series but it is set in the Generals universe and is F2P although the developers have ensured that it is not "Free to Play but Pay to Win" as is the formula with a lot of current F2P games out there. I will follow this, hopefully get into the Beta but I do not have high expectations for this.

Dark Souls II (PC, PS3, XB360) - Fits right in with my online handle IM_GONNA_DIE. Hopefully Dark Souls II grows on what it accomplished in the first installment. I love the lack of hand holding and the dificulty of the first game. A few things could be improved so lets hope they listened to the community and deliver a quality game once again.

DayZ [Standalone](PC) - The DayZ mod for ARMA2 was awesome! Now the standalone game is looking more and more promising. 100% must buy for me on release. This is looking to be the be all end all of zombie survival games.

Destiny (PS4, XBOne) - Holding out hope for a PC release but I wont be totally dissapointed if it doesn't happen as I will just pick it up for PS4. The extended gameplay footage we got to see at the Sony presentation looks really promising. I have faith in Bungie so the bar is set high for this. Cannot wait to see more.

Dragon Age III: Inquisition (PC, PS3, XB360) - Bioware's chance to make up for DA2. I never got into the Dragon Age series and so far all we have to go off of is a cinematic trailer so I will watch for more info and then make a more informed statement.

Dying Light (PS4, XBOne) – No gameplay footage of this yet, but from what we do have to go on makes this game look like Left 4 Dead meets Mirror’s Edge. Although it is being developed by Techland, the same people behind the Dead Island series, I will be on the lookout for some more info.

Elder Scrolls Online (PS4, XBOne, PC) – I am still not totally convinced by all that’s been released on this so far. I love the Elder Scrolls series. I have been playing since Daggerfall and all the installments have been nothing but spectacular. The Elder Scrolls venture into the MMO realm has me worried though that it will be just a cash grab by Bethesda. I’ll hold out hope for this but I am not  setting the bar high.

Final Fantasy XV (PS4, XBOne) – I haven’t played a Final Fantasy game since IX on PS2. Maybe I will give this a shot in the future. The graphics look great but I will wait for some reviews before making a decision.

Kingdom Hearts III (PS4, XBOne) – I’ll be honest. Even though I owned a PS2, I never played any of the Kingdom Hearts. I am promising myself though that I will pick up this franchise when I pick up my PS4 (and Sony releases I and II to Gaikai).

Mad Max (PS4, XBOne, PC) – Love the movie, lets see what direction this game goes. Too early to tell what will come of this.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4, XBOne) – I stopped playing the Metal Gear series after Snake Eater only because I never got a PS3. Of course I will be picking this up but I am apprehensive about this only because Metal Gear in an open world could be hindering, plus the gameplay trailer shown during Microsoft’s presentation had to be fast forwarded through what some may say “boring parts”. I want to love this but it could turn into Assassin’s Creed FUTURE real fast, lets hope the story is, as it always has been, amazing.

Mirror's Edge 2 (PS4, XBOne, PC) – YES! Love love love the first Mirror’s Edge and I am really excited for this release. Must have at launch.

Outlast (PS4, PC) - AWESOME! I love the horror genre and this game looks so cool. Like Amnesia meets R.E.C. (the movie) I am loving the trailer.

Plants Vs Zombies 2: Garden Warefare (XBOne, PC) – Totally not what I expected for a sequel to a small, fun, indie game but I am impressed and ready once again to dive right in an kick some zombie ass all over again.

Project Spark (XBOne, PC) – Very impressive presentation. I have my eye on this game. I have high expectations for this from what I saw in the reveal. Spore on crack and then some.

Rise of the Triad (PC) – Fun, fast FPS. Looks like it has potential to be a great multiplayer with the fast paced nature of the gameplay. Very Quake or Unreal Tournament like.

