What a week! I’m not even at the show this year and I’m exhausted. Press conferences, endless gameplay videos to watch, the NBA Playoffs, and spending time with my nephew at home has worn me out. I’ve basically seen everything I needed to see from this years big event. Now with the 2012 edition of E3 winding down it’s time for me to pick my winners and losers of what is considered as the video games “Super Bowl.”
Keep in mind that my main consideration centers around the Xbox 360 as well as iOS gaming on my iPad and iPhone, but I will say that the Wii U is pretty awesome. Anyway…moving on.
WINNERS
UBISOFT: This should come as no surprise. If any one company stole this show it would be this one. Ubisoft brought in the big guns with games that include Assassin’s Creed 3 and Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Both of these games look amazing and are on my buy list. However, what really blew my mind was a brand new game that was not a sequel called Watch Dogs. The upcoming sandbox game centers around how the world is watching you, but also allows you to take advantage of today’s hi-tech electronics and use it to your advantage in key situations. Check out the demo below to see this game in action.
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HALO 4: 343 Industries sure had some big shoes to fill with original developer Bungie moving on to another project. I had my doubts about the return of the iconic Master Chief considering the fact that I thought I “Finished the Fight” back in 2007 with Halo 3. The game’s Legendary difficulty ending said otherwise. The storyline for Halo 4 was kept top secret for the last year so Since the debut of the teaser trailer at last year’s E3. This year the gang at 343 Industries needed to show something of the camapaign to get me excited. They did and they succeeded. Both new and old enemies, Forerunner weaponry, and Spartan Ops for some co-op action. Count me in.
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TOMB RAIDER: Is it me, or does this game look a little familiar to another popular Playstation franchise. Uncharted maybe? Crystal Dynamics may be hearing the about the similarities, but this origins story of the legendary Lara Croft is outstanding. I’ve never been big on the Tomb Raider series as a whole, but this game has me wanting it right now. It’s mature oriented and has a sense of danger all around it as Lara fights for survival at every turn. It’s an awesome action/adventure game.
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Now it’s time to move to the ugly side of the show where I talk about what didn’t impress me one bit.
LOSER
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 2: This series is now officially “dead” to me. Last year, I didn’t buy Modern Warfare 3 due to no real interest in the campaign and the fact that the multiplayer absolutely sucks. I did enjoy the campaign in the first Black Ops game back in 2010, and of course there was the awesome zombie mode that carried over from World at War. I wanted to really give this game a chance, but after watching the uninteresting demo from the Microsoft Press Conference that mostly featured camping and sniping I felt that it was time to move on. This year’s zombie mode may be good, but I’ll wait until it’s on my iPad.
The World According To Brian 