Gamefest 2011





HCF let videogames editor, Juan, out of the dungeon this weekend to cover Gamefest, an annual gaming event held at the NEC, for Game reward card holders to sample the games we can expect to see over the next few months. There are several titles we’ve got our eye on, so we sent him to see how they play. Here’s what he got up to:

While there were many, many games available to play at Gamefest, the following are my recommended games of the event.

There were several games I was looking forward to getting to grips with, particularly the forthcoming Batman Arkham City and the two Resident Evil games, Revelations and Operation Raccoon city, so naturally, I sought these out first. Batman was located in the far corner of the venue, in the Warner Bros. Games stand. After queuing for a considerable length of time, I finally got to the front to finally give the most anticipated release of 2011 a play test. However, the consoles had to be rebooted to avoid overheating, so that considerable wait was made a little longer! Though the WB staff were at hand to keep us ‘entertained’ with a Batman quiz while the systems restarted. While not particularly challenging, hats off to the staff for showing some great enthusiasm (probably the most enthusiastic of the staff on site) and keeping us entertained while we impatiently wait to play the game. After the brief stall, I finally picked up the controller to get to grips with the Dark Knight in Arkham City. Disappointingly, it was the exact same demo we’ve been seeing footage of for the past few months. However, the gameplay was so good this was forgiven. I’m sure those with even a passing interest would have seen this section by now, so I will not hold back on potential spoilers (though any in the demo were censored out so not spoiling for us anyway). Starting as the playable Catwoman, you break into a room full of Two-face’s goons, guarding a safe. After taking them down using the ever fantastic free-flow combat system, a cut scene shows the feline being caught by Dent, then subsequently being put on ‘trial’ by being dangled upside down over a vat of bubbling acid. Here’s where you take control of the Caped Crusader and get to grips with the basic controls and can have a little run around the vast area available at the time. The rest can be seen here. Needless to say, what little of the game there was to play, it played very well indeed. Arkham Asylum was one of the better games I’ve played in the last few years, so expectations for City are huge. And from what I’ve played so far it does not disappoint. The gameplay controls are excellent and the visuals are brilliantly gothic and rich in detail. This is a potential Game of the Year.

After the brief but brilliant play through of the Arkham City preview, I paid the Nintendo stand a visit, where the main focus of their display was the recently released 3DS. I finally got my hands on a playable version of Resident Evil Revelations. Set aboard an abandoned cruise liner, once again taking control of Jill Valentine, the impression I got from the game is that it has gone back to the more balanced gameplay of Resident Evil 4, after the abysmal instalment that was 5. By balanced I mean it’s not as heavy on the action, and there is more of a puzzle solving element once again. And there is actually a creepy atmosphere; something that was criminally overlooked in the last game, making it almost a straight up action game, with no scares whatsoever. I enjoyed the RE Revelations demo. The graphics were superb for a handheld and the controls were great, although shifted around somewhat in contrast to your typical Resi layout. There is a new POV when it comes to shooting. Rather than staying in the other the shoulder view, with your weapon drawn, the camera switches to first person. Although it doesn’t really add much to the gameplay, it takes nothing away either. Also, the 3D  looks pretty neat. To say that you should be looking forward to this title would be an understatement.

 

Sticking with Resident Evil, Capcom were previewing the new Slant Six developed Operation Raccoon City. Although the queue was one of the smallest I’d seen for a booth, it took a very long time to move! After quite the wait and watching many, many Street Fighter X Tekken (which looks pretty smart) fights, I finally got into the booth to play Resi ORC. And it crashed. After a brief wait, I finally got my hands on it. Set up as a 4 player network game, there was the choice of 6 characters. I went for the assault class so I could try and plough through as much of the 5 minute demo as possible. Unfortunately it didn’t work like that. As with the brilliant Left 4 Dead, this is one of those games in which team work is the key. Starting off with a remade video of the Resident Evil 2 opener, your team are in pursuit of Leon Kennedy. Although not following any continuity of the game, you soon find yourself in front of several of it’s more tricky foes, the Lickers. Quick, aggressive and nasty, they come in packs and if you’re not careful, can be very overwhelming. The demo was, much like Arkham City, very short but very sweet. More of an action game set in the RE universe, this should be a must have for those who are fans of the aforementioned L4D games.