Star Wars: Battlefront 3 (PS4, XBOne, PC) – Probably the biggest announcement for me. I put in so many hours into the first two Battlefront games and I have extremely high expectations for this now and from all the info releases, the stars seem to be aligned for this game. Being developed by DICE (Mirror’s Edge, Battlefield series) and using the new Frostbite 3 engine, I simply cannot wait for this game.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PS4, PC) – Great series, always pushing graphics to their limits, great story. High hopes for this. If you haven’t played any of the others in the series, get to it so you will be ready come launch day of this one.

Thief 4 (PS4, XBOne, PC) – If you like Assassin’s Creed, Metal Gear, Splinter Cell, or any other stealth games, then this is a must have. The series that started to perfect the stealth genre as far as I am concerned returns and hopefully the push the bar even higher. I expect greatness from this.

Titanfall (XBOne, PC) - This seemed to be the Big console exclusive for Microsoft. I will be picking it up for PC but it really was impressive. The balance of the game is something I would like to see in action as you can be a foot soldier with certain abilities or you can climb into a mech which looks awesome and since E3 has ended this game has received a ton of awards including best game at E3.

Tom Clancy's: The Division (PS4, XBOne) – This game looks promising. From what was shown, it gave off the impression of an open world PvP environment with great physics. We will see if Ubisoft delivers but everyone is hyping this up right now.

Transistor (PS4, PC) – Produced by Supergiant games who made Bastion, I am totally looking forward to this. Bastion was amazing and so far everything I have seen on Transistor is promising. Keeping this one in scope.

Watch Dogs (PS3, PS4, XB360, XBOne, PC) – The hype for this is growing daily. This open world action adventure stealth game is very ambitious and I can’t wait to sit down with it and immerse myself in the world.

Overall, this was a great year in general for gaming and the future looks very bright for the industry. We will see in the future how things pan out in the console war but as far just pure gaming goes, no matter what console you are getting, there are TONS of great games that will be released that you can sink hours upon hours into. I personally cannot wait for this fall and next year when all these games are released, I expect to see all of you online as well playing with me, having fun, and admiring the art that is being developed before our very eyes.

HyperSmash.com

Microsoft at E3

After seeing Microsofts reveal of the Xbox One a couple of months ago and all their policies that came along with it, I, like many others, felt that Sony had a slight edge going into E3.

Microsoft I feel, is moving away from gaming, NOT far, but just testing the waters of other means of entertainment through the Xbox One. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing for them as innovation comes with taking risks and Microsoft is taking a huge risk with all the other non-gaming related features packed into Xbox One. Who knows what the future holds for them but I was just not drawn in by their television features to be impressed enough to buy it on that merit alone.

Also, Microsoft's policies regarding DRM, always online, used games, and Kinect were a slap in the face to the consumer. Yes, since E3 they have addressed these issues and are trying to do some PR clean up but I only feel it is because of pre-order numbers and the general backlash that the gaming community had for them. E3 should have been the time to address the issues, not 2 weeks after and the whole lying to the consumer "DRM and always online are core to the product and what the product was built around. We cant just flip a switch and turn them off."..... Two weeks later "We turned off DRM and always online!"

Anyway, onto what this should be about, the games. Below I have listed most of the exclusives and my impressions of the gameplay videos and trailers. (exclusive to ONLY Xbox One, so you wont see Titanfall, Project Spark, etc. as they are also confirmed for PC and I will cover those games in a later post.)

Below- this was teased by Capybara Games Studio and looks like a beautifully designed indie game. I would need to see more gameplay but right now it looks like it could be great. The soundtrack by Jim Guthrie seems impressive and it doesn’t look like it will disappoint. This is a game that even though is an exclusive, I could see it in the future being ported over to PC. (Other games by Capybara have ended up on Steam)

Crimson Dragon – Eh. Not interested. It looks good, but I feel like it is just Panzer Dragoon updated. Hopefully for fans, it wont be linear (it is listed as a "Rail Shooter") but a semi open game world.

