E3: My review of the Big 3 - Mircrosoft

Just got done watching the major 3 atE3 on G4. No one else wants to hear me ramble about the new titles and such in real life, so I decided I'd vent on here

Microsoft

I did not watch all of the press conference but I did see all the major highlights from Kotaku, G4 and just what people here on Gamespot were excited for so I have a pretty good idea of what is happening.

First of all, the announcement of Metal Gear Solid: Rising was a small blow to Sony. While they still have MGS4 exclusive, having MGS:R be multiplatform is still a pretty big deal as MGS was one of Sony's Flagship titles. Rumors I've been reading are saying that this one is going to be more actiony, which is not what MGS is all about. The motto of Tactical Espionage Action has been replaced with Lightning Bolt Action to help support this rumor. The trailer was a dissapointment, however at least they announced the title.

The next big one for me was the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2, coming November 17 for 360 and PC. L4D was one of my favorite games of 2008, and I am looking foward to the next one. The inclusion of melee combat weapons is something I wanted in the first one, along with new maps and more infected. Luckily we get all of that.I don't care much for the look of the new survivors however, they just don't seem to have the same feel as Bill, Francis, Louis and Zoey do. Theough I may learn to love them later on. Also the inclusion of new boss infected is a great touch, though I wonder if this means more than 4 v 4 multiplayer? Maybe 8 v 8? Left 4 Dead 2 4*2=8?

Of course there is also the motion controls. I'll admit I'm a bit bias against Microsoft, anyone who knows me well understands that. However the camera does look to have potential, I'm mainly saying that due to them showing off "Milo", coming from the creator of Fable and Black & White. This game looks a lot like the Dreamcast title Seaman (go ahead and laugh, everyone else already has), which has intrigued me for some time. Alas I don't have a Dreamcast or the game or the microphone so that option is out there. I won't bother trying to explain it, but if you haven't looked at it you should at least do so.

Alan Wake was given more details as well and showed actual gameplay. This is made by Remedy who are famous for creating the Max Payne series (a third one was recently confirmed I believe). It looks quite good, creepy with action. Been looking foward to it for a few years now so it's nice to see some details

Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins are both made by the greats Bioware, and are looking great. Halo: Reach and Crackdown 2 were announced, and Halo: ODST was given more details as well. Twitter and Facebook is coming to 360, yay i guess?

Overall I thought Microsoft delivered fairly well HOWEVER! They did not even mention Rare working on any game? Even so, I thought they did a good job.

FINAL GRADE: B+

Sony and Nintendo Coming Soon