Capcom’s more tongue in cheek zombie adventure, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, was in its playable form as well. Set in Fortune City, we see Chuck being replaced by the original Dead Rising hero, Frank West. Although a new game in all but location, it’s more of the same, which is no bad thing. Adjacent to Capcom was Konami. I was hoping I’d at least get a glimpse of Silent Hill Downpour, but for some reason was nowhere to be seen (although it was said to be showing in the program). Also present was Namco Bandai’s Dark Souls. Spiritual sequel to bastard hard PS3 title, Demon’s Souls. While gameplay is pretty much more of the same, the visuals are superb. This is a stunning looking game (just like Demon’s Souls) which is just as tough as the predecessor. Good news for Xbox gamers too, as Dark Souls is going to be available on both PS3 and 360. The soon to be released Gears of War 3 attracted a lot of attention with a playable multiplayer in the Xbox 360 stand, as did the next Assassins Creed, Revelations, again multiplayer only. Both similar to their previous instalments. I was hoping to see a preview of the single player modes but unfortunately they weren’t available.

 

Sega were also present with two stands, one dedicated to the blue hedgehog and one which was only available to over 18’s. This is the one we’ll be focussing on! Inside the booth was the PS3 HD/move upgrade of House of the Dead: Overkill. An on the rail shooter which requires you to fill zombies full of lead. The demo on show was set in a hospital with a very Grindhouse feel (scratched film, missing scenes), which was good fun, but the boss fight went on for a little too long. Using the shotgun peripheral added to the experience but will no doubt be overpriced. Also on display, behind some bloodied hospital screens was the Kinect title, Rise of Nightmares. What was available to play was a decent demo of undead monster slaying using the flailing of ones limbs! The grainy look to the game was something different to the norm, and the game itself was nice and gory.

A visit back to the WB stand had me playing Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7. The demo on display was a level from Year 7, Part 1, Luna’s house. Like the film, it takes place with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Here you have to find your way into the house to find out about The Deathly Hallows. The excellent animated sequence from the film is replicated in Lego form as a 2D side-scrolling level, using each of the three Deathly Hallows, to progress through the level. I thought this was a very unique addition to the Lego games and the level itself was by no means easy. What was on offer was enough to convince me that yet again, this is another must have Lego title. And best of all, the monitors were set into a Lego Hogwarts Express, with the seats being on Platform 9¾. That was a very nice touch!

The biggest surprise for me of the day was the Playstation stand. Although initially disappointed from waiting in line to play Uncharted 3 for an hour, only to find out it was the multiplayer, which had been available as a beta test sometime before, I was impressed by some of the exclusive titles on display, with my game of the show included. First of all, there were a few PSN titles to play. A particularly decent one was Pixel Junk Sidescroller, an interesting side-scrolling shooter ala R-type. Also on display was the very lovely looking Journey. Developed by the same team behind the wonderful Flower Thatgamecompany, Journey saw you controlling a character, roaming a dessert collecting pieces of fabric which give you the ability to jump. Sounds a bit bizarre, and I suppose it is, but it is a sublimely beautiful adventure, which has Flower written all over it!

My favourite game of the whole show was actually a HD re-release. The classic PS2 title, Shadow of the Collossus, has been given an HD and 3D upgrade. This game was epic enough on the standard PS2, but with the improved visuals and an immersive 3D experience that rivals Avatar, this game was utterly mesmerising. Epic in every sense of the word, there is no excuse for not picking this up, even if you bought it the first time around! Accompanying SotC is its spiritual predecessor, Ico. Again treated to the HD/3D improvement, this game looks even more beautiful than ever. While not as good as SotC it’s still a great game, which given that it comes paired with it should make for one of the releases of the year.

 

Gamefest was a superb event, with some brilliant stands and displays, including a display of James Bond memorabilia, in the Activision section for the Goldeneye remake. As well the new, there was a retro zone where you could kick back and play the likes of Micro Machines on the Sega Megadrive and Mario Kart 64 on the, er… N64! Not to mention the other consoles like the NES, SNES and Dreamcast. All in all it’s a great way to spend 8 hours, after which I was thoroughly knackered. If you missed it this year, I recommend you get tickets for next year, as it’s a great opportunity for fans to play games which won’t be out for months.

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2 Comments

  1. Looks like you had a brilliant time. Dead Rising 2 looks like lots of fun. The Lego games are always a hoot. Ico and Shadow of the Colossus were two of the major ‘arty’ games on PS2 so I’m sure they’ll do well. I suppose the biggie is Arkham City which sounds utterly fantastic. Will it be available on PC?

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