Dead Rising 3 – One word about the trailer…. Disappointing. I loved the first 2 dead rising games. They were fun without being extremely serious. They were games that were ment for the players to just pick up , go out and have fucking fun with it. I feel like the dead rising 3 trailer focused more on it being a serious game and really taking that fun, relaxing, hey lets go kill some zombies feeling out of the game basically jumping on the current zombie bandwagon of lets make a story driven game where the zombies are overpowered and make the players really fear the environment… oh and lets throw in airstrikes that the player can call down using smartglass… (how you have access to airstrikes is beyond me, in the first two games you played as civilians.)

D4 – an episodic murder mystery. Not much shown but I do believe it will be using a lot of Kinect features to play… Sorry, ill pass on this. (Although since E3 a bit more has come out on this and it does seem interesting.)

Halo – As far as I am concerned, Halo died when Bungie stopped developing it. Though I am sure it will be great for the fans of the series.

Killer Instinct – Now this is something that I need to address. Everyone seems to be on the similar mindset of THIS IS AMAZING! IVE WAITED SO LONG FOR THIS! … Stop… Now this has been in development with Rareware and Double Helix. For those who don’t know here are the games double helix has pumped out:
    Silent Hill Homecoming – Bad
    G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra – Bad
    Front Mission Evolved – Eh
    Battleship – Bad
    Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters – OK
    MX vs ATV Reflex - their best outing
So.., lets hope that Rareware has more say than Double Helix in this but I am wary of this. Also even though it was announced as Free2Play you only get one character for free, the rest you have to pay for. Not cool. If it was a $40-$50 title and you get every character and a little more then sure that's fine but masking it as Free2Play is kind of shady if you ask me. Its not that I have a problem with F2P games, I don't, I play a few now, but I am against the F2P but if you want to win or have any fun past the first 15 mins you have to pay.

Quantum Break – This seems… Interesting… I wonder what its about though and no gameplay! They have mentioned that it will tie in with a television show but I don’t see that working out well (eg: ask how Defiance is working out…)

Ryse: Son of Rome – Looks cool. I feel though like its Microsoft's attempt at making a God of War clone. (Not that I am saying that no game from here on out can be set in ancient Roman times/tied with Greek Mythology, just look at the gameplay!!!!) The footage shown seemed like one long cinematic with button pressing to keep you awake.

Sunset Overdrive – This has potential to be great. I loved the teaser for it and I am really interested in more. Keep your eye on this game as it is developed by Insomniac who made Spyro, the Resistance series and Ratchet and Clank so they have a great track record.

So there you have it. Overall, Microsoft showed some good games but only a few of which I was really interested in and even then, the big hitters like Titanfall and Project Spark are being released on PC which I will post my thoughts on later.

My next post will be on Sonys presentation and I will run through their announced exclusives. Feel free to comment and give me some feedback. Stay tuned! HyperSmash

An Introduction

Hi everyone, my name is Dan and online, I go by the name Im_Gonna_Die. I am here to talk about what’s going on in the world of gaming.

A little about myself, I am 27 years old and I have been gaming for the majority of my life, starting off with the original NES and some early PC shooters such as Doom and Hexen.

Right now I primarily am a PC gamer, I have my own rig that I built myself but I do plan on jumping into the console scene when the next generation hits while still keeping my focus on PC, I would like a console for some exclusive titles as well as other features. (Netflix, virtual consoles, etc…)

As you all know, E3 recently finished and this was a big year for me to follow since I am considering getting a console over this coming holiday season. That and my attempt at breaking into the gaming industry to bring content such as reviews, interviews and streams to all of you so all the new games being released was big for me as well as some of them will be what I will cover on here and on my youtube channel.

Now I will leave you with links to my youtube channel and my Steam ID as well as my Battlenet ID.  Check it out and I will be back soon posting about my thoughts on E3 and what games look good and what companies did well.

Steam ID:

http://steamcommunity.com/id/IM_GONNA_DIE

Battlenet ID:

IMgonnaDIE#1872

Youtube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan/videos

Thanks Everyone!